Very rich and creamy “double soup” ramen at Menya Kissou

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1. [Menya Kissou (麺屋吉左右)](https://youtu.be/d9qkrjso70w) is an absolute favorite of ramen nerds in Japan and has been the number one highest ranked ramen shop in Tokyo on Ramen Database for a long time. In case you’re not familiar with Ramen Database, or RamenDB in short, it is the main website for ramen otakus, or “raota”, to leave their reviews.

   Menya Kissou serves that is described as either “doubutsu-kei” (動物系), double soup or “W soup”, which means the same as double soup. Doubutsu-kei means literally animal soup, because they are so many elements at play, that you can’t really describe it by categorizing it with its main broth component. The double soup description alludes to the to the combination of two broths at the point of assembling the final soup.

   The first broth is a mainly pork bone and chicken broth, which provides a ton of richness and heaviness. It is also the main broth according to my observation and it seems to make up around 70% of the final soup. The second broth is a fragrant fish broth, which is made with various types of niboshi and katsuobushi. Both broths are only combined in the ramen bowl that is served to the customer. Until then, both broths are kept in separate pots, which can be seen behind the counter.
   The resulting soup is incredibly rich and velvety, every slurp coats the entire inside of your mouth. At the same time, it is very fragrant and aromatic, balancing the flavors of both soups without anything overpowering the rest. After taking the first sips of the soup, it is easy to see why this soup has gained a big following among ramen heads.

   If you would like to know more about this bowl of ramen, its components and the ramen shop, check out this short video: https://youtu.be/d9qkrjso70w