IT was ramen for us after the Chinese New Year fare of the past week, so we found ourselves customising our noodles in tonkotsu by ticking boxes on a form at Ramen Hitoyoshi in the Starling Mall, Petaling Jaya.

Do I want my noodles thick or thin, hard or soft, with more oil or less, with garlic, spicy or original broth? Luckily there was a “normal” box to tick for the first three options.

My first bowl was the garlic tonkotsu with ajitsuke tamago or ajitama egg as the topping.

Tonkotsu is pork bone broth that has been simmered for at least eight hours, resting overnight to let the flavours develop. It was a cloudy, rich and creamy broth infused with black garlic oil for the thin noodles I had chosen.

The thinly sliced chashu or braised pork belly was draped in a round bowl, and the ajitsuke tamago egg with its orange, gooey yolk stood out.

There was crunchy black fungus in the ramen, and for more crunch we added fried onions.

Altogether, it was a satisfying bowl, though I should have asked for hard noodles with a little bite instead of normal, which was soft for me.

We also savoured the buta shogayaki tonkotsu, which had thinly sliced pork loin marinated in a ginger sauce, together with chashu and tender pork belly strips, and a raw egg yolk to be stirred into the hot tonkotsu broth.

There was a tinge of sweetness from the ginger marinade in this lavish bowl.

I liked it that you could help yourself to as much bean sprouts as you want from the round container on the table. The bean sprouts were marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil and made a great appetiser.

You could also tip some into your bowl, enhancing the flavour of the ramen.

We also ordered two side dishes: goma tofu and chicken nanban.

The goma tofu was delicious – soft, creamy chilled tofu drenched in a fragrant white sesame sauce and generously topped with ebiko or shrimp roe, seaweed and spring onion.

Chicken nanban is deep-fried chicken topped with a mayonnaise sauce with chopped egg. The chicken made delectable bites with the lightly sweet, textured mayo sauce.

Spicy tonkotsu ramen with all toppings was my choice on a return visit. I had hard, thicker noodles for my bowl and I delighted in this spicy tonkotsu with a mellow burn.

Even better was the spicy ball of minced pork blended with sakura shrimps. There was this intense burst of spicy saltiness which melted into the broth, infusing it with delicious prawny flavours.

All toppings meant there were three types of pork: lean sliced chashu, aburi belly pork, and the special chashu, which is thicker.

I loved the melt-in-the-mouth aburi belly pork rimmed with fat. A large sheet of seaweed was tucked into the bowl and of course there was my favourite ajitama egg with its custardy yolk, full of umami.

My friend had the classic tonkotsu ramen with all toppings, with a similar variety of pork in it, seaweed and the egg.

This time we were presented with a dish of sesame seeds and a wooden pounder to crush them and tip into the ramen.

I couldn’t resist ordering the goma tofu again, and added to that agedashi nasu, which was grilled eggplant and mushrooms in soya sauce, topped with bonito flakes.

Ramen Hitoyoshi is on Level 1, The Starling Mall, Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya, tel: 03-3773 3024. – January 28, 2023.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.