Saigon's recent In-N-Out pop-up has nothing on a ramen restaurant in Tokyo which served up an unorthodox version of the popular dish last Sunday.
Reuters reports that Ramen Nagi, a popular eatery in the Japanese capital, concocted a ramen garnished with deep-fried worms and garlic. Just 100 bowls of the "insect tsukemen" noodles were available for the single-day event, and they sold out in about four hours, the news source shares.
Each bowl of ramen was topped with around a dozen crickets and mealworms, which could be dipped in soups flavored with crickets, grasshoppers or silkworm powder.
The news source adds that the event was put together by the restaurant and Yuta Shinohara, a 22-year-old who has created other insect-centric meals such as a Valentine's Day event featuring chocolate, cakes and cocktails infused with insects.
Shinohara, Reuters reports, began eating bugs as a child and wants to promote this alternative food source around the world through the staple Japanese dish.
"Through ramen, I'd like to spread how fun and delicious it is to eat insects," he shared.
The full menu for the event included insect ramen, a bowl of rice with crickets, spring rolls with fried worms and ice cream flavored with insect powder for US$27.
[Photo via Reuters]
