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Lawson convenience stores team up with Tenkaippin ramen chain for new cold ramen in Japan

Oona McGee Aug 7, 2024
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Convenience store food just keeps getting cooler.

This summer, Japan is being hit by a wave of cold ramen options at the nation’s biggest convenience store chains, and the latest offering from Lawson is particularly special, as it’s a tie-up with ramen chain Tenkaippin.

This famous restaurant chain, once voted the nation’s favourite in a survey, is known for its chicken-flavoured “kotteri” (“rich and thick”) broth. We’d never tried anything other than hot noodles from the chain, though, so we were keen to find out what this new cold ramen would taste like.

At 697 yen (US$4.75), this is on the pricier end of the noodle spectrum, but with the respected Tenkaippin name behind it, it’s worth the extra cost, especially when you open it up and find this lineup of ingredients in front of you.

▼ Kimchi, chicken chashu, menma (fermented bamboo shoots), half a seasoned boiled egg, and green onions

What’s most exciting, though, is the seasoning, as it has an unusual, jelly-like texture. According to Lawson, this “rich jelly” was developed in collaboration with Tenkaippin, and it’ll make lovers of the chain’s kotteri broth very happy.

▼ To prepare the meal, all you have to do is pour over the contents of the included broth packet…

▼ …and then place the other ingredients on top.

Mixing the seasoning into the broth helped to thicken the liquid even further, and when we tasted it, it made us grin with joy, because it had the same characteristic richness as the hot broth served up at the chain. The depth of flavour and complexity of the broth was remarkable for a cold dish, and we were amazed at how perfectly the taste complemented the chilled noodles.

▼ Cool and refreshing, yet rich enough to leave a lasting impression.

The broth, which contains a blend of chicken bones and vegetable stock, was an absolute masterpiece on its own, but the more we ate it, the more we realised the key ingredient was the rich jelly. It was as if it was a jelly-like extract of the chain’s signature broth, with so much concentrated flavour that you only needed a small amount to enhance the flavour. Plus, it contained a good hit of garlic, another signature component from the chain.

The coolness of the jelly added to the novelty, and we honestly wish they would sell this as a standalone product. While it was fantastic with the smooth ramen noodles, we reckon the jelly would be a great addition to any type of noodle, including soba, udon or somen.

Until they develop a jelly broth for commercial sale, we’ll be enjoying it with these noodles over and over again while product is in stores this summer. We highly recommend trying it if you can, along with these other cold noodles, also supervised by a noodle specialist, from rival chain Family Mart.

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