So here’s one of the new Nissin Hong Kong straight noodle variants. I had to do a little looking to find what ‘aka tonkotsu’ was. Mainly the ‘aka’ part wasn’t something I’d heard of before. As it turned out, ‘aka’ refers to the spicy cod roe (eggs) in this one. Sounds interesting! Here’s a little about the tonkotsu style of broth from Wikipedia –
Tonkotsu ramen is a ramen dish that originated in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan, and it is a specialty dish in Fukuoka and Kyushu. It was originally prepared as an affordable fast food for laborers at fish markets. Today, it is renowned for the significant time it can take to properly prepare the dish. The soup broth is based upon pork bones and other ingredients, which is typically boiled for several hours, and the dish is traditionally served with ramen noodles that are hard in the center and topped with sliced pork belly. In Fukuoka, Japan, tonkotsu ramen is referred to as Hakata ramen.
The soup broth for tonkotsu ramen is based upon pork bones, and “tonkotsu” means “pork bones” in Japanese.[1][2][3] The soup broth is prepared by boiling pork bones in water for a significant amount of time, up to eight hours, and the broth is typically cloudy in appearance.[1][2][4] Additional broth ingredients can include onion, garlic, spring onions, ginger, pork back fat, pig’s trotters, oil and chicken carcasses.[1] For service, cooked ramen noodles and slices of roasted or braised pork belly are added, and additional ingredients can include kombu, shoyu, chili bean paste, sesame seeds and others.[1][2]
The traditional preparation method for the ramen noodles used in tonkotsu ramen is for the noodles to be hard in the center.[4] Some ramen shops allow customers to select the level of doneness for the noodles, including futsu for regular or standard, barigane for very hard, barikata for al dente and yawamen for soft.[4] Some restaurants also provide a second order of noodles if requested by the customer, in a system referred to as kaedama.[4]
Ichiran is a Japanese restaurant chain that originated and is based in Fukuoka, Japan that specifically specializes upon tonkotsu ramen.[5] Ippudo is a Japanese ramen restaurant chain based in Fukuoka that is well-known for its tonkotsu ramen, and has been described as “the most famous tonkotsu ramen shop in the country”.[4]
Tonkotsu ramen originated in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, which is located on the northern shore of Kyushu island of Japan, and it is a specialty dish in Fukuoka and Kyushu.[2][4] In Fukuoka, the dish is often referred to as Hakata ramen (博多ラーメン) as Hakata is the historical name of central Fukuoka.[2] The dish is prepared in ramen shops in all other regions of Japan.[2] Tonkotsu ramen was originally prepared as an affordable and easily-prepared fast food for laborers at fish markets.[4] In contemporary times, tonkotsu ramen is renowned for the significant time it can take to prepare a proper version of the dish.[1]
Okay that should fill you in pretty well! Let’s have a look at this aka tonkotsu variety!
Nissin Demae Ramen Bar Noodle Aka Tonkotsu Flavour Instant Noodle – Hong Kong
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). Note that this package contains two servings. Contains pork. To prepare, add noodles to 450ml boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Add in dry sachet and stir. Finally, add everything to a bowl and add liquid base sachet – stir and enjoy!
A bindle of straight noodles.
A dry base sachet.
A lot of light fluffy powder.
The oil sachet.
Thick and luxuriant.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, hard boiled egg, chashu pork and spring onion. The noodles have a very nice gauge and chewiness – not crumbly or rubbery. The broth has a very nice creamy tonkotsu to begin with and a nice spicy oil with a garlic punch. All around sumptuous and calming. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4897878850082.
A Concise History of Hong Kong (Critical Issues in World and International History)
I bought 2 packs of this because it looked interesting and according to the ingredients didn’t contain any fishy ingredients. Now you have me scared lol did you taste any fishyness? And if it does contain fishy stuff why do you think none are listed.