Ramen is one of Japan's most iconic and beloved dishes. The combinations of broths, noodles and toppings are diverse and continue to evolve. In our "Ramen of Japan" series, our ramen-loving reporters visit, taste and review unique and distinguished ramen shops.
T's Tantan specializes in vegan ramen and the branch inside the ticket gates of JR Tokyo Station used to have foreign visitors queuing up to try the noodles. That was before the coronavirus pandemic, but on my first visit to the shop in the Ecute Keiyo Street area, I could tell it wasn't just the novelty of vegan ramen that drew the crowds.
Tantan ramen is usually spicy with some minced meat in a thick soup, so I didn't have much hope that the ramen would be good, as no animal products are used. But once I tried it, I was deeply impressed by the flavor.
I visited the shop again, hoping to hear the story behind the ramen.
"The most important thing is to be healthy, and I want to convey this message through food," Masako Shimokawa said with a charming smile.
Shimokawa, 65, is the owner of T's Restaurant, a vegan establishment that opened in 2009 in Jiyugaoka, Tokyo, where the vegan tantan ramen was born. T's Tantan opened in 2011 and is run by JR East Cross Station Co., a new retail and development entity wholly owned by East Japan Railway Co.
The signature golden sesame tantan noodles (1,100 yen) I ordered had more toppings than ordinary ramen. There were pea sprouts, hemp seeds -- which are said to be a superfood -- chili threads, fine strips of the white end of scallion, and bean sprouts. Soybean meat miso is hidden underneath. In addition, there is watermelon radish, peanut paste, komatsuna greens and plenty of golden sesame seeds.
"Stir well before you eat, so that the soup will be richer," Shimokawa advised, explaining that the peanut paste also enhances the richness of the soup.
I mixed the noodles, soup, and vegetables together and tried the soup first. It was rich and full of umami. The vegetables were delicious, and the noodles were easy to eat. I could enjoy the spiciness of the tantan ramen as well.
For an extra 100, yen you can change wheat flour noodles to "uruhada" konnyaku noodles, which are low in carbohydrates and contain skin-friendly konnyaku ceramide. You can shave almost 330 calories off each bowl of ramen.
Toppings such as vegan cheese (200 yen) and vegan chashu (450 yen) can be added for an even different taste.
Vegan cheese is made from low-fat soy milk and produced with the passion of Sagamiya, a tofu company in Gunma Prefecture. After putting vegan cheese in the soup and finishing the noodles, it is recommended to add rice and eat it like risotto.
The soy meat chashu, which took Shimokawa 10 years to be satisfied with, tastes so good that you feel as if you are eating real chashu made of pork.
You don't have to think about concepts like "vegan" or even "vegetarian." Let's think simply:
This is a ramen that can satisfy anyone who drops in for a quick bite.
Shimokawa was a homemaker who used to eat meat and fish. However, when an acquaintance became ill, she began to think deeply about health and so started preparing healthier food for her family.
"I want people to enjoy eating delicious food, rather than holding back because they are vegetarians," she said by way of telling me why she opened T's Restaurant.
Shimokawa started to serve vegan tantan ramen at the restaurant, and one day, JR representatives approached her about opening a restaurant in Tokyo Station. The company was scouting for restaurants for the new Keiyo Street passage to open under the theme "a people-friendly, nature-friendly lifestyle."
Shimokawa's philosophy and JR's were a perfect match. Just six months after the opening of the restaurant in Jiyugaoka, the decision was made to open a ramen shop in Tokyo Station.
T's Tantan is well known abroad. There were times when 90% of the customers in the shop were from a foreign country. In 2020, the restaurant was awarded "Traveler's Choice" by TripAdvisor, a global travel review site, based on the evaluations of travelers, and was ranked in the top 10% of all restaurants in the world.
Shimokawa remembers that once she saw a ticket on the platform of Hamamatsucho Station, picked it up and approached a group of three female travelers in front of her. One of them had dropped the ticket and was relieved to have it back. The three said they were from Sweden and Britain. Asked where they were going, one of them said, "We're going to T's Tantan in Tokyo Station now."
The "T" in the name of the shop is not just the "T" of tantan ramen, but also for the words "taiyo" (sun), "tsuchi" (soil), "taberu" (eat), "teinei" (politeness), "tsunagari" (relationship) and so on. I will add "tokimeki" (inspiration) to it.
T's Tantan
The Tokyo Station Ecute Keiyo Street branch is normally open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It is closing at 9 p.m. during the period of COVID-19 quasi-emergency measures. There are also branches in two other JR stations: the Ecute Ueno shop inside the ticket gates of Ueno Station and the Ikebukuro shop inside the ticket gates of Ikebukuro Station. The branches at Narita Airport Terminals 1 and 2 are temporarily closed.
If you want to read more ramen stories, please visit the "Ramen of Japan" section on our website (https://the-japan-news.com).
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
