Tsukemen Style

Tsukemen is a style of ramen in which the noodles and broth are served separately, with chilled, rinsed noodles dipped into a concentrated hot sauce called tsukejiru. The genre foregrounds the texture and wheat aroma of the noodles themselves. It originated in Tokyo in 1955 and became established as a major branch of ramen alongside the seafood-and-pork-bone broth boom of the 2000s.

It was devised in 1955 by Kazuo Yamagishi (야마기시 카즈오) at Taishoken (다이쇼켄) in Nakano, Tokyo. It began when the staff meal of leftover noodles dipped in soy sauce broth was offered to customers under the name “Special Morisoba.” Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken (히가시이케부쿠로 다이쇼켄), which Yamagishi opened after becoming independent in 1961, became a mecca for tsukemen, and he is known as the “father of tsukemen.”

• Noodles: Extra-thick noodles resembling udon are standard. After boiling, they are rinsed in cold water to remove surface starch and increase their firmness. Because the noodles are the centerpiece of the genre, portions are also large at 200–400g.

• Tsukejiru: A sauce far more concentrated than ordinary ramen broth. The dominant modern style combines pork and chicken stock with seafood ingredients such as katsuobushi and sababushi (dried mackerel flakes).

• Atsumori/Hiyamori: Noodles served reheated are called atsumori, while those served cold are called hiyamori.

• Soup-wari: A finishing ritual in which clear broth is added to the remaining tsukejiru after the noodles have been eaten, diluting it for drinking. It is a culture distinctive to tsukemen.

• Taishoken lineage: The direct lineage of the originator. It carries on the classic tsukejiru, a soy sauce-based dipping broth combining sweetness, acidity, and heat.

• Seafood-tonkotsu lineage: This school became mainstream after Aoba (아오바) in Nakano established the double-soup method of combining animal-based and seafood broths in the 1990s. Rokurinsha (로쿠린샤), which opened in 2005, completed the style with a potage-like, intensely rich tsukejiru and helped drive the tsukemen boom of the 2000s.

• Variation lineage: Variations taking advantage of the versatility of tsukejiru continue to emerge, including styles flavored with aromatics such as yuzu, spicy kara-tsukemen, and tomato or curry tsukemen.