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Locally owned ramen shops can be found spread out all across Japan. In fact, some of the best flavors aren’t found at the big chain restaurants, but at the hole-in-the-wall shops that you might never even notice without a proper introduction. Hence, we’d like to make it our duty to tell you about an amazing, little ramen joint in Aomori Prefecture, which is famous for its miso flavored curry milk ramen.

When we at RocketNews24 first heard about this place, we couldn’t imagine how so many different flavors could possibly achieve good balance within a single bowl of noodles, so we sent one of our adventurous Japanese reporters, Mami Kuroi, to try it out. Here’s what she had to say about the experience.

Several minutes walk from Aomori Station is a privately owned ramen shop called Taste of Sapporo Onishi. Now, those of you who know your Japanese geography might be wondering why a restaurant serving one of Aomori’s staple dishes is named after the largest city in Hokkaido, but we’ll get to that later. First, let’s focus on the flavor.

When Mami first entered the humble noodle shop, she was decidedly nervous. Her heart beat fast as she placed an order for miso flavored curry milk ramen with butter, and the continuous sound of cooking vegetables echoed in her ears. By the very sound of the item’s menu listing, she expected to regret taking a taste.

A few minutes later, a steaming bowl was placed before our anxious reporter. The ramen broth was a yellowish color, giving off the impression of curried soup. Mami could see bean sprouts, roasted pork, and seaweed garnish piled above its surface, and the dish was then topped with a pad of butter.

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Cautiously, Mami started in on the dish by sipping at the soup. And against all of her expectations, it was absolutely delicious! The spice of the curry was first to stimulate the palate, but was soon soothed by the mild flavor of milk filling her mouth. At the end came the sharp tang of miso and butter to round out the dish. The noodles and the sautéed bean sprout were also a perfect complement to the complex soup, and the texture of the roasted pork matched well with the chewy consistency of the noodles. Overall, the dish was more than just moderately tasty, it was absolutely superb!

However, there was still one problem that Mami had with the place. She couldn’t understand why a restaurant serving a specialty of Aomori would be named after Sapporo! Thankfully, the store owner was happy to answer her questions about the ramen shop’s origins.

Basically, the family that initially founded the restaurant actually came from Sapporo! They wanted the residents of Aomori to experience the flavor of their delicious ramen and further developed it to be an Aomori specialty. When Mami took a look around the restaurant and its steady stream of customers, even at the awkward hours between lunch and dinner, she could tell that the locals really loved the little ramen shop and were happy to have adopted it as their own.

Reference: Taste of Sapporo
Images: RocketNews24

▼ Here’s a closer look at the miso curry milk ramen’s toppings!

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▼ Those golden noodles look really tasty!

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▼ Ume, Japanese apricots, are free if you want them.

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▼ And finally, here’s a look at the storefront!

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[ Read in Japanese ]