By Eri Ishitsuka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
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YAMAGATA — The city of Yamagata ranks high in Japan in terms of the annual eating-out-expenses of ramen. Among ramen connoisseurs there, Yahataya is known as one of the “four heavenly kings” of ramen restaurants.
Yahataya, which opened in 1955, is a small restaurant with only three tables with three to four chairs each.
“I often ask my customers to share a table [at lunch time],” said third-generation owner Koichi Endo.
The most popular item is simple chuka-soba (¥550) — the soup is made of beef bone broth from domestically produced cattle and soy sauce, with its rich aroma wafting throughout the restaurant, even though it has a light and mild taste. The crinkled medium-thick noodles are springy and go well with the soup.
Bamboo shoots, minced negi long onion and nori are placed on top of the ramen, along with slices of beef, the dish’s main topping. The meat used is eye of round — a lean part of beef from the cow’s rear leg known as shikinbo in Japanese — which “becomes tastier as you chew it,” according to the 62-year-old Endo, who said he uses only domestic beef for his topping and soup stock.
Pinches of pepper are placed on a slice of nori, allowing customers to dissolve it into the soup when they want to spice things up. (222 words)
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