Only 20 bowls a day: Don’t miss this Ramen Ron X Mōdan collab
Chefs Tamura Hiroyuki and Jorge Mendez create a limited-edition ‘tsukemen’ set, which they will serve only until Sept. 18
Before ramen became the ubiquitous staple it now is in Manila, there was chef Tamura Hiroyuki, the legend, the OG, the man behind the famed Pasay Road ramen joint Ukokkei Ramen Ron, serving bowls of deliciousness to his loyal devotees.
Fast forward to 2023. Today, Hiroyuki continues to serve his beloved brand of ramen at Ramen Ron. The restaurant takes pride in its commitment to continuing the chef’s legacy, revering tradition and celebrating authenticity as it serves bowl after bowl of forever favorites like the Tantanmen and Ukokkei Miso Chashu Ramen.
But Ramen Ron coowner Amado Forés had a challenge for Tamura-san. What about
tsukemen?
It was a challenge the chef took seriously. “He even flew to Japan for research,” Forés told Lifestyle.
It would mark a series of firsts for Hiroyuki—not only was it his first time to make
tsukemen (noodles served with a separate bowl of soup for dipping), it’s also his first time to do a collaboration.
Enter Jorge Mendez, the talented young chef behind Tadeo, OK Bob, Byrd Tubs, Ohayo and, of course, Mōdan, the celebrated restaurant known for offering its patrons a modern, progressive Japanese dining experience. “I have known Jorge Mendez for a long time. In many ways, I consider him family,” said Forés. ”We are so proud that not only has he made his restaurant, Mōdan, one of the best in Manila, but also that Jorge is finally being acknowledged as one of the best chefs in the Philippines that we always knew he was.”
Mendez loves, loves, loves tsukemen. “Even more than ramen?” we asked.
“Even more than ramen,” he confirmed.
Hot rice
He fell in love with tsukemen in Japan—at Tomita Ramen, to be exact, a place that serves just tsukemen, which also happens to be a favorite of Forés. Mendez said, “The flavor of the soup ... it’s so rich. The way you slurp your noodles ... and another reason I love tsukemen is, in Japan, when you finish your soup base, you can give your bowl to the chef and they’ll put hot rice so you can eat it with the soup.”
Mendez serves tsukemen at Mōdan. Together, he and Tamura-san worked on creating the Ramen Ron X Mōdan tsukemen. Mendez said, “Tamura-san did the tsukemen broth and I tweaked some of the flavors and I added the gyoza. In some parts of Japan, they serve gyokai or the
soup base with gyoza.”
Mendez said that working with the legendary chef was surreal. “At my first job before in R&D, my first project was to do a Ramen Ron ramen. Now we’re working together,” he said, adding that he’s always looked up to the ramen chef.
The two enjoyed their collaboration. Tamura-san told Lifestyle, “I think Chef Jorge is friendly, knowledgeable, studious and a great person. It was my first time to make tsukemen, collaborating with another chef, and it felt fresh and fun.”
The result is the Ramen Ron
x Mōdan Tsukemen Set: Tori Gyokai Tsukemen—thick noodles topped with special pork chashu, menma, ramen egg and nori served with a pork “silky fowl” and bonito-flavored dipping broth with steamed gyoza— served with Karai Karaage with Tsukemono—spicy fried chicken bun with Japanese pickles (cucumber, daikon radish and onions)—as a side dish. It’s a filling, delightful meal for P850 per set.
Instructions
Diners will be given the menu which includes instructions on how to enjoy the tsukemen.
Dip your noodles in the broth, swirl them around and start slurping. The broth is thick, rich and flavorful, with complex umami flavors that you’d want to savor again and again. The noodles are thick and chewy and come with ramen staples all done beautifully: the generous cuts of chashu are charred beautifully, while the egg is cooked perfectly.
Buns aren’t normally served with tsukemen, but we love that they decided to add it to the set. Mendez said, “We wanted to have something you can snack on in between slurping the noodles.”
The crunch of the spicy fried chicken offers a nice contrast to the chewy noodles, and the heat and the pickles add a nice kick—giving our palate a nice little adventure served on one tray.
No need to rush—because if your broth is no longer hot, you can ask your server for the
yaki-ishi, a cute hot stone that will instantly warm your soup. This was Forés’ idea, Mendez said. “Usually in tsukemen, they put hot oil to maintain the temperature of the soup base, but we didn’t want to do that.”
When your soup is about to run out, you can ask for Ukokkei Broth to be added to it so you can enjoy every last drop.
The collab launches tomorrow and will be available for dine-in until Sept. 18. Only 20 sets—20 bowls of Tori Gyokai Tsukemen paired with 20 Katai Karaage with Tsukemono—will be served each day.
This may be Ramen Ron’s first tsukemen, but it likely won’t be its last. Tamura-san has fallen in love with the dish as well and is already thinking of doing a miso-based one.