Akari / Perfect Bowl of Kosyu Jidori Chicken to Fill You Up; Beautiful Ramen Created by Former Yakitori Shop Owner

By Futoshi Mori / Japan News Senior Writer

15:51 JST, December 5, 2024

I saw the statue of Takeda Shingen, a warlord from the Warring States period, at the south exit of JR Kofu Station for the first time in a while — I used to work at the Kofu branch office over 20 years ago. A ramen shop called Akari is located just a 2-minute walk from the statue, which is a symbol of Kofu. The shop serves ramen using lots of Kosyu Jidori chicken, a local specialty of Yamanashi Prefecture. I met the owner at the Nippon Local Ramen General Election event held in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and went to Kofu to interview him.

“It’s been a while!” the owner, Akihito Furuya , 44, greeted me with a cheerful voice from the kitchen, wearing a bandana-like head towel. The shop has the atmosphere of an izakaya pub. There is an L-shaped counter on the first floor, beyond which is the kitchen.

All the ramen dishes are made with a Kosyu Jidori chicken broth as the base. The menu includes “Rich chicken paitan” (white broth) (¥1,030), “Chicken salt” (¥950), and “Chicken Soy Sauce” (¥950). After much deliberation, I ordered the paitan ramen marked “Recommended” at the top of the menu.

“I use whole Kosyu Jidori chicken,” Furuya explained as he used a hand blender to create a beautiful bowl of white, foamy chicken broth. He placed the ramen on the counter in front of me, and I took a sip of the soup. It was delicious and creamy, and I could really taste the flavor of the chicken.

“I make the broth by boiling chicken bones, chicken feet and whole chickens with a lot of vegetables,” says Furuya. He then combines the chicken broth with a seafood-based broth made from kombu seaweed, honbinos clams, dried bonito and dried mackerel. The ratio of chicken broth to seafood broth is about 4 to 1. “This is to bring out the chicken’s umami,” Furuya said. “If you only use chicken, the taste becomes too strong, but if you add seafood, the umami comes out more.”

The paitan ramen uses medium-thick noodles that are glutinous and go well with the broth, while the salt and soy sauce ramen use medium-thin noodles. The noodles are bought from the famous Kyoto-based noodle maker Menya Teigaku.

The chicken chashu toppings were incredibly delicious. It was the best chicken chashu I’ve ever had, and it made me think, “So this is Kosyu Jidori!” There were two types of chicken chashu: One was made from grilled thigh meat which is roasted over charcoal with a yuzu sauce on top before serving, and the other was made from breast meat cooked at a low temperature. The thigh meat was savory, while the breast meat was moist and flavorful. Other toppings include purple onions, sprouts and seasoned eggs. I can say the toppings are simple and beautiful.

To begin with, what kind of local chicken is Kosyu Jidori chicken? Furuya told me that “it has a strong umami flavor and is characterized by its light aroma.” According to the Kosyu Jidori production association’s website, it is a breed that was developed and raised by Yamanashi Prefecture and the association. The animal is a cross between a male Shamo and a female Shiro-Rokku. They are free-range chickens raised in a large area where they can roam freely. Although the meat is more expensive than ordinary chicken, Furuya is very fond of Kosyu Jidori and has incorporated it into his ramen.

The salt and soy sauce ramen use a clear soup. The salt ramen uses a blend of five different types of salt originating from Miyazaki to France, while the soy sauce ramen uses a blend of eight different soy sauces from all over Japan.

Ramen to get back in business

The Nippon Local Ramen General Election, an event where ramen from 10 different regions across Japan was served, was held over a week in October at Okubo Park in Shinjuku. Furuya teamed up with two Yamanashi Prefecture ramen shops that serve ramen using Kosyu Jidori chicken — Menya Shindo from Kai and Reel Cafe from Yamanakako — to form Team Kosyujidori and serve “Kosyu Jidori Ramen,” which they developed together.

“I used to run a yakitori restaurant at this location [in Kofu],” Furuya said. “Seven years ago, I started that restaurant using Kosyu Jidori chicken, but the number of customers dropped sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So I started this ramen shop to get back in business.”

When he thought about what business might survive even if alcohol sales were slow, the idea that came to his mind was ramen using Kosyu Jidori chicken. “Yamanashi is famous for Hoto hot pot udon and Yoshida udon, but I realized there weren’t many places that served Kosyu Jidori ramen,” Furuya said. He changed his business to the current ramen shop in 2021. Since he had only worked part-time at a ramen shop during his high school days, he visited famous ramen shops and places that served ramen using local chicken across the country to do research before completing his own menu and opening the shop.

At his establishment, there are also izakaya-style dishes from the yakitori restaurant days. Many customers enjoy drinking while eating a la carte dishes such as chicken giblets, gyoza and fried chicken before finishing off with a bowl of ramen. There is also a large room upstairs with table seating.

“I want more people in the local area to know about Kosyu Jidori chicken, and I want to develop Kosyu Jidori ramen nationwide as a local specialty of Yamanashi Prefecture.” This is Furuya’s ambition.

---

---

---

Japanese version

【ラーメンは芸術だ！】山梨県甲府市で起死回生のラーメンに出会う、甲州地どりに驚かされた「鶏そばAkari」

---