As we briefly mentioned on SideDish earlier this week in News Bites, Ichigoh is hosting a Japanese ramen shop from Sapporo, Hokkaido for a three-day pop-up series from February 16 to 18. Here’s more intel for all you soup-slurping ramen fiends who want a taste of uberlegit miso ramen in Dallas.
Owner George Itoh is giving Fukutei Hokkaido Ramen full reign of his Deep Ellum lounge. “It’ll be like his shop,” he says. “The menu will only be his ramen for those three days. He’s old school, so he doesn’t even offer [appetizers] in Japan. It’s just straight ramen. We want to really stay true to that.”
Indeed, Ichigoh’s entire regular menu will make way for the pop-up only, save for a couple of small sides.
Hokkaido is known for its miso ramen and that’s exactly what Fukutei owner Hironori Ito will bring to Dallas. Specifically, his shrimp miso and spicy shrimp miso ramen—something of a trend in Japan right now, says Itoh—made with Argentinian red shrimp, which is like a cross between lobster and shrimp (conceptually, not biologically). “The peel is very red and it’s very flavorful,” Itoh says of the red shrimp—the very same specialty ingredient Ito uses in his ramen shop in Japan.
So what’s the connection between these two distant ramen chefs? A shared noodle company based in Sapporo. And soon, says Itoh, his Ichigoh will also start serving miso ramen too. After six months of R&D, they’ll launch a proper miso ramen (as opposed to ramen with miso broth, a distinction Itoh importantly notes). “The [housemade] miso paste is already done,” he says, while next steps is all about traditional execution: saute that miso paste with garlic, ginger, and a little ground pork. “The heat you introduce makes the miso even milder, rounder.” His will also have pork chashu marinated in sake kasu (the leftover lees that are often used as a pickling agent) and noodles ideal for the miso ramen.
The launch is coming soon, but don’t sleep on the upcoming Fukutei pop-up.
It’s not only the menu that will see the full takeover, says Itoh. “I told him to play his music. He said, ‘I listen to hard rock and heavy metal.’ ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s fine.’”
Fukutei Hokkaido Ramen Pop-Up
Sunday & Monday, Feb. 16 & 17, 11 a.m.–9 p.m., and Tuesday, Feb. 18 until 10 p.m.
Ichigoh, Deep Ellum, prices a la carte
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article listed the pop-up dates as Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday.
