Kagoshima ramen
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Kagoshima ramen (鹿児島ラーメン) is a kind of ramen dish which is offered in Kagoshima Prefecture, in southern Japan.
Main ingredients
Its soup is mainly based on tonkotsu (pork bone broth). It is a little cloudy, and chicken stock, vegetables, dried sardines, kelp and dried mushrooms are added. Kagoshima Ramen is the only ramen which is not influenced by Kurume ramen for geographical and historical reasons[citation needed]. The size of the noodle is a bit thicker than normal. Compared with other local varieties of ramen, the size of the noodle and the taste of the soup are very different; each shop has separate recipes. It is served with pickled daikon.[citation needed]
There are a lot of shops which have had miso ramen on the menu for a long time in Kagoshima. However, its taste is different from Sapporo ramen. It is called Kagoshima style miso ramen. Kyushu ramen usually incorporates pale tonkotsu soup, although not exclusively. Some Kagoshima ramen use brown soup. Generally, Kagoshima ramen focuses on the harmony of every stock which makes the soup milder. The original shop for Kagoshima ramen, Noboruya, was opened in 1947. It is not nationally known, but popular locally.
Ramen shops in Kagoshima City
There are many famous ramen shops in Tenmonkan, in central Kagoshima.
Noboruya
Here there is only one type of ramen. It is considered the root of Kagoshima ramen and one of the oldest ramen shops in Kagoshima. The recipe of the ramen was learnt from a Chinese patient as a reward when the founder, a nurse, was in Yokohama. She could not forget the taste and completed it after trial and error in her home town, Kagoshima.
Komurasaki
This shop was nationally known since the first boom of localized ramen in the 1970s. Its taste is Komurasaki style rather than Kagoshima ramen; therefore, the taste is unique. Even for people who love Kagoshima ramen and live in Kagoshima City, the difference between the two ramens is distinct, with different ingredients. For example, there are shredded cabbage, boiled pork, and dried mushrooms. In addition, its soup is a bit more salty and the noodles are softer. The founder might have been a Taiwanese Chinese. The owner of "Komurasaki", which is in Kokubu-cho, Sendai-city, in the Tohoku are of northern Japan first received his training at this shop. Incidentally, it does not have any connection with the old ramen shops in Kumamoto of the same name.
Wadaya
Wadaya is famous for a special miso-ramen drizzled with safflower oil just before it is served. Japanese celebrities from Kagoshima are said to come to eat its ramen whenever they return home. Also, the shop is known for its good hospitality, giving souvenirs away to tourists.
Zabon-ramen
Zabon ramen has its roots in a restaurant which was inside old Nishi-Kagoshima station, and some people say that this is typical Kagoshima ramen. However, it is more popular among tourists than local people. At this shop, waiters always advise customers to stir the noodle into the soup well. It impresses the customers, especially visitors, since this is not generally said in ramen shops. It had some other outlets in Kagoshima, but strangely the Yojiro branch has a higher popularity than the others. Sometimes people can be seen in long lines there at lunch time.
Ramen shops outside Kagoshima
Kagoshima ramen chain "Lapasha" (らっぱしゃ) has shops outside of Kagoshima. It is the only restaurant selling Kagoshima ramen in Kanto, with outlets in Mito, Ibaraki and Ichikawa, Chiba.