When we were dating, my then-girlfriend once took me to a ramen restaurant, where they served…tomato ramen. Based in Kumamoto and having developed a preference for rich tonkotsu (pork broth-based) ramen, I thought it was an underwhelming option.

Nonetheless, I finished every single drop of the tomato ramen. I have since learnt that Yatsushiro - her hometown - happens to be Japan’s largest producer of tomatoes. Celebrities have visited Kumamoto’s second largest city before to check out the shio (salt) tomatoes 🍅 for themselves.

The variety of tomatoes cultivated in Kumamoto is Shio tomatoes. Because they are not very big, this means that the umami is concentrated within them and packs a sweet powerful punch. Apparently, Yatsushiro used to be at the bottom of the sea. Hence, it’s chock-full of natural salts and minerals, which facilitate the cultivation of tomatoes. Now you know!

Fun fact: did you know that the tomato is the umami champion of all vegetables? The source of the umami taste is glutamate, an amino acid found in many proteins. And tomatoes are chock-full of glutamate.