Myojo Tomita Amaebi Kaoru Tonkotsu Mazesoba 明星甘えび香る豚骨まぜそば
Tomita-san, the owner of Chukasoba Tomita, is probably one of the more well known ramen chefs, since the ramen documentary “Ramen Heads” made its way onto the screens worldwide. Besides still pumping out great tsukemen at his ramen shop and opening ramen shops here and there with his name on it, he is also appearing on more and more instant, frozen or ready to eat ramen products. Usually, these products seem to go through some checking process to receive his seal of approval, since all the products I have tried so far with his name on them were absolutely some of the top non-shop ramen out there.
However, this Amaebi Kaoru Tonkotsu Mazesoba has no connection to anything that gets served at his restaurants, so it is a head scratcher at first glance. Or maybe I am not as informed as I like to pretend and it is actually on some menu somewhere. Whatever it may be, let’s give this mixing type instant ramen bowl a try to see if tonkotsu and strong shrimpy flavors go well together.
Content
This bowl of premium instant ramen comes with a number of different sachets, so let me break down the contents:
Dried noodles in the bowl
Top left in purple is the concentrated sauce package
Top right is freeze dried small chashu pieces, menma bamboo shoots and green onion
Bottom left in the orange sachet is furikake seasoning powder
Bottom right in the pink sachet is more furikake, more precisely shrimp flavored tenkasu
Preparation
Compared to many other instant ramen, the preparation of the Tomita Mazesoba is a bit more involved.
Remove all sachets. Add back the freeze dried meat and veggies.
Add boiling water to the bowl and close the lid.
Wait for 5 minutes, then open opposite side of the bowl and remove water through straining hole.
Add all the other sachets and mix well. Enjoy!
Review
The tone for the rest of the meal is set after adding the “kayaku” and the “furikake” from their respective sachets. The aroma of dried shrimp hits your nostrils immediately. It’s quite intense and very much a hate it or love it type of smell and taste. I’m personally a fan, but I wouldn’t blame anyone for turning away at this point. If you’re ok with fishy and funky things, it might be for you.
Not only the smell, but also the taste is quite intense, as one would expect from a product with Tomita’s face on the package. I didn’t feel like the tonkotsu comes through in a noticeable way, I would not have known that tonkotsu was the base if it had not been written on the lid of the bowl.
The noodles were absolute top notch, probably some of the best in the instant ramen world at the moment. Very nice firm bite, you sometimes even forget that these are instant noodles. The toppings include red tenkasu, which brings a great crunch to the bowl. More of it would be great, would be a cheap addition for them. The chashu bits and menma are forgettable and leave a positive nor negative impression.
Summarized, if you’re looking for a good mazesoba and like dried shrimp flavors, this might be the best option out there at the moment. Especially since I don’t know any other product in that exact niche at the moment. It’s a very good instant ramen product that will surely find its lovers, but won’t be for everyone due to the strong and slightly “exotic” flavor, at least for the Western palate.
8.5 out of 10
