Meet The Manufacturer: An Interview With Yamachan Ramen

Welcome one and all to another Meet The Manufacturer! This time it’s San Jose, CA based Yamachan Ramen!They make fresh ramen products – here’s the interview I did with them.

THE RAMEN RATER> Thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview! Could we start off with　Some information about Yamachan; when was Yamachan founded, where and by who?

YAMACHAN RAMEN>Yamachan Ramen is a brand name for our retail products. Our company’s official name is Nippon Trends Food Services, Inc. (NTF for short), which was found by Mr. Hideyuki Yamashita (the president of the company-A.K.A Yamachan) in San Jose, CA in 2000.
The factory was originally built as a central kitchen for Japanese franchise restaurant Ringer Hut.co (http://www.ringerhut.co.jp).
Ringer Hut had a plan to open 100 restaurants in US late 90’s, but Ramen wasn’t popular (or unknown to the most of the people in US), so Ringer Hut, Co. only opened 2 restaurants and left the USA. (Although the company left here, their 1st restaurant is still in San Jose, CA http://www.ringerhutusa.com ). It was president of the Ringer Hut’s dream to introduce Japanese ramen noodles to US, so Mr. Yamashita stayed in US with his family to continue on manufacturing noodle products.

TRR> For those of my readers who are not familiar with your line of products, could
You tell us a little about them?
 
YR> We have several items in the market for customer’s needs.  Our products are not dried instant noodles that you see at the supermarket.
It takes few steps to make it but you can enjoy Ramen almost as well as you eat at restaurant.

For the basic ramen fans.
Yamachan Mild (regular) series-all soup base for these products are imported from Japan and contains no meat products in the soup base. (Some fish products in the base).
Shoyu (Soy sauce flavor)
Miso (Soy bean paste flavor)
Shio (Sea food flavor)
We also have Tonkotsu (pork and chicken) flavor. However, this product has been out of the market for almost a year but it will be back in the market soon. Tonkotsu Ramen series contains Chicken and pork in the soup base and it is made in US.
Yamachan Noukou (Richer flavor) series-all soup base for these products are imported from Japan and no meat products in the soup base. (Some fish products in it). Noodles for Noukou series are made from premium Japanese flour.
Noukou Shoyu (Soy sauce flavor)
Noukou Miso (Soy bean paste flavor)
Noukou Tonkotsu Shoyu (Soy sauce, pork and chicken flavor)
Yamachan NO MSG series
No MSG Shoyu (Soy sauce with chicken flavor soup base)
No MSG Miso (Soy bean paste with fish flavor sauce)
No MSG HIYASHI CHUKA (cold salad noodle- Lemmon soy flavor)
No MSG Sarandon (Crispy noodle- with chicken flavor gravy)

We also sell Menma (bamboo shoots) and restaurant size (1kg) soup base,

TRR> What does the name ‘Yamachan’ mean?

YR> Yamachan is a nickname for Mr. Yamashita’s last name. The character of the man with on the package is Yamachan.

TRR> Is Yamachan involved in the local community around you?

YR> Yes. We do donate our products to local Japanese community events or school charity.
Also Mr. Yamashita goes to cook at Japanese community events every summer.

TRR> Are there any new products that will be coming out soon that you could tell us about?

YR> Shio (Sea food flavor) just came out about 6 months ago.
Our Tonkotsu Ramen will be back to the market in November.
We are also developing allergy free, egg free, no gluten ramen.

TRR> A lot of people wonder about the health factors (sodium, etc.) when it comes to instant noodles. How do you recommend people made instant noodles a healthy part of their diet?

YR> Ramen soup is well known to have MSG in it. We offer No MSG retail products for the customers who are concerned about MGS products.
Also ramen soup contains a lot of sodium but if you only have 1/2 of the soup, your sodium you will only have 1/2 of the sodium.
Try to eat fresh/ locally instant noodles like Yamachan ramen.

TRR> Do you make/sell products other than instant noodles?

YR> Our main business is to manufacture noodles to restaurant. (80% of our products go to Japanese restaurants)
We offer variety of noodles, which includes organic, no preservatives, vegan, egg free. Etc.…
We also manufacture crispy noodles, Pot sticker skins, Udon, Buckwheat noodles…. etc.

TRR> What was your first product?

YR> Yamachan Shoyu ramen and miso ramen.

TRR> How does the process in which you make your noodles differ from other brands?

