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Tsuta, world's first Michelin-starred ramen, opens in BGC
Meet Tsuta, the latest ramen brand to arrive in Manila from Tokyo. But it's not just another one of them ramen brands from Japan making it's way to our shores — it's the world's first Michelin-starred ramen making its way to our shores.
“For it to win a Michelin Star shows how special the chef is and the dish is, but also how the industry has grown and matured,” Brian Chua, Tsuta Global President said at the opening.
Don’t expect the milky kind of tonkotsu ramen here — that’s Hakata-style. Because Tsuta's chef is from Tokyo, it's Tokyo-style ramen we'll be getting at Tsuta — “more of a clear soup broth. What we serve is the shoyu soba, shio soba, and the miso soba,” Chua continues.
The Founder and Executive Chef of Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta, Master Chef Onishi Yuki, actually cooks three separate soup stocks just for one bowl of ramen. It is a pleasant combination of chicken stock, asari (clam) with kelp (seaweed), and fish stock that is all imported from Japan to keep it authentic. The chef then blends all three stocks just before serving it.
But it’s not just about the broth in Tsuta. What also makes Tsuta stand out from the rest is its unique blend of noodles. The chef creates his own blend, one with a medium sort of texture.
According to Chua, “It’s not so hard, like Hakata-style where it doesn’t soak in the flavor of the soup but it still has the al dente bite. It has a very unique blend—between soba and ramen kind of noodles. But it’s not soba, there’s no buckwheat, but it tastes like it.”
Chef Onishi actually flew to the Philippines to help with the brand launch. “He actually trained the chefs and, at the same time, he actually personally selected and chose the local ingredients and actually went through the first batch of cooking himself.” It seems like his meticulous ways have paid off since this is the only ramen shop in the word to be awarded a Michelin star for 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Is it worth it?
I’m the type who would queue up for good food. In fact, I did that when I traveled to Japan. I would wait in line for 30 minutes just to get a taste of award-winning okonomiyaki or some popular cheese tart.
Allow me to say: This particular ramen is worth waiting for since it’s something different. To be honest, I’m partial to the tonkotsu-style but for those days I’m craving for some clear, comforting soup, this would hit the spot.
I went all in during my first visit and ordered the Char Siu Ajitama Shoyu Soba (P620) which practically has everything in it except the kitchen sink: four slices of char siu (barbecued pork), flavored egg, bamboo shoot, as well as leek and truffle pureed in truffle oil.
I’ve had my fair share of ramen (I'm a self-confessed ramen lover) but I’ve never had one with truffle oil and this elevated the dish to a whole new level. I was seated at the bar area and was able to get a whiff of it even before getting a slurp of the broth, and it was so fragrant that I had high expectations.
I liked the experience of sitting on the bar stool and watching the chefs at work behind the counter. It’s like a theater act where you can see you dish being prepared in fast-forward motion. It was mesmerizing to watch the chef meticulously put together all the ingredients just for one bowl of ramen.
My order had a soy sauce broth base but it wasn’t too salty at all. I wouldn’t have known it was made from three kinds of broth if I wasn’t able to get that information beforehand. But the soup had a well-balanced taste — the type you would savor to the last drop. It wasn’t too heavy or too light.
The noodles were another story. I’m used to the hard-textured noodles and this was a cross between the traditional soba and ramen. It had a medium bite and it was so filling that I wasn’t able to eat it all. I usually get to finish a bowl by myself, but this serving was more than average. The perfectly cooked egg—still runny on the inside—added another layer of flavor to the dish.
Other variants include the salt-based Shio Soba (P390+) and the spicy Miso Soba (P410+). Apart from the noodle soups, there are a few other dishes to try like the Aburi Niku (P130), which are tender charred pork cubes with onion sauce that are garnished with leek and watercress.
This would be a wonderful side dish in case you order the basic ramen with just one slice of pork. Those wanting a rice meal could go for the Ro-su Meshi (P170), which is rice simply topped with sliced roasted pork shoulder with a fragrant butter sauce.
Although the menu is pretty straightforward, don’t expect that the ramen would be, too. Just from one slurp, I knew that a lot of thinking went into the cooking of the dish. I’m certain I wouldn’t be able to replicate it at home, so I guess I’ll just get in line next time my ramen craving strikes once more. — LA, GMA News
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