Saturday, May 16, 2015

Shiogensui (Osaka-shi, Yodogawa-ku)

本店 塩元帥
ほんてん しおげんすい
Honten Shiogensui

Shio ramen: 16 / 20
(天然塩ラーメ)

Negi shio ramen: 15 / 20
(ねぎ塩ラーメン)

Plum shio ramen: 17 / 20
(梅塩ラーメン)

For the last day of my mother’s and sister’s visit in Osaka, I wanted to make them discover what is generally known as one of the best shio ramen in the area, Shiogensui. I had been to the Amagasaki branch a few months ago to try their shio tsukemen and had found it very convincing. Now it was time for some serious ramen comparison at their Minamikata branch. My mother ordered the regular shio ramen with ajitama, my sister the negi shio ramen with ajitama, and I ordered the plum shio ramen. Let’s review all of them together.


 


Broth: Shio ramen rarely have a very strong taste, but this one was intense enough – with some dried onions, as well as a little bit of yuzu (too little in my broth, IMO). The negi broth had a distinctive negi taste, and the plum one was infused by the umeboshi, which gave to it a delightful sourness. It is impressive how the taste could change with just one item more. The plum broth had my preference, but that might be a matter of personal taste.

Noodles: Thicker than most shio ramen’s noodles, with a very good texture, they don’t get soft too fast.

Egg: Excellent, slightly on the hard side - but that’s what you need in a shio ramen.

Meat: An excellent slice of chasu, very soft, with some melting fat.

Toppings: Some thin menma, mild and sweet. The plum in my broth had a very strong, salty taste and seemed to be of a quite high quality.

This is definitely one of the great shio ramen you will find around – on a par with Mendokoro Ginzasa or Shunmen Shirohachi in Tokyo. Do not miss it. Difficult also not to compare with Ganko in Osaka, as you can get a few twists in each (shrimp or dry onion in Ganko, plum or fresh onion in Shiogensui) - but I prefered the noodles, and especially the meat here at Shiogensui; overall, I found it more perfectly crafted. Note that they also have a branch next to Kyoto station, and another one close to Kansai airport (alas, not at the airport itself but in Izumisano).

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Friends in Ramen, The Japan Times, Philoramen (for the shio tsukemen)

No comments:

Post a Comment