YR> We made the noodles just like the factory in Japan.
Our machines are from Japan and flour is milled by Japanese technique, and we go Japan to find the best soup that matches to our noodles.
We design noodles for customer’s need (Thickness, weights, recipe)

TRR> When you make instant noodles for yourself, do you add anything or have any recommendations?

YR> You can add anything. Regular ramen put green onions, Chashu (Braised Pork), a halt cooked egg, bamboo s
I think for topping wise, you can put anything you want to. I like to put small chopped raw onions on Noukou Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen.
The best way to cook them is to FOLLOW the cooking instruction on the package. Use cooking timer and measuring cup to make exactly how to cook. That is the best way.
You can check how to make Chashu and a half cooked eggs at  This page.

TRR> Where can people find your products?

YR> Most of the Asian supermarket nears you. If you cannot find them, please contact us via website.

TRR> Thank you very much for this opportunity to learn more about Yamachan Ramen!

Meet The Manufacturer Yamachan Ramen Reviews: Interview * Yamachan Ramen Samples * Yamachan Shio Ramen Seafood Clear Soup Base Mild * Yamachan Miso Ramen – Mild * Yamachan Miso Ramen Rich Sapporo Miso * Yamachan Tonkotsu-Shoyu Rich Pork Ramen * Yamachan Ramen Cold Noodles With Lemon Soy Dressing * Yamachan Ramen Nagasaki Sara Udon Chicken Flavor * Yamachan Ramen Rich Shoyu Ramen

Meet The Manufacturer #885: Yamachan Miso Ramen Rich Sapporo Miso

So yesterday I tried the mild miso and today I’m hitting up the rich. This one says it’s ‘Sapporo miso’ – curious to see what its like.

Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge).

The noodle portions come individually wrapped on a tray.

The miso packets.

Finished. Added some onions, a hard boiled egg with some Krazy Mixed Up Salt and some baked chicken with Soul Seasoning and Ajishima Kimchi Furikake. The noodles are reaslly good – chewy and fresh. The broth was a surprise. I expected a really really strong miso flavor that would bowl me over. It’s exactly as mentioned on the package – rich. Broth is of a brown and almost milky color. The broth has an extremely nice depth to it and is really good. I was expecting a really salty and almost funky bitter taste which I did not get at all and I am happy about that. Serious depth of flavor – I like it. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars – this is excellence.  UPC bar code 767921011200 .

How to do product demos of Yamachan products. Basically, this guy’s a pro at makingh this stuff and so have a look to make sure you’re doing it right!

This is a Japanese cooking show called Dotch. They’re having a challeng: Onion Miso Ramen vs Salt Butter Ramen! I had no idea onion miso ramen was somewhat normal – I just like onions a lot and it sounded good.

Meet The Manufacturer #884: Yamachan Miso Ramen – Mild

Here’s another one of the fresh ramen samples from Yamachan. I’ve not been a big fan of miso in the past, but I’m open to this – looks fancy.

Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). Note the dual-pot method.

Here are the fresh noodles.

Here is the soup base.

Finished. Added onion, green bell pepper and broccoli. Also some turkey lunch meat with some Ajishima Kimchi furikake on top. The noodles are impeccable – fresh and tasty! Now I mentioned earlier that I didn’t like the flavor of miso. Well, I’m not going to say that I do now, but this was interesting. It was very salty and had an earthy flavor. I know it’s fermented and it definitely tasted like it. All in all not bad! 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 767921019206 .

Here’s a nivdeo of the Yamachan factory!

Here’s a video on what miso is and how its made.

Meet The Manufacturer #883: Yamachan Shio Ramen Seafood Clear Soup Base Mild

This is something a little different. This is two servings of fresh ramen in a pack. They’re made in San Jose and this looks to be something gourmet. Let’s check it out!

Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge).

The noodles are fresh – it looks like you could take them out and take a rolling pin to them and they’d turn back into dough! Pretty neat.

The soup base is a packet of liquid.

Finished. Just the noodles and broth this time. The noodles are really quite good; chewy and taste literally like they were just made. Definitely gourmet grade. The broth is interesting too. My only experience with the concept of Shio is a couple Shio flavor packs and one bowl. The broth here is salty, yes (Shio means salt in Japan) but the saltiness is tempered with a depth of flavors. It’s not violently fishy by any means – its quite nice really. I liked this one – 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 767921019503

I know PSY’s gottten big here with the Gangnam Style, but I’m still surprised Kyary Pamyu Pamyu still hasn’t.