Name: What is Tonkotsu Ramen?
Uploaded: 2020-10-21T19:15:36.000Z
Duration: 10 min 53 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

S: So we are here in Kurume Ramen Sei Yo Ken

S: We have travelled out of Tokyo all the way down to Fukuoka, and then we went from Fukuoka to Kurume

S: So we are having Tonkotsu Ramen today.

M: This place is beyond legit. It started in 1952.

M: Someone started a street stall, and they started this original kind of Ramen.

M: They have this recipe that's been passed on forever, S: Uh-huh, yeah M: it's older than us.

M: I feel like this is the first official real Japanese Ramen video we're putting out there, aren't we?

S: We have been in Japan for a year now, and we didn't want to rush a Ramen kind of video... but here comes the ramen!

M: Simon's like, "I don't want to rush it!" (sheep noise?)

M: So we ordered their two special Ramens on the menu.

M: This one here is one that's actually richer, so they use kinda like the pork fat from the back,

M: and they boil it down and then they add it into it to make it like, much creamier.

M: ...and Simon has the one that doesn't have that in it, so it's not as rich.

S: ...we have to start eating this right away because Ramen has a very fast time limit,

S: it starts going soggy if you talk for too long, so let's just eat this and show you what it's about.

M: The noodles get all bloated and everything.

S: Okay. Don't be grossed out, but the pork bone that we're actually eating is pork skull.

S: So in their - M: [we're] not eating the skull, but...

S: In their vat of broth is just water, and the skull of a pig. (M: mmm-hmm)

S: ...and they left in the brain and they left in the eyes, because it gives a sweetness to the broth,

S: and that's all the seasoning that you have!

M: How amazing is the restaurant, they have a little basket with hair elastics!

S: Hey, you know that a girl is serious if she looks in the eyes, puts her hair back in a ponytail, and starts slurping down some wet noodles.

S: I'm only talking about Ramen, get your head out of the gutter.

S: Let's start! (Itadakimasu) M: Itadakimasu!

M: OOoh I can see little pieces of the pork fat floating 'round in here!

M: ...this is like... S: I don't have any in mine! M: That's because you didn't get the rich one. Try this, ready?

S: Those are like, little, fried bits... M: Little tiny fried bits of like, pork rind magic.

S: That tastes like pork rinds. M: It is pork rinds!

S: It's just pork rinds in the soup. (M: It is pork rinds.)

(M: Oh my god) S: It's so... ri- I don't know how to explain this flavor, because I don't really have broths like this back in North America.

S: It's creamy, and rich, but it's not like, milk creamy. (M: mmhmm.)

S: The closest equivalent is like a cream of mushroom soup. That's the... that's the only taste that I remember, that... that this is kind of like.  M: (continuous yummy noises)

M: Well, the key with this kind of soup is the collagen.

M: So this particular shop boils it, for like, three days, until everything has broken down.

M: It's actually pretty healthy for you, technically.

M: All those nutritions, and then carbs and noodles.

S: Can you say it's pretty healthy with all those S&M: Carbs and noodles?

S: I gotta say I'm really embarrassed, when it comes to eating Ramen noodles, because I don't know how to do it right.

S: All of my friends, they can just put a bunch in their mouth, slurp it down-

S: And the whole point of slurping is that you don't want to wait for it to cool down, so you're breathing in so that it cools it down.

S: ...but I just keep on choking on my noodles

M: Okay watch. Take it like this, I grab it with my teeth, and I pull the noodles up the bottom, while I catch it in my teeth doing this: (sucks in at through teeth) ...like that.

(romantic tune overlaying Martina slurping grossly)

M: Why're you making a face like that? S: No!

M: ...and what has to be one of our all time favorite additions is a' the hanjku tamago.

M: A perfectly soft boiled-ish egg (music in background: Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus')

M: with...I don't know how they make this magical center look like this.

M: Now, one of the things about Ramen that's so amazing it that it really changes according to where you are.

M: So Tokyo noodles are different, than noodles that you might found[find] like out in Fukuoka, versus Kyoto.

M: The noodles here are cut really, really thin, (S: slurping continuously)

M: ...and supposedly, that's because originally it started by a bunch of guys that were down by the docks that were fishermen, wanting to eat their stuff quickly.

M: ...and so if you have a thick noodle it's difficult to eat, but if they're thin, you can just kinda shovel that down. S: (slurping loudly)

S: So that's apparently where the thin, straight cut noodles came from here.

M: This is actually my style of noodle when it comes to Ramen. This is what I prefer.

S: ...and everybody has a different preference when it comes to Ramen.

S: A lot of our Japanese friends aren't that fond of Tonkotsu Ramen, they prefer something like a Shio or a Shoyu

S: ...because they fine Tonkotsu Ramen too rich and too thick.

S: ...and I think they're crazy because this is just insanely delicious. M: (mm's in agreement)

S: The... the other kinds of ramen that I had like Shio or Shoyu are... all right.... but I always prefer Tonkotsu.

S: ...and supposedly, according to my Japanese friends, most Westerners prefer Tonkotsu.

M: ...and we've had Tonkotsu Ramen before in Tokyo. I found it really heavy, and oily,

M: So when I ate it... it was like eating fat gob-lets on top. (S: slurping in agreement)

M: It always made my stomach feel a bit ill.

S: (noises of agreement) M: This is very different.

M: This almost tastes like a chicken soup.

M: Like that kind of homemade chicken flavor. It doesn't have a heavy, greasy taste whatsoever.

M: Simon's about to chow down on what looks like some kind of noodle or meat, but it is not, it is actually a bamboo shoot.

M: This is Menma. S: I love Menma. Martina's not fond of it, so she doesn't have that much in her's.

M: It depends on the location! So, some places I find the Menma is quite over powering, because it's usually like a fermented one,

M: or it's been soaked in a sauce, while other places I find it quite fresh and crunchy.

M: ...and that's what's cool about Ramen, is you can get a lot of them customizable.

M: This is Chyashu, which I'm sure I'm not pronouncing properly.

M: But basically it's just a really thinly sliced pork that goes into it.

M: If you're at a bad location, it'll be tough, it'll be chewy... it'll taste like it's just been way over cooked and you're like; (nyang nyang nyang (tough chewing noises))

M: If you're at a great place, like this, it's gonna fall apart in your mouth.