After seeing Carli's delicious-looking ramen, I got a craving and headed to Santouka Ramen Shop. Santouka is located in the Mitsuwa Marketplace, which is the largest Japanese grocery store in the Chicagoland area.
Santouka serves three main types of ramen: Shio (salt), Shoyu (soy), and Miso ramen. Also, there are two main meat choices: pork (belly) and special pork (cheek). My favorites are the Shoyu and Miso ramen, always with the braised pork cheek. My order today was the Miso ramen with special pork, with a side of rice topped with leeks and a soy boiled egg. Accompanying the ramen were bamboo shoots, a fish cake, kombu, and green onion. The broth is a very rich, milky, pork-based broth that is absolutely delicious. The pork was braised until extremely tender, and the noodles had soaked up some of the flavor of the broth. Right now, this is my favorite soup in the Chicagoland area and any trip down I-90 requires a stop if Santouka is open.
For me noodle soups are great comfort food. Whenever we get a rotisserie chicken, I always debone it immediately, saving the bones for broth. Jook and noodle soups are generally the destination for the carcass. Hmmmm...
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