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MANILA, Philippines – Japanese restaurant Mitsuyado Sei-men just added a hot and spicy new ramen dish to their menu, and we don’t know if you can take the heat!
On Wednesday, June 21, Mitsuyado Sei-men launched the Fiery Hot Tsukemen, a seasonal item with a fiery personality. A spicy challenge I was willing to take, I visited Mitsuyado Sei-men’s Glorietta branch, which has a more ramen-centered menu than the other branches.
Located at the Top of the Glo in Glorietta 2, Mitsuyado joins a strip of other Japanese restaurants. The interiors set the restaurant apart from the rest, inspired by the noodle shops that run along the streets of Japan with string lights, exposed concrete accents, vintage posters, and simulated corrugated metal sheets covering the walls. The cafeteria-style counter also gives patrons a first-hand glimpse of the kitchen action.
Thankfully, the place was well air-conditioned, because I needed all the coolness I could get for the blazing journey I was about to embark on.
Tsukemen is a kind of ramen that entails dipping the noodles in a separate bowl of rich, concentrated broth. In Japan, tsukemen is more commonly consumed in the warmer seasons, while warm soup noodles are more popular for the colder seasons.
The spice is right
Like any tsukemen, Mitsuyado Sei-men’s Fiery Hot Tsukemen (P420)’s noodles and broth are served separately. The staff offered me a bib so I wouldn’t get my shirt stained, but I decided not to wear it.
When ordering tsukemen at Mitsuyado, you get to pick the broth, noodle thickness, and noodle temperature. Hot noodles, for instance, are softer, while cold noodles are more firm and chewy. I decided to go for cold noodles to balance out the heat of the broth.
The noodles came with mung bean sprouts, which added some crunch to the noodles’ chewy texture, and some freshness to the soup. Floating in the rich red broth were bits of chashu pork (slow-braised pork belly) and lots of siling labuyo (bird’s eye chili), which instantly gave off a sharp smell that both enticed and scared me for what was to come.
The broth was concentrated and oil-based, meaning it absorbed and retained more of the flavors of the aromatics and the chili. With my first slurp, the spiciness didn’t hit immediately; instead, it gave way to the savory flavors of the garlic and chashu. It wasn’t until my second bite that the heat started to kick in— and what a kick it was!
The spiciness of the Fiery Hot Tsukemen certainly isn’t for beginners. While I don’t think it’s the hottest ramen out there, I’d say it’s the hottest I’ve tried so far. Because of the copious amounts of siling labuyo, which is said to measure at least 80,000 on the Scoville scale (for reference, jalapeños measure at 8,000 Scoville Heat Units at most), the heat lingers in the mouth and inside the nose long after the last bite. I even might have pressed a glass of ice water to my face just to cool down a bit.
The dish has got a robust savory flavor, paired with a heat that rivals the country’s summertime climate. With a serving size fit for two people, I think the dish is more than worth its price.
As if one spicy dish wasn’t enough, I also had the Spicy Tuna Maki (P260). Bits of raw tuna tossed in a mixture of mayo, chives, and tobiko (fish roe) sat atop soft rice. The rolls were creamy and with a mildly spicy kick, best enjoyed with a bit of wasabi and soy sauce. With eight loaded pieces, the Spicy Tuna Maki is also good for sharing.
As a cooler, I had the Oatmilk Matcha Latte (P140), a beverage from Mitsuyado’s new Matcha Series. I thought that the creamy oat milk overpowered the matcha a bit, and I found myself wanting more of green tea’s grassy and bittersweet flavors.
Mitsuyado delivers on its promise to set fire to your taste buds with the Fiery Hot Tsukemen. With its large serving size, reasonable price, and bold flavors all around, the dish isn’t something to miss, especially if you have a good tolerance for heat.
Mitsuyado Sei-men is a ramen shop that was founded in Japan in 2005 and made its way to the Philippines in 2012, with their first branch along Jupiter Street in Makati City. They serve the usual Japanese fare, like sushi, gyoza, and tempura, but their specialty is ramen.
Mitsuyado Sei-men is part of The Mugen Group, which brought to the Philippines other Japanese brands like UCC Coffee, Yamato Bakery by UCC, MOS Burger, CoCo Ichibanya, Tendon Kohaku, Shaburi, and Kintan Buffet to the Philippines.
The Fiery Hot Tsukemen is available in Mitsuyado Ramen Shokudo in Glorietta 2 and other Mitsuyado Sei-men branches: Blue Bay Walk in Pasay, Jupiter Street in Makati, Mitsukoshi Mall in Bonifacio Global City, and Bonifacio District in Cebu. – Rappler.com
Sophia Gonzaga is a Rappler intern.
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