History

Hiroshima ramen grew from postwar street stalls in the western half of the prefecture, and locals kept the older term chuka soba, meaning Chinese noodles, long after the rest of Japan moved to ramen. The broth is a blend of soy sauce and pork bone, lighter and cloudier than Hakata tonkotsu and darker than a Tokyo shoyu bowl. Youki has cooked the same single-dish menu in Eba since 1958, and Hiroshima shops still tend to serve one bowl and nothing else, with no side menu and no seasonal specials.

Common allergens: Gluten, Soy, Egg

Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 30 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1kg pork bones, blanched
  • 1 onion, halved
  • 4 spring onions
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 litres water
  • 100ml soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 portions thin straight ramen noodles
  • 6 slices braised pork belly
  • 1 handful bean sprouts

Method

  1. Blanch the pork bones for 5 minutes, rinse off the scum and return them to a clean pot.
  2. Add the water, onion, garlic and the green parts of the spring onions. Simmer gently for 3 hours, skimming often.
  3. Strain the broth and return 1.2 litres to the pan. Season with the soy sauce, mirin and sugar.
  4. Blanch the bean sprouts for 30 seconds and drain.
  5. Cook the noodles to the packet time and drain hard.
  6. Divide the broth between two deep bowls, add the noodles, then the pork belly, bean sprouts and sliced spring onion.

Tip from the editors. Keep the simmer at a bare tremble. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat and turns a Hiroshima bowl into a Hakata one.

Where to eat hiroshima chuka soba

Hiroshima chuka soba in Hiroshima

Chukasoba Youki Eba Honten ★ 4.5

Ramen¥ebaDaily 11:30-13:30, 18:00-23:00; closed on the 1st, 12th, 13th and 26th of each month

Chukasoba Youki in Eba has sold one bowl of Hiroshima chuka soba since 1958, and it remains among the cheapest good lunches anywhere in the city.

Try: Chuka soba

Tip: There is nothing else on the menu, so the queue moves quickly even when it runs out of the door.

3-4-1 Ebaminami, Naka-ku, Hiroshima

Tsubame Ramen ★ 4.0

Ramen¥nishi-kuDaily 11:30-22:00; closed Sunday

Tsubame Ramen feeds western Hiroshima a cheap soy-and-pork chuka soba from a small Higashi-Kanon room a few minutes from the Tenmacho tram stop.

Try: Chuka soba

Tip: The shop runs straight through from 11:30 to 22:00 every day except Sunday, when the shutters stay down.

3-2 Higashikanon-machi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima

Rai Rai Tei ★ 3.9

Ramen¥minami-kuTue-Sat 11:00-15:30, 17:00-20:00; Sun and holidays 11:00-19:00; closed Monday

Rai Rai Tei is a plain Minami-ku noodle shop in Hiroshima where a full bowl of chuka soba still lands comfortably under 1,000 yen at either service.

Try: Chuka soba

Tip: Lunch service stops at 15:30 from Tuesday to Saturday and the shop is closed on Mondays, so plan around the break.

3-3 Nishi-Midori-machi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima

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