Kurume is a town in Kyushu, roughly halfway between Fukuoka and Kumamoto. It’s famous for Kurume ramen, which is either a compromise between the punchy Kumamoto ramen and the mellow Hakata tonkotsu ramen, or a kind of missing link in their evolution. Honestly, classic tonkotsu ramen can be a bit flat, and Kumamoto ramen is so intense that the broth is almost painful to drink. A ramen that takes only the best of both? I couldn’t help wondering what that would taste like, so I went to find out.
Kurume ramen: Manshuya ga Ichiban
There are no photos of the ramen. I only realized I’d left my camera behind after I’d ordered. So I came back another day with the camera and just took a picture of the shop.
Not having a ramen photo isn’t really a problem, because it looks almost exactly like Hakata tonkotsu ramen. Same white broth, same thin noodles. The only difference is a special sauce spooned on top for a spicy, rich flavor (the concept seemed to be something like soy sauce mixed with gochujang). Looking at the broth alone it’s hardly different from Kumamoto ramen, but eating it, it makes a lot more sense than Kumamoto ramen does. There’s no need to go out of your way to make tonkotsu ramen, already delicious as it is, that aggressive. This strikes a nice balance, I think. So even though I’m on a hardcore pre-summer diet, I ordered an extra serving of noodles for the first time in ages. Next time I travel around Kyushu, it might be worth going out of my way to find the original.
That day I saw Transformers 2 at the cinema – and paid a whopping 1,800 yen for it!! – and the story was pretty sloppy.. Japanese cinemas are small, so you don’t get the big-screen thrill either.. But I can’t just stop going to the movies -_-;; I really need to go back to Korea more often..