Merchandised at Ward Marukai next to the new Shoyu Ramen with Chicken Soup Base, was this here Miso Ramen with Fish Soup Base. Wow, we’re gettin’ low on the base! Boom-boom-boom. Boom-boom-boom (to the tune of Black Eyed Peas). lol
This is another nama ramen product made for Yamachan of Japan by Nippon Food Service, Inc.. in San Jose, California. Luckily as I discovered with the their Shoyu Ramen with Chicken Base, being made in the USA doesn’t necessarily mean it will taste “Americanized”. It’s very authentic to ramen you’ll find right in Tokyo. Now let’s find out how their take on Miso Ramen is.
First of all I’ll have to admit I’m not a fan of Miso ramen. I LOVE Miso Soup. Love the stuff. But when it comes to ramen that’s miso-flavored? Nah, not my favorite. Yet I’ll still eat it. Besides, even so-so ramen can arguably be better in my mind than a really good burger. That’s how much I love the stuff!
Knowing my somewhat bias there on the get go, let’s move on and see what we’ve got, looking now at the back of the package…
I’m not about to retype all those ingredients, so if you want, go ahead and click on that photo to read what’s in it.
Without reading that, we do know that A: there’s miso paste in it; and B: it has a fish soup base. Namely from Bonito extract, or Dashi if you will.
Like most packages of nama ramen, it includes 2 servings….
Not really the most appetizing thing to look at, here’s the Miso and bonito soup base in the bowl, ready for some hot water…
Add 1-1/4 cup of boiling water, and you got your Miso Ramen broth…
Just like miso soup, notice the clouding effect as it moves within the current of the stirred water. Hey, that almost sounded poetic. “Like horses galloping on a wide open plain into the yonder, as the sunset kisses another day goodbye.” lol
I decided to add a boiled egg to this bowl of ramen, so killing two birds with one stone (no pun intended), I boiled the egg along with the noodles…
Add the noodles to the broth, then the garnish, including charsiu (Chinese style), menma (marinated bamboo shoots), negi (green onion) and tamago (egg), and voila, Miso Ramen, Yamachan style with fish soup base….
Hai, itadakimasu!…
You know what? Even though I said I don’t really care for miso-flavored ramen, I’m kinda’ diggin’ this one! If I drink the broth by itself I still don’t care for it, but when eaten with the eggy-flavored noodles, charsiu and menma, it’s pretty good! It certainly doesn’t taste simply like miso soup with noodles in it, but has a much more complex flavor thanks to all the other “stuff” they have in the soup base; most notably the bonito. While in my humble opinion, the Shoyu Ramen with Chicken Soup base is much, much better, for those who are fans of Miso Ramen, I think they’ll be pleased with this offering from Yamachan.
The noodles had the same qualities I explained in the last post on its, ehem, I’ll dare to say, BIGGER BROTHER lol, the Shoyu Ramen. Al dente, silky, with that distinctive “eggy” flavor, while only faintly being able to tell they were previously frozen.
Summing it up, in highly biased opinion towards Shoyu Ramen, I still give Yamachan’s Miso Ramen with Fish Soup Base a very solid 2 SPAM Musubi (good!).
What? Yamachan Miso Ramen with Miso Flavor Fish Soup Base
Who makes it? Nippon Food Trends, Inc. in San Jose, California, for Yamachan of Japan
Where did you buy it and how much did it cost? Ward Marukai. $2.49 per 11.43 oz. package (2 servings)
Big shaka to: Good enough to make a non-fan of Miso flavored ramen smile. Broth flavor has an authentic Japanese ramen shop complexity to it. Noodles are al dente, silky, with that distinctive “eggy” flavor.
No shaka to: Being biased against anything other than Tokyo style Shoyu Ramen.
The Tasty Island rating: 2 SPAM Musubi
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looks like some good stuff. getting a craving for some ramen. looks more like a one serving to me
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Calvin, yeah, that’s just one of the two servings in that bowl. Sometimes when I’m really hungry I’ll cook both servings, but then I end up throwing away some noodles. 2 servings is a little too much for me.
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Pomai, I don’t know the different between saimin and ramen. In last entry you wrote yyou don’t like kamaboko in ramen only in saimin to me it the same noodle soup. No matter I still eat it.
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Kimo, no, no, NO! Ramen and Saimin are not the same! Saimin is exclusively a Hawaii dish that’s a result of the plantation era; most likely from Chinese and Japanese workers. While Ramen is exclusively Japanese.
The noodles, broth and garnishes are all different. Saimin’s noodles don’t have as much of that “eggy” flavor to them, while also having a little bit different texture to it. Also, saimin broth is usually dashi-based, along with some other flavorings that certain places use. Usually shrimp. While ramen broth is much, much more complex involving hours of simmering either pork or chicken bones and other “secrets” each shop employs to call it their own.
Then you have the garnishes, where saimin uses chinese style charsiu, while ramen uses Japanese style Chashu. Lots of local saimin shops also put either ham or SPAM in there, while obviously that’s not something commonly found in a Japanese ramen shop, although I wouldn’t doubt it exists somewhere in Japan. Which they probably aptly name “Hawaiian Ramen”. lol
While Kamaboko isn’t necessarily NEVER used in it, it’s not as commonly found in Japanese Ramen as it is in Saimin. Good ramen shops use Japanese Negi, which are that really large variety, and they’ll only use the white stock part cut into very thin slices. Saimin uses regular green onion, although I don’t mind regular green onion in my ramen as well. The only thing as said earlier that I don’t care for in Ramen is Kamaboko. For me it just doesn’t match as well as it does in saimin.
I think the most defining garnish next to the chashu in GOOD Ramen is the Menma, which are bamboo shoots marinaded in a sweetened shoyu. Something I’ve never ever seen in saimin from a restaurant here.
I’m not knocking saimin, but just pointing out the differences. Shoots, Zippy’s Zip Min? Hook me up!
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Pomai Brah, mahalo for clearing it up for me. An S & S Saimin guy since a kid had no ideal at all. But funny die hard me still eat whatever in ramen or saimin bowl.
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hello,
i am doing a project and i am designing a new flavor for this ramen i need to have the exact same pictures for the how you make it, and i cant see the last picture very well, can you please send me a better pic of it, please? i have look all over the internet and this is the only back of the package in english that i could find.thanks,
Lena -
oh yes also i can not just go buy it at my local supermarket because they dont sell that brand in canada. :/
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Lena,
Are you referring to the photo of the back of the package with the step-by-step instructions? If so, that’s the only shot I have of that particular product.Perhaps this one of the Yamachan Shoyu Ramen is a little better….
http://tastyislandhawaii.com/blog/2010/01/23/yamachan-shoyu-ramen-with-chicken-soup-base/I’ve done a number of reviews on ‘Nama Ramen’ which are the fresh noodle type such as this one from Yamachan. See my index page and look under ‘Product Reviews’ for Nama Ramen brands made by Myojo, Yamachan and Sun Noodle. There’s bound to be some photos in there that may be of use to you.
Otherwise, tell me exactly what kind of photo of the ramen package you want, and I’ll be more than happy to take it for you. I have plenty more packages in my freezer!
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that works wonderfully! thank you soo very much! :>
Lena
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