Refreshing flavor of "chilled ramen" with ice floating on top of the soup

Yamagata City attracted attention as the city with the highest consumption of ramen in Japan, according to a household budget survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released in February 2023. Yamagata's ramen attracts many people as the ''Ramen Sanctuary,'' but it also has a menu that has evolved in its own way. That is "hiyashi ramen", where both the soup and noodles are served cold. It looks like regular ramen, with plenty of soup in the bowl and toppings such as chashu pork and menma, but when you take a bite, you'll be surprised at how cold it is. There are many restaurants that serve it chilled on ice. In addition, the fat in animal soups solidifies when cooled, so each restaurant has their own unique methods, such as carefully removing the fat or adding richness to the soup with vegetable oil.The light taste is perfect for summer. The noodles are well chilled so you can enjoy their chewy texture. Although soy sauce flavor is common, chilled ramen is still evolving, with some restaurants making it with miso-based soup.

Hiyashi ramen that will cool you down from the core in the harsh summer heat that is unique to the basin. For the people of Yamagata, it is a typical summer feature.