Meat-free food are gaining traction in Singapore, with many diners looking out for vegan-friendly dining options in Singapore.
It is about time, as IPPUDO Singapore will introduce its first plant-based ramen.
Available from 4 May to 30 June 2021, this limited ramen is available at all eight IPPUDO Singapore dining outlets. These include Mandarin Gallery, Mohamed Sultan, Westgate, Shaw Centre, Marina Bay Sands, Tanjong Pagar, The Star Vista, and Raffles City.
While vegan or vegetarian ramen are not that uncommon in Singapore, IPPUDO wanted to provide vegan diners with the same tasteful experience, with a meat-free broth reminiscent of its acclaimed tonkotsu flavour.
Therefore, this plant-based bowl is based on IPPUDO’s current classic global signature – the Akamaru Shinaji, except that all the ingredients incorporate meat-free alternatives.
It is topped with the same medley of special blended spicy miso blend, fragrant garlic oil, black fungus and spring onions.
Called Akamaru 1.0 ($16.85; $18.85 at MBS outlet), this bowl is a collaboration with Growthwell Singapore – a homegrown company known for its sustainable plant-based food products.
To me, one of the most important components of a ramen is the soup. When you look at the Akamaru 1.0, you almost cannot tell that the base is not tonkotsu due to the creamy and milky-white appearance.
The soup is created from a combination of mushroom broth, soy milk, IPPUDO’s original kaeshi, and a dash of porcini mushroom oil.
When you take sips, you likely get that soul-satisfying, belly-warming smooth creaminess, though the soy taste was rather apparent (especially if you take soy bean milk all the time).
I found this a note-worthy rendition, especially after mixing in the special blended spicy paste, porcini oil and kaeshi – which is a blend of different soy sauces from Kyushu.
This making the soup quite flavour-packed and aromatic.
If you always found it hard to finish your soup due to the richness or greasiness, you may be able to sip up to the last drop for this.
No IPPUDO ramen is complete without the thin, long Hakata-style noodles. Yet, this contains eggless noodles made with whole wheat flour – specially created by IPPUDO in Singapore.
If compared to the regular Akamaru Shinaji version, these noodles were on the softer side without the usual familiar firm bite, and appeared fairer.
However, I found that the strands complemented well with the soup base, and the plus point was they didn’t turn too soggy even after leaving there for a while.
From appearance alone, the key difference you would find is the ‘chashu’ because it lacked that grilled-char around the edges.
The ‘cha shu’ pieces are made with premium non-GMO soy – high in protein, cholesterol-free and preservatives-free.
Marinated with IPPUDO’s signature soy chashu sauce, the round slice did have texture and taste closer to chicken ham as compared to pork belly.
The Akamaru 1.0 ($16.85; $18.85 at MBS outlet ) is suitable for flexitarians, vegetarians and vegans, available at all IPPUDO Singapore’s eight dining outlets from 4 May 2021.
IPPUDO Singapore outlets:
Mandarin Gallery: 333A Orchard Road, #04-02 /03 /04 Mandarin Gallery, Singapore 238897
Mohamed Sultan: 207 River Valley Rd, #01-55/56 UE Square, Entrance on Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 238275
Westgate: 3 Gateway Drive #03-03 Westgate, Singapore 608532
Shaw Centre: 1 Scotts Road #04-22 /23 Shaw Centre, Singapore 228208
Marina Bay Sands: 2 Bayfront Avenue #B2-54/55 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Singapore 018972
Tanjong Pagar: 5 Wallich Street #01-15, Guoco Tower, Singapore 078883
The Star Vista: 1 Vista Exchange Green, #02-19 The Star Vista, Singapore 138617
Raffles City: 252 North Bridge Road #B1-61/62 Raffles City Shopping Centre Singapore 179101
* This entry is brought to you in partnership with IPPUDO Singapore.