Eat big and eat light at the same time.

As the temperature continues to rise in Japan, people’s appetites tend to diminish. So, in the summer, we sometimes turn to classic dishes like somen chilled noodles as a light and refreshing way to get some energy when we just can’t stomach a heavy meal.

We aren’t quite at that level of heat yet, so our reporter Takashi Harada has been trying to sneak in as many bowls of Iekei ramen as possible. Iekei is a popular style of ramen that originated in Yokohama and has a few notable features. The first is its incredibly rich broth, made with pork, chicken, and soy sauce all together. This soup is often balanced by some leafy greens like spinach, and is commonly eaten with a side of rice. It also comes with several sheets of seaweed that you can dip in the soup and eat with the rice.

▼ Some Iekei ramen from Korakuen Iekei Ramen Truck Yaro

It’s an addictively decadent dish, but might be hard to stomach when the heatwaves hit, so Takashi was hoping to get a bowl while the getting was good. However, as he approached one of his favorite chains, Yokohama Iekei Ramen Ichikakuya, he spotted something even more compelling.

Hiyashi Ichiro appeared to be a chilled version of Iekei ramen for 960 yen, and unlike other chilled noodle dishes, this was fully loaded with toppings. There wasn’t really a choice for our reporter anymore, and he pressed the Hiyashi Ichiro button on the ticket machine before heading to the counter. 

The staff asked if he wanted a side of rice, and it gave him pause. Normally, he would always get rice with his Iekei ramen, but would it work with this new style?

Takashi decided to keep an open mind and go with the flow by choosing the rice. At Ichikakuya, the rice was complementary during certain times anyway, so it was no skin off his back.

The transparent bowl the ramen came in gave it a very refreshing vibe, but the pile of toppings completely obscuring the noodles kept it in a true Iekei style.

And like other Iekei ramen, this had a beef-based soup. It wasn’t quite as dense but still full of flavor. The plentiful vegetables like cabbage, bean sprouts, and mustard greens helped to tighten the flavor in a very crisp package that never felt too heavy.

It was a very nice bowl of chilled ramen, and Takashi would have been satisfied with that alone. However, there was another stage to this meal to place it firmly in the Iekei realm of decadence. Though optional, Ichikakuya recommends adding chili oil and mayonnaise for extra zing.

Not one to turn down a recommendation, Takashi put a dab of each on his noodles. He had a fair idea of what to expect from this, but was still completely blown away by how well it blended with the original flavor of the ramen.

He felt a little guilty pushing his meal firmly into junk food territory, but it was an amazing taste experience in the end. Up until this point, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his rice since this ramen didn’t come with squares of seaweed, but the chili-mayo-soaked noodles solved that mystery.

It was a taste made in heaven, and our writer left feeling not only satisfied by the portions but also the various dining experiences he felt in a single meal for under 1,000 yen. His only complaint was that after eating all that, he felt really sleepy in the afternoon, so be careful if you try it during a lunch break.

Otherwise, Hiyashi Ichiro will be on sale at the Ichikakuya until 30 September, making for an excellent alternative to hot ramen during the extremely hot weather of summer in Japan.

Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

[ Read in Japanese ]