晴耕雨読 (Seikoudoku in Uji, Kyoto)

0 Reviews

自家製麺と自然派食材晴耕雨読

The mega-highly ranked Seikoudoku in Uji is one of the most popular soupless tantanmen ramen shops in Japan. They are a “legend” shop, having been given the top awards by everyone who makes awards. As Uji is a bit of a slog from central Kyoto, the ramen nerds amongst us need to plan for this one. We rented a car and drove down.

本日は持ち帰りのみです。Today is take-out only. Is there a difference between mochikaeri (持ち帰り) and take out (テイクアウト)? There may be some subtle difference that I, as a Japanese language learner, am not getting. Take-out seems to refer to cooked food you can take home, while mochikaeri is for a meal kit. Regardless, during the global pandemic, Seikoudoku was only doing cook-at-home kits.

Normally, cooking ramen at home is tough. Heat the soup, start boiling the noodles, plate the soup, dump the noodles, place the toppings, serve. It all takes precious seconds longer than it would at a restaurant, and the final product is often lacking. Seikoudoku does soupless though. Just mix it all together and eat. Let’s cook!

We picked up our to-go bag and drove to the nearby Uji River. Not a bad place to chill for lunch.

My buddy, a Kyoto native, had his camping cookware and did the honors.

Boil the soup, strain, and mix it with the spices and sauce.

As expected, this one was top-level. Flat, homemade noodles. Red chili, nuts, minced meat, and a creamy sesame sauce with miso to tie it all together. I’ve had a lot of great soupless tantanmen in Japan, but this one takes the cake.

The shop itself was inherited by the master, Segichi-san (瀬口さん) from his father who trained at mega-famous Daiichi Asahi (第一旭本店) in Kyoto. The father opened a shop called 56 and eventually gave the keys to his son. From day one his shop had massive hype, a hype that never died.

It looks like the shop, during regular business times, serves all kinds of limited bowls. Scouring the internet I found a soupless style with vinegar (香酢香る汁なし) and Kyoto-style white miso niboshi ramen (京都らしい白みそや煮干しのラーメン). The only thing consistent is the tantanmen and the line.

Japanese spicy is usually many, many notches below spice levels of other countries. Of course, you can adjust the amount to straight chili pepper powder you put in, but this one was about a three out of ten on the heat scale. Perfect with a beer from the vending machine.

Uji is probably the most famous name when it comes to Japanese green tea. Most of it isn’t grown in central Uji, rather the hills in the surrounding countryside. Uji is where it was historically processed and sold. We tried to go to the mega-famous matcha ice cream shop but the wait was around three hours. I’ll wait for ramen, but not ice cream.

Still reading? Did you know that I released a ramen cookbook? It’s available wherever fine cookbooks are sold, aka Amazon. Can’t wait to see what recipes you come up with!

https://amzn.to/38hVKp6

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