Festive delivery slots and a special reader offer
Authentic Japanese noodle restaurant, Shoryu Ramen, has created delivery slots over the festive period for those wanting to order the popular DIY Shoryu Kit at home over Christmas and New Year.
If you're stuffed full of leftover turkey sandwiches and Quality Street, a giant steaming bowl of restorative ramen makes the perfect balancing antidote and Shoryu’s favourite dishes are really easy to replicate at home.
Slots are currently available on the 23rd and 30th December, should customers decide they want to taste the authentic flavours of Japanese cuisine over the mid-winter period.
If you'd rather not wait until then, Shoryu are offering Confidential readers a special discount which will run from 25th November until 31st December.
Readers can enjoy a 20% discount on all ramen kits with the code MCR20, meaning you can order for the festive period at a discounted price or build up some brownie points by treating a loved one to Shoryu Ramen at home this Christmas.
We tried one of these kits out back in June...
What? Shoryu Ramen
I love cooking and have been making the most of the extra time lockdown has given me to do more of it at home. I’ve been baking bagels and babkas, proving pizza doughs, prepping pasta and pies and coming up with cakes. But even I CBA to stand over an aromatic pork marrowbone stock for 12 hours or hand-pull hosomen noodles. Also, I don’t have many of the specialist Japanese ingredients I’d need to garnish a ramen I’d laboured over from scratch.
Ramen kits are popular in Japan as they're a convenient way for people to recreate their favourite steaming bowls with minimum bother. According to the leaflet that came with the new DIY Shoryu Kit, a make-at-home version of their signature dish is something Shoryu Ramen have been wanting to try for a while. Now their restaurants are closed for now, they’ve finally made it happen. Fresh Shoryu ramen is now available in kit form for delivery across the UK, in partnership with their sister company, London-based Japanese food hall the Japan Centre.
What do you get and how much does it cost?
Each DIY Shoryu Kit contains almost everything you need to turn yourself into a ramen master and make the kind of warming bowls you’d expect to find at the Piccadilly Gardens’ branch of Shoryu, but in your own home. All that’s missing is the taiko drum they bang when you walk in.
Delve into the box, past the insulated sacks of cool gel and you’ll find enough ingredients for two people, all in neatly labelled plastic bags; original hosomen noodles, 12-hour tonkotsu soup stock, char siu pork belly, toppings of beni shoga red ginger, spring onions and shredded kikurage mushrooms and step by step instructions.
A vegan option is also available with the kits including everything you need to make their signature White Natural vegan ramen at home including their unique tonyu vegan broth made with soy milk, miso, konbu & shiitake mushroom, original ramen noodles, atsuage fried tofu, spring onion, menma bamboo shoots and kikurage mushrooms.
What do you have to do and how difficult is it?
Shoryu promise that this DIY ramen experience can be achieved in your own kitchen in just ten minutes, and it was, pretty much. There are 14 steps to follow, all straightforward enough. The tonkotsu soup stock was milky and jellified, so just needed reheating with 400 mls of boiling water to turn it into a velvety soup base. While that’s gently simmering, heat a frying pan to crisp up the already-cooked pork belly and chop the spring onion. Then you need another pan full of boiling water to cook the noodles – which only takes 45 seconds. Drain the noodles, divide into bowls and pour over the hot soup. Then just copy the finished image by arranging the sliced pork, spring onions, shredded mushrooms and ginger.
Is it any cop?
Shoryu suggest optional extras you can add such as a boiled egg and squares of nori seaweed, which we did. My husband also drizzled his with a load of chilli oil, because he likes it spicy. The preparation may have been more involved that your average Pot Noodle, but it was definitely ten minutes of fun. The ramen was top quality and there was plenty of it.
Order your Shoryu Ramen DIY Kit from Japan Centre
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Value for money
In the restaurant, a bowl of Shoryu Ganso Tonkotsu signature ramen would set you back £12.90. Including the delivery charge (divided into two), the cost of the DIY delivery kit comes to £13.47 per person and you have to make it yourself, wash up and bang your own drum of course. So it’s comparably more expensive. However, these unusual times mean we’re missing restaurants and this really was a true almost hassle free version of the ramen we miss.
Packaging and delivery
Available to order from www.japancentre.com, the kits include everything budding chefs need to make the group’s famous, signature Ganso Ramen at home.
Each kit includes 12 hour tonkotsu soup, original ramen noodles, char siu BBQ pork belly, beni shoga red ginger, and spring onion and kikurage mushroom garnish to top the ramen. Included is a guide taking customers through each and every step, helping them to recreate the Shoryu restaurant experience at home.
Shoryu release kits twice a week with a choice of a Wednesday or Friday delivery slot, each of which can be booked up to 2 weeks in advance. The £20 kit serves 2 people and can be frozen for up to one month.
The delivery bit was pretty straightforward. DPD text and email you who is going to deliver your package and when, and the box arrived the following Wednesday morning in perfect condition. Everything arrived fresh and fully chilled in neatly-labelled plastic bags.
Difficulty
Easy and fun.
Quality and quantity
High quality, no complaints. Although it doesn’t look much once it comes out of the box, there is definitely plenty for two.
The DIY Shoryu kits are available to order fromwww.japancentre.com for delivery in England, Wales and parts of Scotland. For more information visit www.shoryuramen.com and remember, there's a 20% discount on all ramen kits if you use the code MCR20
