Yokohama ramen continues to bring differently delicious tastes together with ie-kei pizza.
Pizza and ramen have a lot of things in common. For both of them, the first image that springs to mind is of a simple but tasty comfort food, but they have enough history and room for variation that creative chefs have created their own unique versions of the dishes that cater to specific fans’ palates with pinpoint precision.
Of course, in terms of ingredients, ramen and pizza are completely different…or are they? They both have a mix of meaty, starchy, and vegetable elements, and when you really get down to it, the difference between “broth” and “sauce” is really just a matter of the liquid’s thickness and how it’s applied. So with the only barrier between pizza and ramen really not being as high as it at first seems, Pizza Hut Japan is now offering a dish that combines the joys of pizza and ie-kei ramen, one of Japan’s most delicious ramen varieties.
Ie-kei ramen originated in the city of Yokohama, about 30 minutes south of Tokyo. After several years as a long-haul truck driver, Minoru Yoshimura had become very well acquainted with the respective charms of the rich tonkotsu (pork stock) ramen of west Japan and the lighter soy sauce-based broth ramen of east Japan. Seeking to combine the two, he left the trucking business and opened his own eatery, called Yoshimuraya, in Yokohama in 1974, serving what is now known as ie-kei ramen. Ie-kei’s broth is a tonkotsu/soy sauce hybrid, and it’s become so popular that it’s now a ramen genre unto itself, but many fans say that Yoshimuraya’s (pictured above) is still the best there is.
So when Pizza Hut went looking for its newest partner for its ramen pizza series, Yoshimuraya was a prime candidate, and the two have now combined their talents to create the Yokohama Ie-kei Ramen Pizza.
It still has a standard pizza crust, but things quickly get much more unorthodox from there. For toppings, you get ramen noodles, broad, short, and chewy in the style that Yoshimuraya makes them. Accompanying them are slices of chashu pork, just like you’d find in a bowl of ramen, and spinach.
The sauce for the Yokohama Ie-kei Ramen Pizza is an original, with a tonkotsu base enhanced with chicken stock, mirroring the chicken oil that Yoshimuraya puts into its broth. Garlic is also often considered an integral part of the ie-kei eating experience, so Pizza Hut supplies a packet of garlic vinegar on the side for you to add to your preference, as well as a packet of nori (dried seaweed) to sprinkle on top.
▼ The 78-year-old Minoru Yoshimura (pictured on the left) working with the Pizza Hut staff to get the flavors of the Yokohama Ie-kei Ramen Pizza just right.
As with Pizza Hut Japan’s previous ramen pizzas, the Yokohama Ie-kei Ramen Pizza (which is priced at 2,230 yen [US$14.50] for a medium) will be available for a limited time, but it’s on sale between now and March 31.
