Moko Tanmen Nakamoto – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today. Sat, 22 May 2021 01:00:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/en_rocket_1024.png?w=32 Moko Tanmen Nakamoto – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com 32 32 176746664 Instant vs. Restaurant Ramen Project: Moko Tanmen Nakamoto deliciously spicy miso【Taste Test】 https://soranews24.com/2021/05/22/instant-vs-restaurant-ramen-project-moko-tanmen-nakamoto-deliciously-spicy-miso%e3%80%90taste-test%e3%80%91/ https://soranews24.com/2021/05/22/instant-vs-restaurant-ramen-project-moko-tanmen-nakamoto-deliciously-spicy-miso%e3%80%90taste-test%e3%80%91/#comments Sat, 22 May 2021 01:00:04 +0000 https://soranews24.com/?p=542866 
We send our reporter to perform the most thorough test of a cup ramen’s quality we can manage.
Restaurants doing tie-in deals with convenience stores is no new phenomenon, especially not in Japan. Between curry chain CoCo Ichibanya lending their spicy curry to convenience store buns to globally-recognized ramen restaurants packaging their wares for mass sale, it’s becoming easier than ever to purchase a little taste of a sit-down meal at a one-stop convenience shop.
We decided we wanted to put one of these so-called restaurant-quality products to the test. And since this was a ramen product, it qualified for our reporter P.K. Sanjun‘s Instant vs. Restaurant Ramen Project.
Our subject today is the Moko Tanmen Nakamoto Umakara Miso (deliciously spicy miso). This convenience store cup ramen is sold at 7-Eleven stores and enjoys a good reputation, with some online even claiming that it tastes better than the ramen they serve at Moko Tanmen Nakamoto restaurants themselves.
Now, there’s an interesting slant on P.K.’s trial this time—namely that he doesn’t hold Moko Tanmen Nakamoto in especially high regard. There was a branch near his old workplace from seven years ago, and…well, simply put, he wasn’t impressed. A coworker at the time told P.K. that he was so obsessed with the chain that he would eat there three times a week, and P.K. just didn’t get it. It just seemed to be all spice and no spark. It wasn’t out of a distaste for spice, either, since P.K. is pretty into spicy food.
▼ The sign outside Moko Tanmen Nakamoto’s branch in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood
The 216 yen (US$1.97) cup ramen, though? P.K. likes that just fine. He eats about one cup of it a month and praises how it balances spice with its full-bodied flavor. The noodles themselves are glossy and smooth, too. He considers it something of a king among convenience store ramen.
To truly claim that the cup ramen was the superior version, though, he would have to brave the gauntlet of his old nemesis… Moko Tanmen Nakamoto’s restaurant.
▼ To battle we go!
Once inside, he placed a request for the dish closest to the cup ramen in question. His server recommended the Gomoku Moko Tanmen, priced at 900 yen.
▼ P.K. had waited seven years for this fateful encounter!
Immediately after finishing his hearty dish, he went outside to eat approximately the same thing but in cup form.
▼ This is the dignity of a SoraNews24 reporter.
And the verdict…?
▼ Close…but no cigar!
So here’s the thing. When P.K. tried the infamous Moko Tanmen Nakamoto dish again, he was actually astounded by how tasty it was. Maybe it was his taste buds maturing, maybe it was the product itself. But whatever the reason, the rich flavor flirting with his taste buds was undeniable. Back in the old days it felt like all the flavor had been annihilated by the spice level, but this flavor was complex and full-bodied, incorporating eggs, stewed vegetables and other accents into its broth. It was…superb.
▼ So this is why it’s so popular.
None of this changes how impressive its convenience store counterpart tastes, of course. It has an excellent ratio of flavor to spice, and its broth could almost pass for a twin of the dish served in the restaurant. But unfortunately, the cup ramen suffers just a little from having all the accent flavors added at once. In the restaurant they are introduced gradually, building layer upon layer of umami into the broth.
