中華ソバ篤々 TOKU-TOKU

Before diving into the ramen, we need to talk about that white sheet nestled between the nori. I thought it was a sheet of shirasu senbei (シラスせんべい), a kind of cracker made from fried whitebait fish. It’s actually tatami iwashi (たたみいわし), a kind of cracker made from dried whitebait fish. It’s fun, unique, and just the beginning of one of Chiba’s top bowls of ramen.

Toku Toku will almost certainly have a line. Arrive early and put your name on the list. I was around 30 minutes early and already number eight in line. This is the norm for many highly-ranked shops in the Kanto region of Tokyo-Chiba-Kanagawa.

Ate this bowl live on Twitch, an online streaming platform. This was in fact my first stream, and streaming live around Japan became a hobby for the next year. I can’t say for sure if I will still be on this platform when this shop review goes live (I still am), but feel free to follow me at https://www.twitch.tv/ramenadventures.

Toku Toku has been especially highly ranked in TRY (Tokyo Ramen of the Year) Magazine. Like Ramen Walker, this magazine has a panel of ramen hunter experts who diligently rank the area’s best new and old shops.

The soup at Toku Toku is niboshi-heavy with no animal bones (so long as you don’t consider fish to be animals). The salt aspect is a blend of white shoyu with four other soy sauces to round it out. A touch of ginger brings the whole thing together.

Tatami Iwashi (たたみいわし) isn’t as common as octopus senbei or shrimp senbei, which you’ll find at beachside spots around Japan. The basic concept is to take your seafood and press it between two hot plates, drying and flattening it in the process. The result is a crunchy seafood cracker that, so long as you like the seafood it was made with, is a solid snack. Tatami iwashi is made by drying the fish, but the result is quite similar. Here, they cut it the same size as the nori seaweed sheets for an artistic flavor enhancement you won’t find in any other ramen shop in Japan.

A local noodle supplier makes thin, firm noodles. Like most clear niboshi styles of ramen, expect some raw onion and low-temperature cooked pork chashu.

The master asked me to sign an autograph plaque. Benefits of eating with a camera pointed in your face.

Another winner out in Chiba.

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Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

中華ソバ篤々 (TOKU-TOKU in Katsutadai, Chiba)

めん屋桔梗 (Kikyo in Hatsudai, Tokyo)

中華そば嘉一 (Kaichi in Sendai, Miyagi)

MENクライ (Men Kurai in Hamamatsucho)

中華ソバ 篤々 (TOKU-TOKU in Katsutadai, Chiba)

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めん屋 桔梗 (Kikyo in Hatsudai, Tokyo)

中華そば 嘉一 (Kaichi in Sendai, Miyagi)

MENクライ (Men Kurai in Hamamatsucho)

中華ソバ篤々 (TOKU-TOKU in Katsutadai, Chiba)

めん屋桔梗 (Kikyo in Hatsudai, Tokyo)

中華そば嘉一 (Kaichi in Sendai, Miyagi)