Another Fukuoka shop joins our Soul Food Festival: Hide-Chan Ramen! Hide-Chan is a small ramen shop specializing in tonkotsu, or pork bone ramen, that is part of the group of restaurants (ie. Soba Totto, Yakitori Totto, and Totto Ramen) owned by Bobby Munekata. The chef, Hideto Kawahara (a.k.a. Hide-Chan), hails from Hakata, Fukuoka, known far and wide for its tonkotsu ramen. Made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen for hours, tonkotsu broth is characterized by its intense pork flavor and rich, almost milky consistency, and cloudy whitish color. The noodles in this soup are usually thin and straight and usually topped with chopped scallions, red ginger, tree ears, and of course, pork (cha-su). The interesting thing about Hakata-style ramen is that you can choose your noodle's level of firmness as well as the level of fat in your broth. If you want seconds of ramen noodles, you can order another helping by asking for kaedama.
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