▼ It got close but tripped at the finish line.
Strangely, although P.K. had enjoyed the cup-version’s noodles in the past, they felt somewhat cumbersome after comparing them to the restaurant dish. They were something of a blockade to the delicious spicy broth and lacked the glossiness of the restaurant noodles. It just goes to show you that even top-grade cup ramen has something to learn from the real thing.
▼ You can enjoy P.K.’s journey in video format, too.
Need more noodles? Why not have a gander at the latest chicken-wing noodle flavor, or how to treat yourself to a decadent ramen dish using nothing but convenience store ingredients.
Images © SoraNews24
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2021/05/22/instant-vs-restaurant-ramen-project-moko-tanmen-nakamoto-deliciously-spicy-miso%e3%80%90taste-test%e3%80%91/feed/ 0 542866 maaaaaain Cup Noodle vs 7-Eleven! We test their new scorching instant ramen cups to see who beats at heat https://soranews24.com/2019/05/24/cup-noodle-vs-7-eleven-we-test-their-new-scorching-instant-ramen-cups-to-see-who-beats-at-heat/ https://soranews24.com/2019/05/24/cup-noodle-vs-7-eleven-we-test-their-new-scorching-instant-ramen-cups-to-see-who-beats-at-heat/#comments Fri, 24 May 2019 05:00:49 +0000 http://soranews24.com/?p=453197 
Between Cup Noodle’s Mega Spicy Miso and 7-Eleven’s Mongolia Tanmen Nakamoto Hokkyoku BLACK, which one left our tongues more of a spicy, shriveled wasteland?
There are several ways to prove your mettle to your peers. Firstly, you can punch a bear in the face. If that sounds a bit too out of your league, you can beat up some hired thugs to impress lookers on. And if you want to prove your mighty power but don’t want to punch anyone, you can suffer through eating some seriously spicy food.
The final months of the Heisei era saw the birth of the Nissin and 7-Eleven collaboration ramen, the Mongolia Tanmen Nakamoto Hokkyoku BLACK. It hit the shelves in February of this year and made quite the name for itself, with many touting it as the “spiciest cup noodle around.”
But just three months later, along came a Reiwa-era challenger: Nissin’s own Cup Noodle line debuted a Mega Spicy Miso ramen that had us gasping and panting in anticipation, claiming to set the very spice scale itself alight.
Now it’s time to settle the score.
Which one is the king of heat?
▼ Mega Spicy Miso (left) vs. Mongolia Tanmen Nakamoto Hokkyoku BLACK (right)
The two both sport miso flavorwith a bang of spicy attitude, but differences become apparent as soon as you look at the composition of ingredients. The Mega Spicy Miso ramen uses a pork stock base for its broth with miso added in, while the the Mongolia Tanmen ramen broth is made with black miso and roasted garlic.
Once both cups were open, our reporter noticed that the color varies significantly between the two.
▼ The Mega Spicy Miso is a deep red, while the Mongolian Tanmen BLACK is – fittingly – a blackened red
But how would the spiciness differ? Our taste tester Mai added hot water to the noodles and allowed it to sit, with the plan being to taste both cups of noodles both before and after adding the packets of oil.
After taking a little sample of each cup…Whew! Even without that added punch from the oil, they were both serious contenders in the spice realm! Munching casually, Mai determined this alone was enough to sate spice-seekers who wanted to eat their fill, while not being SO grueling that you can’t taste the flavors.
Spicy Miso came through on its promise, filling her palate with an imperial miso mixture that felt dense and filling. The Mongolian Tanmen BLACK, on the other hand, balanced its black miso and roasted garlic flavors to perfection. Of the two, it definitely felt more like the classic ramen you’d order from the counter!
Now it was time for the real test: how does each ramen taste with the oil packet added?
▼ The Spicy Miso oil claims to offer “Spice to make you satisfied!”; Mongolian Tanmen BLACK oil is simply “Nakamoto’s special roasted garlic.”
