Ramen

Ramen dishes

• Tonkotsu豚骨

  $19

  Eighteen hours of Big Island pork femur and trotter boiled hard until the collagen emulsifies. Shoyu tare, thin hosomen noodles, chashu belly, ajitama, kikurage, scallion, nori.

  The broth is never strained clear. We want it opaque and lip-sticking, sitting around 11 percent solids. Chashu is belly rolled, tied and braised four hours in the tare, then torched to order.

  SignatureContains: gluten, egg, soy, sesame, pork, fish

  Junmai, served at room temperature. A dry junmai around +4 nihonshu-do cuts the emulsified fat without erasing the pork sweetness.

• Shoyu醤油

  $18

  Clear chicken and kombu broth pulled at a bare tremble for six hours, seasoned with a two-year barrel shoyu tare. Medium chijiremen, chicken chashu, menma, naruto, scallion.

  The lightest bowl on the list and the hardest to hide behind. Bamboo shoots are cured in-house for nine days before they are simmered in dashi.

  Contains: gluten, egg, soy, sesame, fish

  Hojicha, hot. Roasted stems echo the barrel shoyu and keep the broth tasting clean between sips.

• Shio kaiso塩海藻

  $19

  Salt tare cut with Kauai sea salt and three seaweeds. Chicken and dried scallop broth, thin noodles, poached shrimp, yuzu zest, watercress from Sumida Farm.

  Our lightest coloured broth carries the most dissolved glutamate. Dried scallop and kombu are steeped cold overnight before any heat touches them.

  Contains: gluten, egg, soy, shellfish, fish

  Ginjo, chilled to 50F. Melon and pear aromatics sit above the salt tare instead of fighting the shellfish.

• Spicy miso辛味噌

  $20

  Three-miso tare with red aka miso leading, loosened into tonkotsu. Thick futomen noodles, ground pork sofrito, corn, bean sprouts, chili threads, butter if you want it.

  Built for the heaviest noodle we cut. Our chili oil is Hawaiian chili pepper, Sichuan pepper, garlic and sesame, bloomed at 250F and rested two days.

  SignatureSpice 3Contains: gluten, egg, soy, sesame, pork, fish, dairy

  Rice lager, ice cold. Carbonation and low bitterness reset the palate between chili hits better than any wine.

• Tantanmen担々麺

  $21

  Sesame paste and soy milk broth over chili oil, thin noodles, minced pork with preserved mustard greens, bok choy, cashew crumble, black vinegar drizzle.

  Richer than it looks. We grind our own sesame paste weekly because bought paste turns bitter within a fortnight of opening.

  Spice 4Contains: gluten, egg, soy, sesame, peanut / tree nut, pork

  Nigori, chilled. Unfiltered sake has the body and faint sweetness to carry sesame and chili at the same time.

• Kombu shiitake昆布椎茸

  $18

  No animal stock anywhere. Cold-steeped kombu and Hamakua shiitake dashi, white miso tare, medium noodles, charred cabbage, confit garlic, sansho oil, crisp tofu.

  Cooked in a dedicated pot on the plant-based station. The dried shiitake are toasted before steeping, which is the difference between a broth that tastes of mushroom and one that tastes of tea.

  SignatureSpice 1VeganContains: gluten, soy

  Genmaicha, hot. Toasted rice lines up with the toasted shiitake and keeps a vegan bowl from tasting thin.

• Tsukemenつけ麺

  $22

  Dipping style. Cold thick noodles rinsed and served dry beside a concentrated pork and fish broth, chashu ends, menma, half ajitama, sudachi. Ask for soup-wari at the end.

  The dipping broth is reduced by a third and seasoned twice as hard, because cold noodles carry less. Soup-wari is the thin dashi we pour into what is left so you can drink it.

  Spice 1Contains: gluten, egg, soy, sesame, pork, fish

  Barley tea, cold. Neutral and unsweetened, so the concentrated dipping broth stays the loudest thing on the table.

All ramen can be made with a half portion of noodles at no charge. Extra noodles, kaedama, are $3.