Recreating Mizutamari Bond Tommy's Cup Noodles with Pork Belly Fat

According to Ryuji, Tommy has appeared on this channel before. At first, Ryuji thought, "I don't really get why Tommy would put out cup noodles," but was convinced after learning the background. Kuroshio Ramen, a ramen shop in Chiba that appears in Tommy's videos, is involved, and Tommy used to work part-time there. The product made in partnership with that shop is the "Baka Hodo Seabura Kuro Ramen," sold exclusively at the drugstore chain Welcia.

The manufacturer is New Touch (Yamadai), and Ryuji had just recently done a batch review of the company's "Sugomen" series. The New Touch back-fat soy sauce ramen eaten at that time was very tasty, aside from a bothersome green onion smell. For that reason, Ryuji said this one also seemed promising.

The price is 354 yen. Ryuji felt that something in the 350-yen range is on the pricey side for Welcia. The conversation also turned to memories of cheap cup noodles. During office-worker days, Ryuji would stock up on 100-yen "My Friend" noodles, and back then, earning barely 3 million yen a year if that, even Cup Noodle was a luxury item.

Inside were fairly thin straight noodles with chashu, and a liquid soup to be added after cooking. After pouring in hot water and waiting five minutes, Ryuji added the soup and ate. Ryuji and the staff both found the balance between the sharp soy sauce and the oiliness of the back fat to be extremely good. Ryuji repeated that it was tastier than anything eaten in the Sugomen review and that it was a waste to sell it only at Welcia. The staff member also said it is rare to be this moved by cup noodles.

The nutrition label lists 7.0 g of salt and 421 kcal. While eating, Ryuji guessed that "they're not using anything particularly special," and on that basis called it "possibly revolutionary." As the reason for continuing to drink the soup, Ryuji pointed to the strong presence of dried sardine powder, and decided, "If it's this good, maybe I'll try recreating it." In the end, Ryuji ranked it by far number one among all the collab ramen eaten so far, adding, "I'll tell Tommy it's insanely good."

The soup section of the ingredient list includes lard, soy sauce, salt, pork extract, garlic paste, mackerel flake extract and dried sardine powder. While saying "this is tough," Ryuji had bought dried sardines and figured that with those, it would be possible to get quite close.

The biggest challenge is the back fat. Ryuji cut out only the fattiest parts from pork belly and minced them finely as a substitute for raw back fat. The remaining lean meat can be used in stir-fries and other dishes. Since the goal is to get fat, the idea is to extract only the fatty parts. Because the cup noodles contained it in "baka hodo" (ridiculous) amounts, Ryuji cut a bit extra to bring it to about 35–40 g, saying, "I feel like it won't be as good as that unless I go this far."

For the noodles, Ryuji chose Marutai stick ramen because the thickness is similar. Ryuji also mentioned how cheap it is, saying it would be fine to make Marutai one of the day's meals.

The plan was 300 cc of water, but Ryuji used 320 cc to account for reduction. The minced fat goes in. Three dried sardines are used; Ryuji removed the heads and pulled out the innards from the belly before adding them to the pot, because the innards are bitter and the cup noodles had no bitterness. If you have powdered dried sardines, Ryuji says you can use those instead.

In place of pork extract, Ryuji added 2/3 teaspoon of Chūka Aji. In place of garlic paste, 5 g of garlic was grated and added. Simmer until the fat softens. Skimming the scum is optional. With no mackerel flakes on hand, Ryuji substituted dried sardines. Ideally the sardines should be powdered, but that's a hassle, so this time they were simmered whole. The sardines soften when simmered and can be eaten as is.

About 1 tablespoon of lard was added. No pepper goes in, because the cup noodles didn't taste of spices, and this preserves the character of the soup. One more thing Ryuji declared "definitely this" was Hi-Me. Since the soup had a refined MSG-seasoning flavor, Ryuji decided to use it.

Ryuji started with teaspoons of soy sauce, but it wasn't enough. In the end, a substantial 2 tablespoons went in. Hi-Me got 8 shakes; Ryuji's view was that without this much, the flavor wouldn't come close. Sugar was also deemed necessary, starting with 1/3 teaspoon.

On tasting, Ryuji said, "Everything is different." Since it had been off from the moment the soy sauce went in, Ryuji guessed the type of soy sauce was different. Deciding that what was missing was the flavor of dried fish flakes, Ryuji added 1/3 teaspoon of Hondashi. This brought it much closer, color included. Ryuji confirmed that the dried sardines were also coming through well.

Then, finding it slightly lacking in sweetness, Ryuji increased the sugar to 2/3 teaspoon and added more lard, because the cup noodle soup was cloudy white and had an oily feel.

To create that cloudiness, Ryuji used powdered gelatin. Ryuji explains that gelatin is what comes out when you simmer animals, which is why chicken turns jiggly if you simmer it and leave it. About 1 teaspoon of gelatin is a good amount. This brought the soup together considerably. It didn't become fully cloudy, but shaking the pot brings out a bit of cloudiness. Ryuji rated the oiliness as very close.

Reflecting on the dried sardines, Ryuji said powdering them would probably have been better—but Ryuji doesn't own a machine to grind them.

The Marutai noodles are about 70 g per serving, and Ryuji boiled them for 2 minutes to match. Ryuji named two key points: no pepper, and make the fish flakes stand out. When making ramen it's tempting to add pepper, but this time absolutely none. Finally, a pinch of bonito powder was added. Mackerel powder would have been even better, Ryuji said, because bonito comes through quite strongly.

The noodles go into the bowl first, then the soup is poured over, and it's topped with menma and chopped green onion. The dish was completed as "Kuroshio Ramen Respect: Baka Hodo Seabura Kuroshio Ramen–Style." Ryuji said, "I think this is pretty damn good." At the same time, Ryuji also said that if it takes this much effort, you're better off just buying it.

From the aroma alone, the reaction was that it was close. The sharpness of the soy sauce came through well, confirming that, as with the cup noodles, it's fine to use that much soy sauce. Ryuji judged that while it wasn't exactly the same, it was very close, and above all it was delicious as a ramen. With the back fat and broth coming through, Ryuji said it could be sold in a shop.

The difference that came up was the fish flavor: the bonito was strong, and the cup noodles may have been more mackerel-like.

Both finished their bowls, remarking that it was easy to eat. Ryuji said there aren't many ramen like this. Ryuji wouldn't normally make soy sauce this prominent, so it felt fresh, and taking inspiration from it could lead to developing other ramen.

There were two conclusions. Tommy's cup noodles are insanely good, and you won't regret buying them. And by using pork belly fat, you can make back-fat ramen with back fat floating on top at home.