Both ramen cups received an instantaneous heat upgrade from their oil packets, with the Spicy Miso in particular suddenly becoming a violent missile of mouth pain. The pork stock broth did serve to mellow out the heat somewhat, but that first blow of extreme heat was nothing to sniff at!
But the Mongolian Tanmen BLACK had a fun trick up its sleeve: a time delay. The spicy heat crept up on our reporter with a delay of several seconds, and once its violent spice took root there was no escaping it. She felt the sizzling agony wash over her in a powerful wave before she was remotely prepared – and then another wave of heat overtook even that! Our poor reporter was left with a numb mouth and an inability to even feel her tongue, leaving a clear winner.
▼ Mongolia Tanmen Nakamoto Hokkyoku BLACK!
▼ Nakamoto himself is emblazoned on the cup to give his approval
Either of these tasty ramen cups will make a delectable meal for you at the end of a hard day of work, so really they’re both winners – but if you want to sear your mouth out so badly you won’t be able to taste anything afterwards, the answer is clear!
Photos ©SoraNews24
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2019/05/24/cup-noodle-vs-7-eleven-we-test-their-new-scorching-instant-ramen-cups-to-see-who-beats-at-heat/feed/ 0 453197 oi000167 Lotteria continues to try making burgers out of noodles, this time they brought rice to the party https://soranews24.com/2015/05/18/lotteria-continues-to-try-making-burgers-out-of-noodles-this-time-they-brought-rice-to-the-party/ https://soranews24.com/2015/05/18/lotteria-continues-to-try-making-burgers-out-of-noodles-this-time-they-brought-rice-to-the-party/#comments Mon, 18 May 2015 06:00:39 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=239474 
Despite a rather weak track-record for its hamburgers with patties of noodles, fast-food chain Lotteria is back at it with the Moko Tanmen Burger. This time around they’ve also come up with the Moko Don Burger which uses a wad of rice as the patty. Good thing Dr. Atkins isn’t around to see this.
They say the definition of “insanity” is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results. We’re not sure what to call RocketNews24 reporter Mr. Sato then, because he is returning to Lotteria for a fourth time to try these noodley sandwiches in hopes of some redemption.
The Moko Tanmen Burger and Moko Don Burger were created in collaboration with Moko Tanmen Nakamoto, a chain of ramen restaurants in the Tokyo area. Perhaps for this reason Tokyo is getting a few days’ head-start on these burgers before they go nationwide on 19 May.
First, Mr. Sato stared down the tangled patty of the Moko Tanmen Burger. Each time Lotteria had partnered with a ramen shop for these things it always turned out the same. Our reporter was pretty well convinced noodles and buns simply don’t go together. But he had to try.
Sure enough the noodles and buns were a complete clash of textures. The sponginess of the noodles only served to accentuate the dryness of the buns. The result was a flaky and stringy ball of dry confusion.
Like before, Lotteria provided some soup for dipping. However, the dipping only made the whole burger soggy and unpleasant. If you’ve had these ramen burgers before then you’d know what to expect. Unfortunately, Mr. Sato was expecting some sort of improvement after two years, so he swallowed his last bite in sheer disappointment.
Next up was the Moko Don Burger and its patty made of rice. The appearance was enough to lower Mr. Sato’s expectations even further. The molded shape of the rice patty made him wonder if it might have had the gummy consistency of mochi.
Luckily it didn’t taste like he imagined, but if you were to ask Mr. Sato to describe the taste of the Moko Don Burger in one word, it would be “discomfort” as that was the feeling the spread throughout his entire mouth while eating.
So if you’re in the mood for a little “discomfort” and “disappointment” then why not head down to Lotteria for a Moko Tanmen Burger or Moko Don Burger? Meanwhile, Mr. Sato would like to yet again urge the burger chain to stop this madness once and for all. It just doesn’t work.
▼ The Moko Tanmen Burger
▼ The Moko Don Burger
Original article by Mr. Sato
Photos: ©RocketNews24