Toufu Miso Ramen

The broth blends red and white miso, the red miso's depth arriving first and the white miso's sweetness settling in behind it, layer by layer. The only toppings are roughly cut cubes of firm tofu and scallion. The tofu is cut firm so it holds its shape, its sharp edges catching the broth. The noodles are house-made and thin, kept modest so as not to crowd the tofu's texture. Peer into the bowl and it looks like an oversized cup of miso soup, right down to the way the steam rises, evoking a family table.

Ground pork and a chicken-and-pork stock form the base, into which each shop blends its own ratio of red and white miso. The tofu is drained, cut into large cubes, and lowered into the bowl just before it would start to fall apart. The miso blend is said to be adjusted by season, and with so few toppings, differences in how each shop builds its broth show up directly in the taste. Only a handful of shops are said to still serve it, each holding to its own blend.

One account holds that a previous owner reasoned that if tofu-and-scallion miso soup tasted good, it should taste just as good in ramen. Landlocked in northern Ibaraki, Hitachiomiya has long favored this miso soup at the table, and the idea is said to be simply that combination carried straight into a bowl — one local shop has kept the recipe for more than thirty years. It reads as a town far from the sea working with whatever was close at hand.