A ramen place worth knowing

THERE’S a whole lot of ramen places sprouting all over Metro Cebu, but if there’s one you should try, it’s Ramen Yushoken.

A favorite in the Manila food scene, Ramen Yushoken recently opened its doors to Cebuanos at the Oakridge Business Park on A.S. Fortuna St. in Mandaue City. The restaurant carries an urban Japanese vibe that’s laid out to allow a dynamic flow of staff and for freshly prepared food to arrive at the patrons’ table in no time.

There’s much to choose from and it can be overwhelming to run through the entire menu: from soupless ramen that’s cold (Hiyashi Chuka) or hot (Maze Soba), if not dry (Tsukemen) with dipping sauce, to the side dishes like marinated half-boiled egg (Aji Tamago), pork dumplings (Gyoza), fried boneless chicken thigh (Karaage), and mixed fried rice (Chahan).

Ramen Yushoken, of course, specializes in Tonkotsu, pork-bone broth boiled for 12 hours. Since all their soups have Tonkotsu, what differentiates Ramen Yoshuken’s four main dishes? It’s the taré, or base sauce, and there are four kinds:

Shio. The most basic, the salt-based shio is tonkotsu at its purest.
Shoyu. Bolder than shio, shoyu is soy sauce-based.

Tantanmen. Delicate yet bold, tantanmen has sesame paste with chili oil and ground pork.

Miso. Blended with seven different kinds of miso or soy been paste, this is the most rich, complex and flavorful tonkotsu.

What makes Ramen Yushoken’s noodles even more special are the noodles the restaurant itself makes. Here’s a tip: make sure to enjoy your ramen while the noodles are al dente, the broth piping hot, and with those chopsticks, slurp away! (NSV/With PR)