つけめん / Tsukemen / Chūka Soba Tomita — Matsudo, Chiba

Rich tonkotsu-gyokai soup is made from chicken, pork bones and dried seafood, including niboshi, katsuobushi and mackerel. The soup simmers for over 20 hours. Shoyu tare contains wooden-barrel raw soy sauce from Ibaraki, Hyoto and Wakayama prefectures. Thick high-hydration noodles are homemade by master Tomita-san from scratch daily, using a domestic wheat blend flour. Four different kinds of chashu use Tokyo-X brand pork, including traditional roasted rib chashu, hook-hung (and grilled) shoulder loin, soy sauce glazed thigh meat and low-temperature cooked inner thigh meat seasoned with salt. Also topped with ajitama egg and negi, pork shumai dumpling served on the side.

Master Tomita-san trained under the legendary ramen master Yamagishi-san of Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishōken. After going independent, he lived in the space above his shop in Matsudo for several years. He now operates a group of over 10 restaurants. Open for lunch only, 10am-3pm (reservation tickets distributed daily from 8am). Nine seats. Open since 2006.