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This Hokkaido ramen joint’s chashu is extremely tasty, so it’s a good thing they give you a ton of it.

In our continuing attempts to catalogue the very best of Japan’s ramen, we’ve sent one of our Hokkaido-based writers on a quest to taste-test a bunch of restaurants specializing in the beloved noodles. Tough job, we know, but after 14 ramen stops, it was time to tackle a restaurant famous for serving huge amounts of chashu.

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Aji no Ichiryu in Tomakomai is quite well-known for the massive portions of pork served with their ramen. Without having tried it ourselves, we had to wonder if there is a possibility of “quantity over quality,” and when the bowl landed on our writer’s table, he was gobsmacked by just how big the slices of meat were.

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▼ iPhone not included with order

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Thankfully, the pork is super tender and incredibly flavorful. There’s a nice balance struck between meat and fat making the chashu extremely tasty.

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▼ See how it breaks apart with just our chopsticks.

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Each of the four slices of chashu are easily two centimeters (0.8 inches) thick, so, along with the ramen that’s underneath, you definitely won’t go hungry.

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In fact, there’s such an abundance of pork that our writer even recommends eating one of the slices with a bowl of rice and a bit of ramen broth poured over it.

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If you find yourself in Tomakomai and have a hankering for meat, definitely check out Aji no Ichiryu for a jumbo chashu-men at 1,380 yen (US$13). If you tell them RocketNews24 sent you, they’ll probably smile (but still charge you full price).

Restaurant information
Aji no Ichiryu 味の一龍
Address: Hokkaido, Tomakomai-shi, Shirakabo-machi 3-31-19, Kaido Mansion C 1st Floor
北海道苫小牧市しらかば町3-31-19 開道マンションC 1F
Open 11:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Closed around New Year’s and the first, second, and third Monday of every month

Images ©RocketNews24
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