Ippudo Tonkotsu Instant Ramen – Mind-Blowing Broth, Comes Really Close to The Real Thing!

My experience of Japanese instant noodles has been awesome so far, and in this article I will be reviewing the Ippudo Instant Ramen. I bought it at a 7-Eleven store in Shinjuku, Tokyo. As expected, this instant ramen was super delicious and satisfying. In fact, I think it comes pretty close to the real Ippudo ramen!

Ippudo Tonkotsu Instant Ramen

For the unfamiliar, Ippudo is a famous ramen restaurant in Japan with branches across the world. It is famous for its rich and fragrant tonkotsu ramen.

The Ippudo Tonkotsu Instant Ramen is a collaboration between Ippudo, Nissin and 7-Eleven in Japan. It comes in quite a big bowl at 440ml.

According to some online sources, this instant ramen has been around since 2000! I can’t believe that I only got to know about it when I saw it at a 7-Eleven store during my recent Tokyo trip.

Where To Buy

I bought my Ippudo Instant Ramen (along with the Tsuta and Nakiryu instant ramens) at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

It should be available at most major convenience stores in Japan. It cost JPY 350, which is about SGD 4.20.

For Singaporeans, you can order a set of four from Airfrov. It is also available on Qoo10. However, you must be prepared to pay a premium due to shipping costs.

How to Cook Ippudo Instant Ramen

Using google translate to decipher the Japanese instructions

The preparation instructions for the Ippudo Instant Ramen were completely in Japanese.

Therefore, I had to use the Google Translate app to figure out how to cook this bowl of instant noodles (yea dedication).

Step 1. I peeled off the lid halfway, and took out the five colourful packets inside. In case you’re interested, below are the contents of the packets:

• The transparent packet contains a thick slice of charshu.
• The black packet contains the garnishings.
• The orange packet contains the soup stock powder.
• The green packet is the “liquid soup”, which is some kind of seasoning sauce.
• The red packet contains both the black soy sauce AND the spicy miso sauce.

Step 2. I put the contents of the black packet and the piece of charshu into the bowl, and poured boiling water up to the line (440ml). Do NOT pour in the contents of the three other packets at this point because this will cause the noodles to stick together.

Step 3. Next, I closed the lid and placed the green and red packets on the lid to heat them up (Japanese ingenuity).

Step 4. Three minutes later, I poured in the contents of the orange packet and stirred to dissolve the powder. Then I poured in the contents of the green packet and stirred again.

Step 5. Finally, I poured in the contents of the red packet, and mixed everything together well. And that was it!

My Verdict

large chunk of charshu

The tonkotsu broth was what stole the show for me. It was creamy and fragrant with a rich tonkotsu flavour, and a perfect tinge of feistiness. In fact, to me the broth tasted like it had been simmered for a few hours, instead of being created just a while ago with a few packets of instant ingredients.

The noodles had a slippery texture and a firm bite – if you prefer softer noodles you may not like this. However, I really liked it. It was a joy to slurp on these noodles with the savoury broth!

I was really impressed by the charshu meat. The thick glistening slice of meat looked really tantalising. Taste-wise, it had a very smooth texture, along with a slightly savoury flavour. However, I wouldn’t go so far as to say it tasted like real meat, because it had a slightly spongy texture. But as far as instant noodles meats go, this is definitely premium stuff.

The garnishings tasted pretty normal, but they added some colour to the instant noodles.

Conclusion

I was seriously satisfied after slurping down my savoury bowl of Ippudo Instant Ramen. In fact, if this instant ramen was served to me in a normal bowl, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that it was instant noodles. The pork broth was the highlight for me – I really enjoyed its rich, creamy and savoury flavour. The Japanese are really lucky to have this instant ramen in their country. Hopefully one day I will be able to buy this in Singapore too!

Ippudo Tonkotsu Instant Ramen
Price: JPY 300, Sold at 7-Eleven Stores in Japan

This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!