Ramen restaurant foreigners always go.
Ichiran (一蘭) is the most popular Ramen restaurant among foreigners. Just like Tokyo Tower or Golden Temple, it is one of the places that the visitors to Japan would definitely go, except for Muslims.
The reason why Muslims do not go to the restaurant is so clear: The Ramen is Kyushu style, which means they use broth from Pork.
Before talking about its ingredients, let’s get to know about the restaurant first.
The first Ichiran restaurant was opened in Hakata, Fukuoka, in 1993. When they first started offering the noodle, it was not in the restaurant, but it was from a food stall. With its white broth from pork with red spicy paste in the soup, the Ramen became so popular, and now there are more than 80 branches from Hokkaido to Okinawa, even some in the foreign countries.
Is the Ramen Halal?
Now we guess many of you now think about going to the restaurant, but because the broth is made from pork, the Ramen is definitely haram. If you would like to look for halal food in Japan, we cannot recommend you going to the restaurant.
What can Muslims do?
But wait a minute, then why are we talking about Ichiran today? Well, this is because there is one branch in Osaka that does not use pork broth!
This is not widely known, but in order to meet the demand from the people who cannot eat pork, Ichiran has opened one restaurant that does not use pork broth in Midosuji, Osaka. Pork broth has a strong flavor and there are not a small number of Japanese who are not good at the smell of the broth. They have spent nearly 20 years to make a Ramen with their thick and strong taste, not using pork ingredients.
Still, what we have to mention is that the Ramen is not Halal. They use chicken for broth, with beef as a topping. These meats are not Halal certified, so that the Ramen is not intended for the people who want to follow religious restriction.
What about Halal souvenir Ramen?
They had Ramen without pork as a souvenir before. This Ramen was sold very well as it was found in Don Quijote and other souvenir shops. However, as of June 2023, they do not have this No Pork souvenir Ramen. You will not find this product so do not waste your time on finding one.
Where is this Ramen available?
There once No Pork Ramen restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo, but now they stopped serving this. No Pork Ramen is now only available in Midosuji, Osaka. The detail is as follows:
Address: 2nd Flr., Gurukasu city Bldg., 2-4 2 Chome, Shinsaibashi suji, Chuo Ward, Osaka
大阪府大阪市中央区心斎橋筋2丁目4-2 グルカスシティビル 2F
Tel: 06-6211-2601
Opening hours: 10:00~22:00
There might be more branches that serve no Pork Ramen in the future, so just check out the info before visiting.
Let us remind you once again, that the Ramen is not Halal. But if you would like to just avoid pork, we would recommend you try one in the branch in Midosuji.