Ajisen Ramen

Premium Pork Tonkotsu Ramen

Recently, there was an article in SF Weekly about tonkotsu ramen.  Tonkotsu (not to be confused with tonkatsu which is deep fried pork) is a specialty of the southernmost island of Japan, Kyushuu, and has a pork braised broth that is simmered anywhere from 10 to 60 hours.  The broth is pork-y and milky - even though there is no milk added.  The broth is made from pork bones simmered so long that the bones and fat break down and give the broth a milky appearance.  There is a trend in S.F. right now for tonkotsu ramen and a few restaurants offering it.  For the past couple of months, my husband and I have been on a quest to try all of the Tonkotsu Ramen offered in San Francisco.

Tender Pork Rib Ramen

The best we have had so far is at Ajisen Ramen in the San Francisco Center.  Yes, this is the sad food court below Nordstrom's, not even the new, stylish food court by Bloomingdales.  Ajisen Ramen is a chain restaurant from Japan.  All of this probably makes you really NOT want to go there!  However, overlook the sad ambiance just to try the tonkotsu ramen. Ajisen is set up like a fast food restaurant but, in fact, has table service that is quick an efficient.

I had the "premium pork" ramen, which was tonkotsu ramen with wafer thin sliced pork on top.  The pork was so tender that it practically melted in my mouth.   My husband had the tender pork ribs ramen, and the kids had the b.b.q. pork ramen.  All good, but mine was the best :)  The tender pork ribs had too many chunks of fat so I wouldn't recommend it, but I do recommend the b.b.q. pork.

So what is it about tonkotsu ramen that we liked so much?  We've been eating ramen religiously for years, mostly miso based but sometimes shoyu (soy sauce) based.  Often the shoyu base can be bland, nothing special.  But the miso can be overly salty and cloying.  The tonkotsu broth is so smooth with a complexity of flavor - not overly salty but not bland either.  The kids gave it their "best ramen ever" rating, not really sure why this miso looking ramen tasted so much better than normal.
 

Quite big and fast food-like

B.B.Q. Pork Ramen

The line outside Ajisen