Shoryu Ramen

Don't get excited. Shoryu haven't just decided that Hemel is their new outlet and opened up a shop here (sadly). No, this is a review of their nationwide ramen kit.

We are all about celebrating local cuisine, and since moving to Apsley we have thoroughly enjoyed the plethora of eateries in the area that we have tried out. But as a massive addict to ramen, specifically of the tonkotsu variety, I was yearning for some of my London eateries. Put your pitchforks down, local reviews will very much remain our bread and butter, but we thought we'd throw in the odd nationwide review every now and again, after you gave us your blessing on our Insta page.

J often takes the mickey out of me because I have a Ramen List. This is a list of my favourite ramen joints in London ranked. It's on our shared Google drive so if he ever needs to cheer me up or take me somewhere easy, he knows where the good and bad ramens are. For me, Tonkotsu Ramen is king of all the ramens. I make sure that I test this variety in it's natural form -i.e. no fancy flavours or embellishments- wherever I go. It's like benchmarking pizzas by Margherita. Tonkotsu Ramen is from Fukuoka in Japan and is a rich, umami, meaty, milky broth made from slow boiling pork bones for several hours. The mouthfeel is rich, oily and mouthcoating. There is a creaminess to the meaty broth and a salty lingering note. It is often served simply with ramen noodles (at your choice of hardness), braised pork belly, spring onions, nori, ginger, wood ear, and that perfect jammy tamago egg. For me, this is the best ramen in the world. I can take miso ramen, curry ramen or even the dipping joy of tsukemen ramen, but I always return to that ultimate rich, filling tonkotsu.

After a helpless search on Instagram for any ramen recommendations locally, we decided to order Shoryu's Nationwide ramen kit to fill our bellies and satisfy that urge. Shoryu has a few outlets across London and the UK. It used to be my sneaky treat when we lived in London....I'd go to my hairdresser in Covent Garden (I know, I know, la di f***king dah!) and then have a solo dinner at Shoryu where I could #1 enjoy some calm and sensory appreciation for my food and #2 get the Dracula Tonkotsu which consists of Tonkotsu ramen with garlic oil, black garlic infused broth, and garlic chips. Safe to say, J always knew where I'd been when I got home!

The kit is ordered online through Japan Centre and you can schedule your delivery a few weeks in advance. They do offer vegan and gluten free options too which is exciting. It's a simple kit when it arrives, a vac pack bag of 12-hour tonkotsu broth (that you need to dilute), freshly made noodles, char sui pork belly ready to be sliced and pan-fried over, kikurage (sliced wood-ear fungus), pickled ginger, and spring onion ready for slicing. The only thing you don't get is an egg, so when the kit arrived in the morning, I slow-boiled an egg, peeled it and marinated it in soy sauce and rice mirin myself, ready for dinner time.

The kit comes with super clear instructions to make a foolproof ramen. The result (after 10 minute prep) is a completely delicious, rich, perfect ramen. The broth is opaque, milky, and hearty (maybe slightly over salted if I'm being picky) and the noodles were perfectly al dente; although you can choose to have softer noodles if you wish. The char sui pork belly fried over well and didn't dry out the meat. It has a sweetness from the marinade and barbecuing that it got on first cook too which added sweetness and warmth to the dish. All the other elements provided all come together so well for a perfect textbook tonkotsu ramen. Just missing was the egg and nori.

There's debate amongst scientists about the presence of a 6th taste alongside sweet, salt, bitter, sour and umami. This is called kokumi. It's a Japanese word meaning "rich taste" or "roundness". If there was ever a food I could give to you to demonstrate this sensation, tonkotsu ramen would be it, and this kit from Shoryu Ramen allows you to experience the comfort of that in your own home.

Service:

Easy to order and great communication on delivery, but yes, you do have to make it yourself.

Value and price:

£20 for a kit that feeds two. Pretty great value for the generous portion size. Would have loved the option to add on a tamago egg or nori to the kit if I could.

Quality:

Tonkotsu perfection. Very slightly over salted, but that mouthfeel that I was craving was all there.

Overall:

EXCELLENT - A lesson in how to ramen!