Supporting Disaster-Hit Kumamoto by Eating: Ryuji Compares Four Instant Ramen Brands from Kumamoto

At the start, Ryuji reports that Buzz Recipe Inc., the company he heads, has donated 1 million yen to Kumamoto relief. He had visited Kumamoto in May of this year and filmed a video eating the local food. Two months later came the shocking news, and he says he wanted to offer some kind of support. Of the donation, he says, "It's only a small amount to start with."

He briefly considered going there to cook as a cooking researcher, but decided that if he went, it would have to be through official channels. Going on his own could burden the people there. Even just buying water at a convenience store there, he says, would mean using up things that ought to go to the people of Kumamoto, and would end up causing trouble instead. So he concluded that what he could do was introduce delicious Kumamoto food and support Kumamoto companies. He says he made it a video about enjoying the food so that the mood wouldn't get too heavy.

The four varieties were gathered by asking locals. He heard that Akaryu is "insanely good"; a local he was drinking with in Kumamoto said, "I grew up on this," and went out and bought some for him in the middle of their drinking session. He was also told "You have to eat it" about Mokkosu Ramen again and again. As for the Napolitan, people there told him that everyone in Kumamoto eats it. Ryuji asks viewers from Kumamoto who actually eat it to leave a comment.

First up is Abekku Ramen. The channel previously featured the saltier, non-tonkotsu version, so this is the first time he's tried the tonkotsu flavor. The pack serves two, and while the instructions call for 800 cc of water, Ryuji cuts it by 50 cc and uses 750 cc.

While cooking, Ryuji shares his impressions of Kumamoto. Kumamoto means tonkotsu to him, with black garlic oil (mayu) floating on top. On his last visit he also went into a place like a local diner, where he was asked, "Why did you come here?" He also ate horse sashimi and recalls that the food was really delicious.

The noodles are thin and straight, much thinner than Marutai's. The soup is a paste made specifically for Abekku Ramen, which Ryuji explains is a different system from Marutai's, where the oil and powder come separately. The salt equivalent is 5.6 g. The package says to boil for 3 minutes, but he says about 2 and a half minutes is enough, and he put the soup into the pot to heat it together.

His verdict after eating is "on the refreshing side" and "light"; it's tonkotsu but a bit salty. It's very similar to the salt-flavored Abekku Ramen he had before, with little oil. Even so, he calls it "insanely good" and describes it as "a ramen that fits into everyday life." The noodles have a completely different texture from Marutai's and slip down easily. He also says there's a lot of room for customization, naming pickled red ginger, sesame, and wood ear mushrooms as things he'd like to add.

Before rating it, Ryuji prefaces, "Even if this is for support, it would be rude to go easy," and declares he'll rate without holding back. The rating symbol can't be made out from the subtitles, but he says he feels the previous Abekku Ramen got about the same rating. It's a flavor meant to be customized, positioned as an everyday ramen. Ryuji also agrees with a staff member's comment that "it feels like Sapporo Ichiban," concluding that it's a flavor you could eat every day.

According to the package, "mokkosu" is Kumamoto dialect meaning something like stubborn and single-minded. Reading this, Ryuji laughs, "That's me."

Mokkosu is sold in single servings, as is Akaryu. The soup packet is about three times the size of Abekku's and heavy. The boiling time is 2 and a half minutes; the noodles look somewhat thick, but the boiling time is short. The price on Amazon is about 170 yen per pack. Ryuji says that these days even cup-noodle-style products that are just soup cost around 200 yen, so by comparison it's cheap. He also praised it for not taking up space and keeping well. The salt equivalent is 6.3 g, about the same as an average ramen, and the energy is 400 kcal, roughly 1.3 times that of Abekku. While saying he's not sure why it's so high in calories, he guesses the soup contains plenty of oil and other things, and reads out that it's packed with pork extract and chicken extract.

The soup is dark and plentiful. It seems to contain mayu, with a thick texture and a strong garlic aroma. Eating it, the oil comes through strongly, with a hearty flavor. Ryuji says it may go beyond the level of instant noodles. He notes a slight sourness as well, and says he likes it quite a lot, and that the medium-thick noodles are delicious too.

On the other hand, staff member A-ko says they prefer a different product, "Kumamoto Kuro." Wanting a bit more umami, A-ko gives it a B+ and adds, "It has kind of an unusual taste." Ryuji counters that tonkotsu tends to have a little sourness, and that he thinks it tastes like a real ramen shop.

