Taromen (たろめん)

In Omachi, a former coal-mining town in Saga Prefecture, Taromen (たろめん) arrives looking almost like champon: a steaming bowl crowded with pork, shrimp, cabbage, onion, carrot, and wood ear mushrooms. Then the ginger hits. Beneath the vegetables sit udon noodles in a savory broth simmered from beef bones. The dish once fed local miners before and after their shifts. It disappeared when Taromen Shokudo closed in 2000, then returned in 2010 after residents learned the recipe from the former owner. Today, taromen is both a meal and an edible record of Omachi’s mining past. Three local restaurants were serving it as of the latest official listing. TOCWhat Is Taromen? A bowl of taromen with shrimp, cabbage, carrot, and wood ear mushroom. Taromen is an udon noodle soup associated with Omachi Town in Saga Prefecture. Omachi lies on Kyushu, the southwesternmost of Japan’s four main islands. Its defining features are a beef-bone-based broth, ginger, pork, shrimp, and vegetables. The dish was eaten in the town’s coal-mining era, disappeared after Taromen Shokudo closed in 2000, and was revived by local residents in 2010. Quick FactsJapanese nameたろめん (taromen), also branded 大町たろめん (Omachi Taro...