Review: Ling Ling - Chicken Tonkotsu Tokyo Style Ramen

Ling Ling's Chicken Tonkotsu Tokyo Style Ramen features "ramen noodles with tender white meat chicken and vegetables in a savory broth."

I paid $2.99 for a 9.15 package on sale.

I think the "Tokyo Style" term refers to the ramen noodles rather than the ramen broth as Tokyo-style ramen typically offers a light-to-medium soy sauce-based broth. All of Ling Ling's frozen ramen bowls read "Tokyo Style" on the box but come with different broths.

The noodles here are a bit thicker than your typical package of instant ramen. They turned out to be very soft and droopy. I prefer something a bit more al dente for ramen.

The tonkotsu broth (pork bone-based broth) was fairly rich, savory, and a little creamy (they added some half & half to it according to the ingredients--half & half isn't a typical ingredient for ramen as far as I know but I've noticed it added as a shortcut to achieve that milky color without having to boiling the pork bones for a long time). Just be sure to give it a good stir before eating to incorporate the soup base.

The chicken appeared to be a stand-in for the standard chashu pork slices. It was chewy but had an enjoyable sweet soy sauce flavor at the surface.

The vegetables were a combination of carrots, green onions, broccoli, corn and bell peppers. The vegetables retained a good amount of firmness and texture. While green onions are quite popular and traditional in ramen, the other three veggies are not and I've only really seen them in bowls of  vegetarian and vegan ramen as well as Cup Noodles. There respective flavors didn't mesh well with the ramen broth and distracted from its savory flavor.

Taken altogether, Ling Ling's Chicken Tonkotsu Tokyo Style Ramen was a mixed bag for me. The flavors of the broth and chicken were nice but the veggies distracted from them and the noodles were far too soft for my liking.

Nutritional Info - Ling Ling Chicken Tonkotsu (259g)
Calories - 330 (from Fat - 45)
Fat - 5g (Saturated Fat - 2g)
Sodium - 1570mg
Carbs - 53g (Sugar - 3g)
Protein - 17g