《6 Minutes @ Tomo Kudo》

Japanese Ramen invasion have been quite overwhelmed in Hong Kong recently, everyone claims that they have their best either on their new invention or stay close with the passed on tradition, whether it is the secret broth base recipe, the home made noodles or the sliced thin piece of pork or better known as "Char Siu". With more than 60 branches worldwide, IPPUDO set foot in Hong Kong on 18th July 2011, a year later, second store is now opened in Admiralty by popular demand. Tomo Kudo, Senior Operation Manager talks to mylifestylenews the brand history and the way to enjoy a bowl of good ramen......

The first IPPUDO was opened on 16 October 1985 from the ramen capital, Hakata (Fukuoka) in Kyushu, Japan. Since then, it has  become the most popular ramen restaurant in Japan. Its founder, Shigemi Kawahara, was crowned Ramen King  in 2005 and holds a place in the Ramen Hall of Fame after winning the championship three times in a row between 1995-1998 (one of the highest awards achievement for Japanese Gourmet) , on "TV Champion Ramen Chef", a reputable Japanese television produced by TV Tokyo.

 

IPPUDO's vision is "To continuously innovate to remain true", we aims to offer an authentic Japanese ramen to our customers by integrating fresh and quality ingredients, authentic Japanese cooking methods and the ramen production and secret soup recipes for a fusion and innovative taste to redefine the authenticity of ramen.

 

A bowl of good ramen shall begins with the broth, that determines the ramen quality standard. The traditional way to enoy a bowl of good ramen being served when it arrive on the table before adding any other spices on to it, first you must have a spoon full by sipping the broth to taste its originality. From that impression, you may begin to add  the spices provided on the table like sesame (grounded or whole grain), chili oil and even by asking for more spring onion according to your very own preference.

 

Then it comes to the noodle's texture. Traditionally, the ramen chef will cook the noodle to a semi-hard thickness in order to provide the chewiness texture, while delivering the noodle into your mouth, making the slurping sound doesn't mean that is impolite but to show how much you are actually enjoying the ramen.

 

It is then followed by tasting the slice of Char Siu, the flavour of the marinated meat determines how much effort a ramen chef were made besides just looking after his secret recipe broth. That's another skill to show how an experience a ramen chef should be.

 

These 3 little steps are the basic ways to enjoy a good bowl of ramen, the broth, the noodle and the slice of Char Siu, of course, not forgetting to enjoy it while it is still hot. A bowl of good ramen soup shall not leave you feeling even thirsty and craving for more water to dilute the taste but to remain the after taste with its great flavour from the broth.

 

 

 

IPPUDO's Tonkotsu ramen broth is created using an elaborate cooking process with different parts of pork bones, giving it a rich and creamy flavour tailored to customers' tastes all over the world.

 

We have branches in New York and other Asia cities, the westerners and some other Asian customers may not understand and know how to differentiate the different broths to go with different ramen production.

 

To some of them, a broth is a broth, what we could do is we possess different levels of thickness in accordance with Hakata traditions, while IPPUDO's secret recipe gives them a uniquely crunchy and springy texture and innovative taste.

 

Every ramen chef has their own version of producing a good bowl of ramen by using the technique they were taught and that creates so many different style of cooking by providing more variation in terms of choosing your own favorites.

 

IPPUDO's named after Aka (Red) and Shiro (White) which has become an industry standard, and adopted by many other ramen restaurants.

Besides what we do best in ramen production, to ensure its highest quality, hospitable service, attention to detail, and unique ambience are as important to provide an exquisite and delightful ramen dining experience for its customers throughout the world.