How Kuma Ramen started
Kuma Ramen started as a Thursday-night pop-up in a Division Street bar in 2013. Forty bowls a night, one broth, one pot. The line got longer than the bar, and in 2015 we took the lease next door.
The pot is bigger now and there are three broths, but the recipe is the one from the bar: pork femurs, trotters, a rolling boil, and nothing to thicken it but time.
What we insist on
- Tonkotsu boiled for 18 hours, never from a base or a paste
- Noodles cut each morning on our own machine
- Tare aged two weeks before it touches a bowl
- Eggs boiled 6 minutes 30 seconds and marinated overnight
Who cooks
A kitchen of six. One on broth, one on noodles, two at the pass building bowls, two on gyoza and plates. A bowl is built in 90 seconds once the noodles come up.
Good to know
Can I choose how firm the noodles are?
Yes. Regular, firm, extra firm or soft, at no charge. Regular is what we would pick for tonkotsu.
Is there a vegan bowl?
The vegan miso ramen is made with shiitake and kombu broth and soy milk, in a pot that never sees pork. The gyoza and karaage are not vegan.
How does delivered ramen stay good?
Broth, noodles and toppings travel in separate containers. Heat the broth, pour it over the noodles, add the toppings. It takes two minutes and the noodles stay firm.
Is there gluten-free ramen?
Not yet. Our noodles are wheat and we have not found a rice noodle we would put in our broth. The rice bowls and most small plates are gluten-free.