Generally speaking, most noodles are made with wheat flour. But in the Rusutsu area housewives have been making Udon using Dempun, or potato flour, for years. And recently these thick Dempun Udon noodles have been growing in popularity all through the Shiribeshi region.
And then one night one of us asked a fateful question. "If you can make Udon using potato flour, is there any reason you couldn`t make Ramen the same way?" And an idea that excited all of us was born. We would be the first to use Hokkaido`s famous Jagaimo (Potatoes) to make Ramen. It sounded so simple at the time.
Then came the research into making the noodles, and creating a commercial product as good as homemade noodles. It wasn`t easy. Potato flour reacts differently than wheat flour. Simple things like finding the right ratio of water and flour took hours and hours of trial and error (and bowls and bowls of noodles) before we were ready to begin the test production stage. Then deciding on just what kind of soups would go well with the noodles and be easy to prepare at home. It was a long time before we were able to make that 'just right' ramen we`d had in mind from the start.
Most Ramen noodles are made with very alkaline water known as kansui to give the noodles their chewy texture. It also gives them a distinctly yellow color and makes Ramen shops smell like a mineral spring. We decided to use as little kansui as possible to keep the ramen`s wonderful 'bite', but without the eggy aroma that gets in the way of other flavors. We also decided against adding any kind of artificial preservatives. Our Jaga Ramen would be as close to homemade as we could make it.
It was a long time in coming, but we`re pleased to say that now everyone can buy real Rusutsu-style 'Jaga Ramen' at the Rusutsu Road Station (Michi no Eki), the Dosanko Plaza in JR Sapporo Station, and the Dosanko Plaza in Tokyo`s Yurakucho. Each package contains two servings and sells for JPY 650.