Ryuji's own rating is A+, falling short of S. In fact, Ryuji also likes Kumamoto Kuro considerably better, saying it ranks near the top of all instant noodles. Mokkosu tastes more like the local ramen, an authentic flavor as if simmered from scratch, and is very delicious if you're after the real thing. But Kumamoto Kuro hits harder and is closer to the ramen people here (in Tokyo) like, which he explains is why the ratings differ.

The third item is a packaged Napolitan. Neither Ryuji nor the staff had ever seen the product before. Apparently it's sold at every supermarket in Kumamoto, and a local woman a little older than Ryuji recommended it, saying, "They'll definitely have it." When the staff looked it up, the maker turned out to be a group brand of a Kumamoto food company.

Like yakisoba, you add vegetables, cut as directed on the package (about 20 g of carrot and so on). Ryuji says that although it calls itself Napolitan, these are definitely udon noodles. Even looking at the ingredients, he can't tell whether they're fresh-pasta-style noodles, saying, "It's too mysterious, I can't figure it out," and adds that apparently people in Kumamoto grew up eating this. While cooking, he also mentions that, in honor of Kumamoto native Eiichiro Oda, he'd like to go on a tour of the One Piece statues in Kumamoto once things settle down.

To cook it, he lightly salts the vegetables, then adds the noodles along with about a tablespoon of water to loosen them. Ryuji says it's just like yakisoba. The included sauce is a powder labeled "tomato roux," and he's delighted that calling it a roux feels like local food and is fun.

When it's done, it smells exactly like Napolitan, and the noodles have an udon-like texture. Before eating he thought grated cheese would be essential, but after tasting it, Ryuji says it might not be needed. The noodles are unusual, but this gentleness could become addictive, and he says, "Everyone would eat this." The staff chime in with comments like "It's like school lunch," "Nostalgic," "It reminded me of my route to elementary school," and "I want to eat this during summer vacation," and there's also a suggestion to add sausage.

Ryuji says it isn't outrageously amazing, but it's very delicious. Maybe he's hungry for the kind of flavor a mom would make, he reflects; his own cooking isn't mom's cooking but leans more toward eating out, so it really got to him. He wraps up by saying he thinks he'll eat it again.

Before moving on to Akaryu, Ryuji shares a reaction he received on X (Twitter). When he posted about the donation in hopes of spreading support, someone commented that the factory of Hinode, the company that makes Akaryu, had stopped, and asked people to support it by eating its products. He says there were a great many requests for him to eat Akaryu.

Akaryu is a Kyushu ramen in spicy miso flavor, and the package boasts "a soup with rich tonkotsu and miso flavor and a tingling, stimulating heat." The salt equivalent is high at 8.8 g, and since it looked the strongest in flavor, he saved it for last. The same maker apparently also makes ramen in other flavors.

The noodles have a slightly rough surface, unlike the other three. The soup packet is large again, labeled tonkotsu spicy miso soup. The boiling time is 3 to 4 minutes, but here too he finished them in about 2 and a half minutes. It's 398 kcal, and Ryuji figures it's on the rich side compared with Abekku. The soup seems to contain a lot of miso, and once dissolved it's redder than anything he's seen. It looked and smelled like a red miso tonkotsu.

From the first bite, Ryuji and the staff keep saying "It's good." Ryuji is astonished: "There was a stick ramen this good in the world?" and the staff react with "It's shockingly good." The heat isn't fiery but a pleasant tingle, around a 3, the middle level, he says. He says it would also be delicious with rice added at the end, and remarks, "This is on a different level," and "It might be the new No. 1." He says he understands why the locals told him to eat it.

As for the depth of flavor, Ryuji guesses that aromatic vegetables like garlic and onion are doing the work. He and the staff agree that it's so deep you'd never think it was just liquid soup from a packet, with a complex flavor like a restaurant's. The price on Amazon is about 180 yen per pack, and he goes so far as to say, "I want to buy up their entire stock."

His rating is "Triple." As reasons, he cites first that it's a flavor you can't find anywhere, nothing like he's had even at ramen shops, and second that the miso and heat have punch with plenty of umami. He judges it delicious enough to satisfy even ramen fanatics who go around eating at ramen shops.

The staff reflect that everything was delicious but the last one made the biggest impact, and Ryuji says he'd like to buy Akaryu and the Napolitan again. He especially wants to try customizing Akaryu, and offers a specific idea: topping it with spicy meat miso made from ground meat stir-fried with doubanjiang and boiled komatsuna, dandan-noodle style, would be perfect.

Finally, Ryuji notes that donating isn't something everyone can easily do, and that everyone has their own lives to lead. With that said, he says he believes that eating food from Kumamoto companies helps the disaster-stricken region. The video ends with him asking viewers to join in supporting Kumamoto by eating the ramen introduced this time, as well as the Abekku Ramen featured previously.