Hakata Nagahama Ramen (Dose of Vitamin P)

Ramen Japan

Kyushu-based chef Tsuyoshi Tanaka popped up with Hakata Nagahama Ramen at Mitsuwa.

Mitsuwa, a chain of Japanese supermarkets that extends from San Diego to Edgewater, New Jersey, regularly hosts compelling events. Vendors fly from Japan to feature their culinary specialties in existing food court stalls and pop-up stands. For the Kyushu Okinawa Fair, which showcased the foods of a particular island and prefecture in southern Japan, Kyushu-based chef Tsuyoshi Tanaka prepared Hakata Nagahama Ramen ($9.90). The cloudy tonkotsu ramen packed plenty of pork richness, but unlike some other bowls that are new to L.A., didn’t contain globs of pork fat, resulting in a more enjoyable aftermath. The bowl also contained firm, fat-rimmed slices of char siu, and thatches of crisp scallions and crunchy wood ear mushrooms. A table by the booth held a condiment bar that offered people the opportunity to pile on punchy red pickled ginger julienne, fiery mustard leaf, and a pungent garlic slurry. Really though, the basic ramen bowl needed little embellishment. Bonus: each bowl came with a sheet of nori offering thanks in over 10 languages. To this, I said, “You’re welcome,” and plunged the briny seaweed into the broth.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

Blog Comments

how do you think it compared to Tsujita?

Mattatouille, Tsujita’s flavor is more intense, but I certainly felt better after eating Hakata Nagahama Ramen. The latter would be a great addition to the L.A. ramen scene.

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