Noodles ── Ramen
Tomo Tenobe Ramen
Tomo Tenobe Ramen — hand-pulled noodles from eastern Gunma's Tomo district
A ramen from Gunma's Tomo district in the east of the prefecture, its noodles pulled by hand like somen rather than cut. A shop in Ota City is said to be the original, pairing a noodle prized for its slip over its bite with a flat, old-fashioned, light soy broth.
- Origin: Gunma Ota
- Shoyu — soy sauce
- About 80 km northwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
The flat, medium-thick noodle is hand-pulled, and firmness in the usual sense is barely there. In its place comes a slippery, almost gliding texture — closer to something you drink than something you chew. The broth is a flat, old-fashioned light soy, seasoned with ginger. The noodle takes the lead here, with the broth playing a supporting role.
How it's made
Pulling the dough by hand, working it side to side, takes a completely different kind of labor from cutting machine-made Chinese noodles. Thickness and width are set by the maker's touch, so the feel varies shop to shop. Stretching a single portion takes far longer than machine work, and the maker is said to adjust the pull with each day's weather and dough condition. The style is said to have spread as apprentices struck out on their own, but as those makers have aged, the number of shops still hand-pulling has dwindled to just a few.
Why it took this shape
One account holds that hand-pulled noodle ramen took root across Gunma's eastern Tomo district, spanning Ota, Kiryu, and Tatebayashi cities. A shop in Ota is said to be the original, with the technique passed down to shops nearby. Amid the postwar mechanization of noodle-making, this lineage of shops that kept choosing hand work by hand is thought to survive as one corner of the Tomo district. Distinct from Fujioka Ramen in the prefecture's west, only this hand-worked noodle-making survives from that eastern lineage today.
Before you go
- How to read a ticket machineShops that use a ticket machine (shokken-ki) often place their most popular items in a similar spot.
- Cash-only shops are commonEspecially at ramen shops, it's common to find places that only accept cash — often through a ticket machine.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
Dishes in the same style
- Aizu RamenFlat, thick hand-made noodles in a clear soy broth. Said to trace back to a Aizuwakamatsu diner owner bringing home a taste learned in Yokohama — a second soy ramen lineage that grew up apart from Kitakata's, in the same Aizu region.
- Edokei RamenA soy ramen topped with a knob of bright red chili miso built on garlic and garlic chives. Stirred in gradually as you eat, it turns a mild bowl steadily richer and spicier — a specialty of Akita City.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Gunma
- AmanejiWheat dumplings simmered in a sweetened red bean soup, mainly eaten around Shibukawa; Kawaba village calls it amadango. It was a treat during breaks from farm work.
- Ayu ShioyakiGunma's official fish, skewered in a zigzag and salted before charcoal grilling. Sweetfish from the Kanna river are prized for their aroma and firm flesh, drawing visitors once the season opens in June.
- GojiruGround soybean paste, called go, stirred into a miso soup with seasonal vegetables. Made in soybean-growing Gunma from autumn into winter, it has long served as a warming, nutritious dish.
- KatemeshiRice cooked with barley, beans, daikon and other bulking ingredients called kate. Born of rice shortages, it survives today as a mixed rice dish often served on the Tenjin festival day.
- Sosu KatsudonBreaded pork fillet dipped in a house sauce blending Worcestershire with eel tare, served over rice. It spread as a delivery favorite in the textile town of Kiryu and is now found across the prefecture.