Every slurp gives that comforting feelings, just enough to make one feels happy and content.
We know for sure, it’s really hard to resist a temptation from a bowl of golden color Tonkotsu ramen with sinfully delicious fat that swims around its hot surface, containing a few slices of tender and fatty chashu pork, one or two halves of soft boiled egg with its custard-like egg yolk and a handful of thin-sliced scallions that are put down in the bowl to seduce the senses.
Ramen has made its way to Jakarta and today there are ramen shops literally everywhere, including in shopping centres. If previously, to find pork dish in Jakarta public spaces such as the shopping malls was not easy, as such dish was available only in Chinatown as well as the Little Tokyo area in Blok M, today pork-contained dishes have taken major shopping centres in the city. Indeed there are still a number of ramen restaurants sticking to the Halal menu, but the best-tasting versions are the ones made of pork, such as those served at IkkudoIchi restaurant, which opens in Grand Indonesia and Pacific Place.
However, for originality, we always go to ramen shops or restaurants that are run by native Japanese chefs. Just to name a few, our favorites include the Yoiko Ramen 415 which is situated right across the Gran Mahakam Hotel Jakarta and the Sakura Japanese Restaurant which is located in LebakBulus. In both places we get to see what it was that has made this dish the national food of Japan and celebrated worldwide.
Whenever we choose a type of ramen with either kotteri (rich) or assari (light) broths, the flavors always come together so beautifully as if it’s really well-thought. Kotteri broths will be thick, sticky, packed with emulsified fats and proteins from long-boiled bones. Meanwhile, Assari broths will be clear and thin, flavored with vegetables, fish, or bones cooked relatively briefly. And the noodles, whether straight, thin and narrow or thick and wavy, they have the right bounciness and good ability to cling to broth, and we love their texture in the mouth.
photos by
Adi Marshal
