All About Ichiran Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen Instant Noodles

“Ichiran (一蘭)” is a Fukuoka-based popular ramen restaurant chain offering Hakata-style Tonkotsu ramen with pork bone broth soup, which has many branches in and outside of Japan.

Known as one of the companies researching Tonkotsu ramen most enthusiastically, Ichiran is famous for having numerous fans around the world.

Ichiran Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen Instant Noodle Soup

Actually, I have never eaten Ichiran’s actual Tonkotsu ramen in the restaurant, but since I was very curious about the taste, the other day I ordered their instant ramen for the first time on Amazon Japan and got this product yesterday.

Contents 

As you can see in the picture above, the box I received contains 5 servings of the instant version of Ichiran ramen.

Specifically, its contents consist of 5 bundles of dried wheat noodles, 5 packets of soup base liquid, and 5 sachets of Ichiran’s secret red powder.

Features 

According to the description on the back of the package, the noodles, secret red powder, and soup base liquid respectively have the features listed below.

Noodles 

The noodles are Hakata-style thin straight noodles, which are produced by experienced noodle artisans using special, rare wheat flour. These noodles have a pleasantly chewy, slippery texture.

Soup Broth 

The soup broth is super authentic as it was created through a process of trial and error over and over again. With no peculiar odor of pork bone, the broth is characterized by its outstandingly rich umami taste.

Ichiran’s Secret Red Powder 

This Ichiran’s secret red powder is a blend of various kinds of spices and Ichimi Togarashi. The spice mix has an exquisite taste balance.

Notes

The cooking directions for this Ichiran ramen are also on the back of the red box. Additionally, there are 2 notes there concerning the firmness of the noodles and the spiciness of the soup broth.

Firmness of Noodles 

• If you prefer noodles a little harder than the basic firmness, then boil the accompanying dried noodles for 2 minutes
• If you like the basic firmness, boil the noodles for 2 minutes and 30 seconds
• If you prefer softer noodles than the basic, boil the noodles according to your preference

Spiciness of Soup Broth 

• If you like the basic spiciness, put half the sachet of secret red powder into a bowl of the Ichiran ramen as a finishing touch
• If you prefer twice the spiciness than the basic, then put in the entire amount of the red powder as a finishing
• If you prefer half the spiciness than the basic, put a small amount of the red powder into the bowl as a finishing
• If you don’t want any spiciness, you don’t need to add the secret red powder

Preparation 

If you want to make one serving of the Ichiran ramen, then all you need to prepare are a bundle of the dried noodles, a packet of the liquid soup base, a sachet of the secret red powder, and 450ml of water.

If you want to garnish the bowl with toppings such as sliced Chashu pork, chopped green onions, wood ear mushrooms, and dry sheets of nori, then additionally prepare them. Those toppings will add depth to the Ichiran ramen.

Cooking

Now, following the cooking instructions on the back of the package, let’s get the cooking started!

Instructions

1		First, bring a pot of 450ml water to a boil
2		Then, slip in a bundle of the dried noodles and boil them according to your preference
3		After boiling the noodles, put in the soup base liquid
4		Cook the noodles until returning to the boil again, constantly stirring with chopsticks
5		Turn off the heat, then pour the noodle soup into a ramen bowl
6		As a finishing process, add in the Ichiran’s secret red powder
7		Ready to Eat! Enjoy the Ichiran ramen!

Taste

This time, I boiled the dried noodles for about 2 minutes and put all the secret red powder into the bowl. Nonetheless, the broth wasn’t overly spicy.

Rather, it was very flavorful and super tasty, while the noodles were somewhat hard and indeed had a delightful chew.

Overall, the combination of the pleasantly chewy noodles, the super-rich soup broth, and the secret red powder’s moderate, addictive spiciness made this instant Ichiran ramen a nicely balanced, fabulous noodle dish.