Takumi Ramen closes off their 15-year anniversary celebration with a final Ramen Challenge. Participants representing Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf and Barcelona are competing on February 11th for a chance to two tickets to Japan. You can also view the recipes and vote for your choice, online.
Six finalists compete with their recipe for a trip to Tokyo
Takumi Ramen launched the 'ramen challenge' last year. A competition in which participants came up with their own ramen recipe and were allowed to submit it. The lucky winner of this ramen challenge wins 2 tickets to Tokyo and his recipe is sold in selected Takumi restaurants in Europe. The six best recipes submitted will be invited to the grand finale in the Netherlands to cook for the Takumi Ramen masters and judges Mr Saeki, Mr Okada and Mr Ogata. This final day and also festive finale of the 'Takumi 15 year Anniversary' celebration, will take place on Saturday 11 February in Rotterdam.
Takumi Ramen Challenge
After months of competition and hundreds of entries to the #RamenChallenge, a top six recipes have been chosen to compete in the final during the grand finale in Rotterdam. During the exciting finale, the 'Me-so Shrimp Ramen', a rich and intense shrimp miso broth, among others, will take on 'Black Garlic & Miso Pork Belly' with black garlic & miso pork belly in a chicken broth. The 6 finalists who will face each other for their final race towards Tokyo are:
- Gianluca Contu with 'Black Garlic & Miso Pork Belly' from The Hague
- Roma Gomez Cortada with 'Pesto Tsukemen' from Barcelona
- Tim Kortenjann with 'Harissa Duck Ramen' from Düsseldorf
- Kasper Harteveld with 'Me-so Shrimp Ramen' from Rotterdam
- Jake Cao with 'Seafood Ramen' from Barcelona
- Rob Aarts with 'The Dutch Kraken' from Amsterdam
It will be up to the Takumi Ramen masters, Mr Saeki (founder Takumi), Mr Okada (head chef of Takumi) and Mr Ogata (Head designer Takumi), to decide which of these recipes is the best and which of these finalists can call himself winner of the Takumi Ramen Challenge. Of course, they will judge the recipes based on taste and presentation, but also important is the level of innovation within Takumi's range and the feasibility of replicating the recipe in their kitchen.
Besides the chefs' verdict, the public's opinion also counts. They can vote for their favourite via Takumi's website to help them one step closer to foodhalla Japan.
Takumi 15 Year Anniversary
The Takumi Ramen Challenge is part of Takumi's 15-year anniversary celebrations. The year-long anniversary was celebrated through various events, giveaways and challenges. These events were hosted live in a number of major cities under the banner 'Takumi on tour'. Among others, the restaurant organised spicy ramen challenges, exclusive merchandise was available, exciting prizes could be won and everyone could enjoy ramen specials. In addition, Takumi fans had the chance to take part in a lottery to win various trips to Barcelona, Milan or Amsterdam and, as the big hit, a 5-day trip to Tokyo. The final of the Ramen Challenge is thus the grand finale of the one-year celebration of Takumi's 15th anniversary.
About Takumi Ramen
Takumi Ramen was founded 15 years ago by Mr Saeki and Mr Okada. The Japanese men shared a big dream: to open their own ramen restaurant in Europe. The first Takumi restaurant opened its doors in 2007 in Düsseldorf. Since then, ramen has been unrelentingly popular and the Dutch appreciate the best Japanese soul food like no other. Over the past 15 years, Takumi has become a 'brand' with its own merchandise. The chain now has 43 locations throughout Europe in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and the Czech Republic.
