Try Making Sapporo Ichiban Miso Ramen with Sake
When it comes to Japanese instant ramen classics, Sapporo Ichiban is admittedly among them, and in fact, I loved it very much when I was a kid.
For the unfamiliar, Sapporo Ichiban (サッポロ一番) is the flagship instant ramen brand of Sanyo Foods (サンヨー食品), and its original flavor, Shoyu (しょうゆ: Soy Sauce), went on the market in 1966.
In addition to the soy sauce flavor, now, the Miso (released in 1968) and Shio (salt) (released in 1971) flavors also have gained deep-rooted popularity, widely enjoyed in Japan.
Sapporo Ichiban Miso Ramen
My favorite flavor of the Sapporo Ichiban ramen is Miso, as I have consumed it hundreds of times since I was small.
I love its good old taste, but the other day, I came across this Youtube video online introducing the cooking instructions using Sake rice wine, which inspired me.
Why the video captured my attention is that the Japanese Youtuber says that making it with a 3.5:1 ratio of water to Sake is the best cooking method for Sapporo Ichiban Miso Ramen.
So this time, I compared his recommended method with the usual way I do just with water.
Normal Cooking Instructions
First, here are the cooking directions on the package by the maker Sanyo Foods, where all you need to prepare are a bag of Sapporo Ichiban Miso Ramen and 500 ml of water.
Incidentally, the bag contains
- A dried wheat noodle block
- A soup base powder packet (silver)
- A Shichimi Togarashi spice mix sachet (red)
Now, let’s get the cooking started.
| 1 |  |
First, bring a pot of water (500 ml) to a boil, slip in the dried noodle block, and boil it for 3 minutes. |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |  |
Then, turn off the heat, add the soup base powder, stir well, and transfer the noodle soup to a ramen bowl. |
| 3 |  |
Last, sprinkle the Shichimi Togarashi spice mix on the noodles. |
| 4 |  |
Now it’s ready to eat. |
Recommended Cooking Instructions
As mentioned above, the cooking method by the Japanese Youtuber is also quite simple; make the instant ramen with 350 ml water and 100 ml Sake rice wine in the same way as usual.
By the way, he recommends using Sake meant for drinking, not cooking rice wine.
Taste
As for the taste, I found the added Sake imparts its sharp, refined flavor to the miso ramen and makes it a more delicious noodle soup.
Whether you will like this or not depends on your preference, but I think the recipe is worth trying at least once.
