Tonkotsu, ichiraku, miso.... Kochi’s growing appetite for ramen

Discover the ramen craze in Kochi with a variety of flavourful options to satisfy your tastebuds.

Extremely curious about the buzz around ramen, we headed to Tony’s Kitchen at Kacheripady, in Kochi, where we were greeted with a visual treat and a surprise for the tastebuds.

Miso ramen arrives in a white ramen bowl. Under the dark broth hides the noodles, placed on it were four slices of chicken and a couple of shiitake mushrooms; the runny yolk of a half boiled egg cuts a path across it, mixing with the broth. A sheet of seaweed (nori), chopped spring onion and a sprinkling of sesame seeds complete the beautiful picture.

Kochi is wearing its love for ramen on its sleeve as every Asian restaurant and even some cafes have added this soupy noodles dish, which is of Chinese origin but more famously integral to Japanese and Korean cuisine, to their menu. The popularity of Japanese anime and manga alongside K and J-drama has fuelled this appetite for ramen especially post-pandemic.

Abhishek Puthenveettil, cluster manager of Pandhal Café and Deli, says ramen is popular due to its rich flavours which, when combined with a variety of broths, proteins, and toppings makes it a filling, balanced meal of sorts. It is as comforting as it is versatile, and can be customised to suit different palates.

An employee of Nasi and Mee adds, “Ramen is flavourful. Some people get addicted to the flavour while others, who are new to Asian cuisine, may not like it as the broth is processed differently from how Indian food is prepared. The broth is slow cooked: the chicken is cooked for almost five hours.”

Little Soi, the pan-Asian restaurant at Panampilly Nagar, is known for their Ichiraku ramen. Yes! It is the same ramen that Naruto Uzumaki slurps in the anime series Naruto.

So, what is Ichiraku ramen?