Marutai Kumamoto Tonkotsu Ramen with Browned Garlic and Black Garlic Sesame Oil

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Marutai Kumamoto Tonkotsu Ramen with Browned Garlic and Black Garlic Sesame Oil

Last weekend, my husband finally cooked this Marutai Kumamoto Tonkotsu Ramen (マルタイ熊本とんこつラーメン). This instant ramen has browned garlic (焦がしニンニク). Kuro mayu (黒マー油) is black oil made from sesame oil and browned garlic. According to Wikipedia, tonkotsu ramen originated in Kurume city in Fukuoka prefecture, which is located next to Kumamoto prefecture. While Kurume tonkotsu ramen has rich pork bone based soup, Kumamoto tonkotsu ramen is made from a large amount of garlic to reduce smell of strong pork bone.

Marutai Kumamoto Tonkotsu Ramen

Because my hometown is Southern Fukuoka, I visited Kumamoto for sightseeing so many times such as Kikuchi Valley (菊池渓谷). However, I've never had tonkotsu ramen there. In Japan, some ramen restaurants use kuro mayu, Kumamoto style black oil, so I've had kuro mayu tonkotsu ramen some times in Japan. By the way, the beige map on this package (photo below) is Kyushu (九州), which is the most southwesterly of four main islands of Japan. The blue area on the map is Kumamoto (熊本), a prefecture of Kyusyu Island.

Each pack of Marutai Bou Ramen series always has two servings of instant noodles and soup.

First cook dried instant ramen noodles.

Then, add tonkotsu soup powder and black oil.

Serve noodles and a cooked egg in a large ramen bowl.

Add soup in it.

Top it with chopped green onion.

Add shredded red ginger, kizami shoga.

Enjoy!

Marutai Kumamoto Tonkotsu Ramen

I was really surprised that Marutai Kumamoto tonkotsu ramen tasted really good! It had savory delicious garlic flavor. :) Marutai Kyushu series has four kinds of tonkotsu ramen, Hakata, Kurume, Kagoshima and Kumamoto. I thought that Kumamoto one was the best in Marutai tonkotsu ramen!

Marutai Kyushu Ramen Series has eight kinds of local ramen from Kyushu Island. Finally, I tried all 8 kinds of ramen! :) Actually, I really loved all of them, but next time, I'll share three my most favorite ramen from Marutai Kyushu Ramen Series with you. :)

Marutai Kyushu Ramen Series

Amazon US finally started selling Marutai Kyushu Ramen Series! However, this set of Kyushu Series only has 7 kinds of Marutai Kyushu Ramen. It doesn't contain Kurume ramen... However, if you are interested in Marutai Kyushu Ramen, this is a great set to try. It has 14 servings of Marutai ramen. :) If you are in Japan, you can find these Marutai ramen at Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ), which is also called Donki (ドンキ), one of the biggest Japanese discount chain stores in Japan.