Hagan is located in the blue-collar neighborhood of Sakuradai out in the burbs in Nerima ward, in a property that looks like a dilapidated shed both inside and out. (See the images from this
RocketNews review five years ago) It’s small inside; it only has seven seats. Its menu is simplistic; it serves only
aburasoba. There is every reason to think that Hagan has seen better days, and in a way it’s true, because while it placed in Ramen Databases’s top-10 of soupless ramen for two years after it opened in 2008, it dropped out for a good afterwards. There is nothing to suggest that it might have noodles of any note.
That impression is very wrong.
Yes the shop only serves aburasoba, but it offers it in three flavors: regular (shoyu), shio, and
niboshi. I don’t normally like to use the word “umami,” since too often it’s used irresponsibly as a catchall term for “flavor” without attempting to explain how this flavor is achieved. But in this case, the niboshi aburasoba I chose was absolutely chock-full of umami. The shoyu
tare is then combined with niboshi to add a stream of musty, fishy meatiness into the bowl.
That meatiness is then complemented by the star of this bowl, the pork loin chashu. The chashu is is chopped and then charcoal-grilled to produce an extremely smoky flavor that permeates and persists in the rest of the bowl. The only other shop I can think of that has produced a chashu that is of comparable smokiness is Ranchu, whose chashu looks very differently. Nonetheless, the chashu at Hagan is outstanding, and the toppings of katsuobushi flakes and sliced negi (Welsh onion, spring onion) adds even more umami and aromatics to the considerably high base.
Finally, the thick and eggy noodles from the firm Mikawaya are perfectly fine on their own, but they’re slightly “sticky” as to better achieve their real purpose: to scoop up the shoyu-niboshi tare and efficiently deliver it, the chashu, and the toppings into one’s mouth.
Put all of this together, what you get is a chonky bowl of noodles that is incredibly easy to wolf down. And there’s plenty of it too; the standard- (200g of noodles) and medium- (300g) sized bowls are priced the same, and a large-size bowl (presumably 400g or 500g) is only 100 yen more. Chili pepper, black pepper, and vinegar are available to add to taste, with the latter adding some astringency to the dish that might be desirable to some people. The only downside of note I thought was that the egg tasted pretty average and a bit misshapen. But if you overlook that, you can have a cheap and very good bowl of aburasoba that features uniquely-flavored and absolutely terrific chashu. All without having to really worry about a line like you would at some of the bigger names closer to the middle of town, which is always fine by me.
Q Factor: None (Weekend 1845)
Sense: Old School/Greasy Spoon
Price: Deluxe Niboshi Aburasoba Medium Size 300g (¥800)
らーめん 破顔 (Ramen Hagan)
〒176-0002 東京都練馬区桜台1-5-11
Sakuradai Station (Seibu Ikebukuro Line)
