DIY Ramen at home? Yes you can, with Yosuke Ramen!

I received an e-mail from Yosuke Ramen a couple of weeks ago asking if I could review their DIY Ramen. Honestly at the time I didn’t know what to expect. I’m just generally open to trying unfamiliar products from local businesses so I said yes. Little did I know that I was in for a major surprise. THESE ARE THE BOMB! *Okay, calm down.*

Let’s begin with a little background info on Yosuke Ramen. Since beginning their business at the tailend of March 2018, Yosuke Ramen has been shipping out an average of 250 ramen kits PER DAY from their base in Ortigas, Pasig. (That is a lot!) The one who prepares the kits is an actual Japanese chef, Chef Yosuke, and because he only cooks twice a week they follow a strict delivery schedule for orders. All the reviews on their Facebook page looked promising, but it wasn’t until I prepared and tasted their ramen myself that I turned into a believer. No exaggeration here.

The Yosuke Ramen DIY Ramen Kit came to me in a cardboard box, and inside were two different sets of ramen. In each set you have frozen ramen noodles and a piece of frozen chashu, plus a little container where the frozen “ramen paste” is contained. Included in the box are green onions and sesame seeds for topping, as well as sheets of nori and some chopsticks packed separately.

The first thing I noticed is how small the packs of noodles were. They looked fresh though; labeled with dates stating when they were made. Kept frozen, these noodles will last about 2 months. HOWEVER, if you’re planning on cooking them, you have to THAW them in the fridge. What I did was to transfer my Ramen Kit from freezer to fridge the night before I cooked them.

The instructions are very clear on the box. You begin with heating your thawed (not frozen) noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes. Give them a stir to help separate them. The noodles are covered in starch to prevent them sticking together in storage so you have to throw out the water you used to cook them.

Once noodles are ready, drain then transfer to your serving bowl and just let them wait there while you prepare the soup.

Boil 300ml of clean water and just add your soup paste in there, including that white layer of oil.

This is the first major difference between Yosuke Ramen and instant ramen. The ramen broth base is not flavored with powder but with a paste. According to Yosuke Ramen, there are no preservatives in their ramen paste, so it means it won’t trigger asthmatic tendencies like some powder-based instant noodles do.

Stir until the paste has melted into the water and no lumps remain. I like to pop my chashu in here for like 30 seconds just to heat it up. The soup will be thin while still on the stovetop, but the magic happens once you assemble your ramen bowl. Once your soup is ready, just pour over the noodles you prepared earlier and add the chashu plus toppings.

I wanted to go as bare bones as possible, using only all the ingredients included in the kit. (Made soft-boiled eggs but didn’t include in the pic haha!) I didn’t try to style the dish because I wanted to show you guys how it would look like under normal circumstances, when you just cook and throw everything into a bowl.

Their MISO RAMEN is one of their bestsellers, and for good reason. I might be partial because miso is my favorite ramen base, but this was delicious. Once the soup “sets” it turns into a thick and rich broth that coats the noodles, making for a lovely slurping experience. The noodles themselves are good. Perhaps next time I will cook them a little shorter since I prefer an extra hard bite.

If I had went all out with the styling, would you have guessed it was from a DIY Ramen Kit? I especially like the look of their other bestseller, their SPICY MISO RAMEN. My observations on the broth and noodles are the same here, so it’s good that they’re consistent with the quality of the ramen across their offerings.

I love this just a bit more because I love spicy dishes, but the flavor profile is the same. It has the perfect umami taste as well. The flavor and the consistency of the broth is really similar to the ones you get from ramen chains in the metro, but for half the price! I am impressed, guys. Very very impressed.

And before I forget, let’s talk about the chashu for a sec. Even though I wish there was another slice included, I was actually quite surprised by the quality of the chashu. It was tender and juicy, with just enough meat versus fat. It kind of got deformed when I heated it with the soup though, but it’s not something that takes away from the taste.

Final Thoughts

I have to admit to being skeptical when I first received this DIY Kit, and boy did Yosuke Ramen prove me wrong. It’s like they did all the complicated stuff for you and you get all the credit for preparing a fantastic bowl of ramen just by boiling some water and mixing stuff. Can ramen at home get any easier? I think not! Even people who are not adept at cooking can wow with the help of this ramen kit as long as they follow the instructions carefully.

Even someone like me who enjoys making stuff from scratch has fallen in love with Yosuke Ramen. Enough that I am planning on trying their other menu items. I mean, this looks like a solid menu:

You guys know I’m not one to rave about products I don’t like, so I’m not kidding when I say with Yosuke Ramen, you can forget about those packs of instant Ichiran Ramen that people are selling at exorbitant prices online. In fact, just forget about any of those other instant ramens period, and order this one. Sobra akong nagulat dito sa totoo lang. Might write another review in the future on their other dishes. 😉

If you’re from Metro Manila, you can order Yosuke Ramen through these channels:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Mobile/Viber: +63977 850 5797

Full disclosure: I received Yosuke Ramen Kits for review purposes only. No monetary compensation was made for writing this review. All opinions stated above are my own.

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