Michelin-Starred Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta Instant Ramen
7-Eleven Japan carries a variety of store-limited instant ramen that beautifully recreate the taste of famous ramen shops, most created by leading Japanese instant noodles manufacturers in collaboration with the ramen shops.
Representative examples of such cup ramen include Nissin Mouko Tanmen Nakamoto, Nissin Hakata Ippudo, and these instant ramen. All have been around for over ten years.
In recent years, Nissin and Toyo Suisan introduced Michelin-starred cup ramen for Japan’s 7-Eleven convenience stores, which are Nissin Nakiryu Tantanmen and Toyo Suisan Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta.
The other day, I tried the former bowl and wrote an article about it. So this time, let me talk about the latter, Toyo Suisan Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta.
Tsuta Instant Cup Ramen from Toyo Suisan
For the unfamiliar, Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta (Google Maps) is a ramen shop located in Sugamo, Tokyo, known as the world’s first ramen restaurant that received a star rating in the Michelin Guide.
Tsuta was first given 1 Star in the 2016 edition of the Michelin Guide to Tokyo, and in 2019 too, it got 1 Star, together with Nakiryu (Google Maps) and Soba House Konjiki-Hototogisu (Google Maps).
When you hear soba, what comes to your mind might be buckwheat noodles, but this product is an instant ramen bowl.
In this case, the soba in the name derives from Chuka Soba/Shina Soba, which are synonyms for ramen.
Contents
In the bowl, you can find these four packets. The contents of each are as follows.
- The blue packet contains a liquid soup base.
- The red contains special flavoring oil with a black truffle flavor.
- The green has dehydrated garnishes, such as a thin slice of Char-siu roast pork and chopped green onions.
- The clear transparent has seasoned Menma bamboo shoots.
Cooking
The cooking of this instant ramen is somewhat complicated, like below.
Instructions
| 1 |  |
First, put the contents of the green packet (dehydrated garnishes) into the bowl. |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |  |
Then, pour boiling water until it reaches the line indicated inside the cup. |
| 3 |  |
Close the lid and place the transparent, red, and blue packets on top. Then, let the noodles steep for 5 minutes. |
| 4 |  |
Five minutes later, remove the lid and pour the soup base liquid. |
| 5 |  |
At the same time, add the special flavoring oil. |
| 6 |  |
Stir all the ingredients well with chopsticks. |
| 7 |  |
As a finishing touch, put in the Menma bamboo shoots. |
| 8 |  |
Now it’s ready to eat. Enjoy! |
Taste
The Tsuta instant ramen is of as high quality as Nissin Nakiryu Tantanmen.
The thin noodles have a pleasantly firm texture, while the soy sauce-based broth is packed with umami from chicken and seafood, accompanied by a subtle fragrance of black truffle.
Ingredients/Nutrition Facts
Lastly, let’s see the ingredients and nutrition facts.
| Noodles (Wheat flour, Salt, Dietary fiber, Egg powder), Accompanying seasoning (Soy sauce, Chicken extract, Vegetable oil, Chicken oil, Pork extract, Protein hydrolyzate, Seafood extract, Yeast extract, Spice), Garnishes (Seasoned bamboo shoot, Roast pork, Green onion, Dextrin, Spice), Modified starch, Trehalose, Lecithin, Alcohol, Flavoring, Seasoning (Amino acid), Kansui alkaline water, Calcium carbonate, Caramel pigment, Antioxidants (Vitamin C, Vitamin E), Polysaccharide thickener, Gardenia pigment, Acidifier, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B1 (Partially including Wheat, Egg, Milk component, Mackerel, Soybean, Chicken, Pork, and Gelatin) |
Nutritional Values
| Calories | 415 kcal |
| – Noodles/Garnishes | 315 kcal |
| – Broth | 100 kcal |
| Protein | 10.9 g |
| Fat | 13.2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 64.1 g |
| – Sugar | 62.0 g |
| – Dietary fiber | 2.1 g |
| Salt equivalents | 7.1 g |
| – Noodles/Garnishes | 2.8 g |
| – Broth | 4.3 g |
| Vitamin B1 | 0.32 mg |
| Vitamin B2 | 0.37 mg |
| Calcium | 172 mg |
