Thanks to a recent scandal in China, Ajisen Ramen’s stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been steadily dropping. The scandal? Ajisen’s advertising and marketing materials claim that their soup is cooked with pork bones for 20 hours, making it rich in calcium. The truth? They’ve been using “concentrated liquid not pork bones,” diluted with water, to make the soup. In essence, it’s like serving you this stuff when you’re dining here.
Digging themselves even deeper, Ajisen’s apology statement cited a lab report done by China Agricultural University (CAU), showing that the calcium in a bowl of soup contained 3 times the calcium in the same amount of milk. But a CAU associate professor fired back that the test was conducted on the concentrate, not on the actual diluted soup.
It’s unclear at this point whether or not this same issue applies to the Ajisen Ramen’s outside of China, but I’d hate to think that’s why the Ajisen Ramen girl is winking…
More information at Xin Hua news.
Never tried Ajisen. Saw it on a business trip at the HK airport. Wondered if it was good. There is one out here in Irvine. If it is concentrate then might as well go for Top Ramen! ha ha
Hey edjusted how’s it going… I’ve heard once Santouka was powder based too, at least here in the U.S., but never confirmed. Pretty tasty nonetheless.
@ELA: well, whatever people think of Ajisen, I’d have to say that even if it’s concentrate, it’s at least better than Top Ramen. But that’s not saying much!
@DENNIS: Hmm…yeah, if Santouka is powder, they’re doing a good job. But then again, I almost always get the toroniku chashu, and that might even make Top Ramen taste good!
My brother has a photo of himself by that statue. Funny!