Tokyo Disneyland Style Ramen

Making a more authentic bowl of ramen at home has been on my to-do this for a while, but I didn't have the perfect motivation. My sister supplied some adorable motivation in the form of a Mickey ramen sticker for my birthday. Unknown to me at the time, it would set me on quite the quest!

If you have ever had a bowl of ramen in Japan (see Disney keychain for kawaii reference) you'll notice key features include a pink and white swirled narutomaki and soft boiled egg. Narutomaki is processed fish cake rolled together in long sticks to achieve the pink/white swirl. Other common ram ingredients include mushrooms, bean sprouts, pork or shrimp, and and seasonings like sesame seeds and nori (seaweed). I figured one stop at our local Asian grocery store would check off the ingredients on my list. Little did I know the journey would consumed most of my Wednesday afternoon.

I started by taking a quick trip to Hmart in Aurora. I was able to fine some furikake - seasoning made of sesame seed, nori, salt, sugar, and dried fish - and some fun dishes but no narutomaki! Unfortunately, they only carry kamaboko which is red and white fish cake without the swirl. It took me a while to figure out where I could get my coveted narutomaki... without taking a trip to LA where Instacart found the closest grocer that carried it. Fortunately, I stumbled upon the website for the Pacific Mercantile Company. To my great delight I realized they were actually in downtown Denver! They are located in Sakura Square which is also the home of the Tri-State Denver Buddist Temple, two restaurants, and a law firm.

Pacific Merchanile Company carriers a huge array of Japanese snacks, frozen and fresh products. They had multiple brands of narutomaki and fresh ramen noodles! I was also excited to pick up some bean sprouts, mushroom, Chinese peas, and some snacks for the road. The staff was very nice. I told my hubby we would definitely be taking a field trip there again so he could see what they had to offer.

 

Making the ramen is pretty easy. Broth is poured over the cooked noodles and then you add your toppings! I chose some slices of pork loin from a dinner we had last night, bean sprouts, chives, shimeji mushrooms sauteed in butter, and a Mickey soft boiled egg sprinkled with furikake. But who could forget those thin slices of narutomaki?!

I encourage you to visit an international type market as soon as it is safe to do so. There are lots of delicious snacks, pre-made items, and cooking ingredients waiting for you to sample! Plus I've got one more serving of ramen noodles left and another kawaii cat bowl to fill...

Toyko Disney Style Ramen

Ingredients

• Ramen Noodles (any brand is fine!)
• Toppings (egg, narutomaki, bean spouts, peas, chives/scallion, pork, shrimp, ect)
• Seasoning (sesame seed, nori, furikake, ect)

Instructions

1. Cook ramen according to package. 
2. Top with extras and seasonings. 
3. Enjoy!