Sapporo Ichiban, Sun Noodle, Ichiran: My Life in 3 Packaged Ramens

Editor’s note: Originally published in August 2022, James Nakamura’s semi-fictitious, semi-autobiographical ramen reverie is a good read for a cool day.

Where’d it all go wrong? How did I find myself in this predicament? Living on my own in a studio apartment, solo again for the first time in years. I needed answers. I just never thought those answers would come from a ramen psychic. You may think I’m crazy, that there’s no such thing, but if psychics can read tea leaves, crystal balls, palms, tarot cards, stars and the coffee grounds in your morning cup, then they can read ramen—instant ramen, to be precise.

I was working at home and decided to break for lunch. My refrigerator was empty save for condiments, a few eggs and a vegan quiche I was not in the mood for. In the pantry was a packet of Sapporo Ichiban instant tonkotsu ramen; in the cupboard a single melamine bowl. My green onion plant outside offered a lone vibrant stalk. So I clipped it.

I chopped the stalk, boiled water in two pots, lowered an egg into one and the dehydrated noodles in the other. The bowl I filled with water and ice cubes. After three minutes, I placed the egg into the ice bath and stirred the powdered ramen soup packet into the noodles. After another minute, I peeled the egg and sliced it in half, revealing a bright pop of orange, silken yolk. I poured the ice out of my bowl, transferred into it noodles and broth and carefully spooned the soft egg on top, sprinkling it with green onion.

I took my bowl back to the table, and that’s when I saw him. “Hi there,” said the psychic sitting at my table. “I’m your personal ramen reader.”

SEE ALSO: 5 Ramen Shops in Honolulu to Cure Your Vegan Ramen Cravings

A ramen reader? OK. “What, no crystal ball?”

“Do you have a crystal ball?” he asked.

“No,” I answered.

“Exactly. It doesn’t look like you have much of anything here. So this ramen will have to do.”

The psychic lifted the bowl to his nose and inhaled. “You want answers? Go out and get me more of these. Ramen from different phases of your life.” He pointed at my Sapporo Ichiban. “This one, I assume this is a comfort food that you grew up with.”

Sapporo Ichiban

Worth the price? Without a doubt. Photo: James Nakamura

He’s right. I’m running barefoot in the grass, clothes stained with dirt, making my way home where a lunch of Sapporo Ichiban ramen is a certainty. Growing up on Kaua‘i, this was a daily summertime ritual. Our menu rotated between beef flavor (a brown packet), shrimp (pink), miso (orange) and original (red). To my inexperienced palate, the flavor was so intense that I needed a sip of water after every slurp.

One day, there was a new package, yellow and covered in Japanese script. My aunt in Kumamoto had sent us a new flavor. Each package came not only with a powdered soup packet, but an extra one of oil that you poured over the noodles as a finishing touch. Tonkotsu was in a league of its own. After that, all other flavors paled in comparison. “Can we get more of the yellow package ramen?” I asked when we were all out. But aside from a few more care packages, I wouldn’t taste tonkotsu again until I left for college. And then Sapporo Ichiban tonkotsu instant ramen became a staple. The broth was creamy, with intense umami, and flecked with sesame seeds. The noodles had a gentle chew. And the way that savory broth paired with an egg was a beautiful thing.

The ramen psychic knew his stuff. I put on a documentary called Ramen Heads, which he appreciated, and ran out to get more ramen.

Sun Noodle Tonkotsu Ramen

Worth the price? If you’re a noodle purist, yes. If you’re a broth purist, you’ll want a daylong simmered broth at a ramen shop. Photo: James Nakamura

When I got back, the psychic was still there, absorbed in the documentary. I washed his empty bowl, filled it with ice and water and boiled another egg to shock in the ice bath. Sun Noodle ramen was from the refrigerated section of the store, with fresh noodles and a packet of liquid tonkotsu concentrate. Squeezed into the bowl, the concentrate was the color of peanut butter. When the noodles were cooked, I ladled the hot water into the bowl and stirred the broth with my chopsticks. The tare thinned out nicely and became fragrant. I drained the noodles, lay them in the broth and added the egg and more green onion.

This tonkotsu was milder and less savory. The egg didn’t pair as well because the broth was so mild. But the noodles were perfectly al dente. There was no going wrong with Sun Noodle ramen, whether it was cooked at home or one of the many restaurants they customize their noodles for. What would this bowl tell the psychic?

He traced the noodles thoughtfully with the end of a chopstick. “This is where you begin losing touch with your loved ones,” he said. “It’s all work and no play. At this point, all you’re doing is working.”

This hurt. But it was true. I had landed my first full-time salaried position. I worked long hours and weekends, got promoted and moved into a studio apartment, on my own and without a roommate for the first time. By then I was eating out at ramen shops, always ordering the tonkotsu. Feeling grown up, I developed an appreciation for cooking. Sun Noodle’s take-home kit of artisan ramen met me halfway. Perhaps because I wasn’t very good at cooking, I fell in love with the process more than the finished product. It was pretty much all I did. Aside from that, work had begun to eclipse everything.

Ichiran Tonkotsu Ramen

The real thing in Japan, top, versus the home-prepped version. Worth the price? Ichiran’s store-bought ramen is really good, but for a few dollars more, try one of the restaurant picks at the end of this story. Photo: James Nakamura

My last packet of ramen bore the name of my greatest ramen experience. Ichiran Ramen is a famous Japanese chain where ramen is the sole focus, meant to be enjoyed quickly and alone. I remembered it well—the ticket vending machine where you place your order, ramen counters partitioned for solo dining, curtained serving windows from which anonymous hands place a steaming bowl in front of you. The ramen was delicious, the experience myopic. No conversation, no companions. Just you and a bowl.

The instant version of Ichiran’s ramen looked like skinny somen noodles. The packets were thin and light, giving the impression that you just paid big bucks for a couple of slurps. I washed my one bowl and went through the steps again. The packet of broth immediately clouded into a darker umbra when I added water, with discs of clear oil flitting across the surface. The noodles were dense, chewy and abundant. The broth was intense, savory, fatty and oily, with faint notes of caramel. The packet of red pepper added good depth and dimension.

It wasn’t quite like the freshly prepared bowl I had in Japan, but it was still really good.

The psychic plucked a single strand from the bowl and examined it. “Hakata noodles. Straight as an arrow. This is where you’ve ended up, a straight line with a direct path.” He dropped the noodle and glared at me. “You want to know what’s wrong? You started out with Sapporo Ichiban noodles that were wavy and chaotic. Simple. Happy. The Sun noodles were more substantial, focused, complex. And now, here you are. Straight noodles from Ichiran. No time to go off course, to get entangled, to wind down unexpected paths. The product of single-minded focus. You wonder how you got here? It’s all in these bowls.”

“So you’re saying I should go back to Sapporo Ichiban?” I asked hopefully. “Is that the answer?”

“Jeez, no! I’m a figment of your imagination, for crying out loud. Ramen, pizza, a 20-pound burrito: None of these has your answer.” He threw down his chopsticks and pushed back his chair. “I’ve shown you all you need. But I’ll tell you this. Your next step is to look outside the bowl.”

And with that, he disappeared in a puff of steam, leaving me with my empty bowl.

The things I do for a Frolic story.

James Nakamura’s real-life tonkotsu ramen picks in Honolulu include Wagaya, Junpuu, Momosan Waikīkī, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, Manichi Ramen and Golden Pork Tonkotsu Ramen Bar.