The 'This Is My Ramen' That Makes You Want to Eat

Perhaps you are
a bit tired of ramen that people say is delicious just because it's famous.

When people think of Fukushima ramen, they think of Kitakata.
That's what has been ingrained in us, and it really is delicious.
But I am a Shirakawa partisan.

When I first ate ramen at 'Tora Shokudo',
honestly, it was a shock.

It wasn't flashy,
but it was completely different from any ramen I had eaten before.

A clear soy sauce soup.
It's powerful, yet gentle.
The hand-kneaded curly noodles,
as if to say 'I'm right here',
bring the soup along with them.

'I never knew such ramen existed.'
At the same time I thought that,
'Why didn't I know about this until now?'
I also thought.

I learned later.
Fukushima has two ramen cultures.
Kitakata and Shirakawa.
Even though they are in the same prefecture, their origins, noodles, and
soups are different.

What captured my heart
was undoubtedly Shirakawa ramen.

But I can't go to Fukushima that often.
Even if I could go,
whether or not I can eat it after waiting in line is a matter of luck.

At that time,
I heard that a Tora Shokudo-style shop had opened in Utsunomiya,
where I often went for business trips.
It was a shop called 'Miura'.

The bowl I ate with half expectation and half anxiety
was truly that Shirakawa taste.

After taking one sip of the soup,
I thought, 'Ah, this is it.'

Without having to go far,
I was just happy
to be able to meet that taste again.

Shirakawa ramen isn't flashy.
But once you properly face it,
you won't be able to forget it.

If you are someone who wants to cherish
the things you can quietly say 'I like this' about,
then Shirakawa ramen will surely suit you.

Perhaps I will continue to
lower my voice just a little
whenever the topic of ramen comes up,
and keep saying, 'I'm a Shirakawa partisan.'