For a few months this year, it almost seemed as though Toronto’s explosively popular ramen scene was slowing down. Then, both Sansotei Ramen and Kinton Ramen announced new locations, and last week a Tokyo restaurateur opened Touhenboku Ramen near McCaul on Queen West.

While many ramen shops emphasize the milky, creamy pork broth known as tonkotsu, Touhenboku uses chicken broth. Two types are available: a clear, light broth known as chintan, and a collagen-heavy broth known as paitan (it’s like tonkotsu, only pork-free). Owner Zuimei Okuyama says that he simply likes chicken broth, and it has the added benefit of setting his ramen shop apart from the pack.

To make the chintan broth, whole chickens are simmered for four to five hours. The paitan follows a similar process, but the chicken bones are mashed up a bit to release their flavours, and the broth is simmered for an extra hour or so until it’s viscous. Okuyama says he learned about ramen from a school in Japan.

Ramen ($10.50) is served four ways: original (paitan broth), spicy (paitan broth with chili oil), garlicky (paitan broth with a black garlic sauce) or light (chintan broth). Flavours are solidified with a concentrated sauce known as tare (at Touhenboku, the tare is either sea salt-based or soy sauce-based). Every bowl of ramen comes with scallions, a half-boiled egg, wood ear mushrooms and blowtorch-seared meat (pork or chicken).

And before we forget, there are noodles, too. Touhenboku makes its noodles in-house on a Japanese machine (it takes at least four hours of labour per day to keep the restaurant stocked with fresh noodles).

In addition to ramen, Touhenboku also serves pork rice bowls, chicken rice bowls and a selection of appetizers such as gyoza or fried chicken (all of the aforementioned dishes are $4.50).

If all goes well, keep an eye out for new Touhenboku restaurants — Okuyama would like to expand his business in the future.

By Jon Sufrin

Published: November 20, 2013