So, you are a tsukemen enthusiast? You have ventured the Kanto and Kansai area trying the best tsukemen.
But in the Chugoku region, specifically in Hiroshima, is a restaurant known for Hiroshima tsukemen and its Bakudan-ya. A restaurant that is popular and has many celebrities visiting the restaurant.
The restaurant only has four primary things on the menu: Hiroshima Tsukemen (Cold Chinese noodles served with spicy soup) with boiled cabbage, leek and cucumber; spicy miso tsukesoba; Shirunashi Tan Tan Men, chicken karaage,
You can also get fried oysters, gyoza, onigiri, etc.
Typically, when you eat tsukemen, you get your soba noodles and sauce.
But at Bakudan-ya, it’s different.
Photo by Phreddie, Flickr
For one, they have noodles served with vegetables (I believe the lettuce is to help with the sauce if you chose to have more heat) and you can get the usual chashu and boiled egg. But the biggest difference aside from presentation, it is the sauce.
The sauce is presented in a level that you choose. 0 to 100. 0 for children, 1-2 for those who like their sauce mild, 3-4 is where you can take that spice but the higher you go, depends on what you can stand.
I want to enjoy my food and not suffer from too much heat or heartburn, so I’m perfectly fine at 1, nor do I want to be hiccuping uncontrollably on the Shinkansen.
The sauce is a blend of soy sauce and the addition of chilli oil and chillies which makes it red, is up to you and your tolerance. Also, added are many what I think are sesame seeds which are toasted.
And it’s recommended to get the cheap chicken karaage for Y190 for two pieces.
It’s important to note that while in the world, the cold noodles is known as tsukemen, in Hiroshima, it was known as reimen (cold noodles). Also, I noticed a difference where in most tsukemen in Kanto region, the noodles are perfect, but in Hiroshima, the noodles are more al dente.
While the Shirunashi Tan Tan Men is rather interesting because unlike the Chinese cuisine which the noodles are in broth, the Hiroshima version has far less broth and toppings.
While Bakudan-ya is popular and have restaurants now throughout Japan, unfortunately the one I went to, which was in Hiroshima Station, was closed during the pandemic.
