I Built My Own Bowl of Ramen at Jinya Ramen Express. It's Called Stinky Porky Glory. And it's Amazing! Hollywood, CA

jinya stinky porky bowl
My custom bowl of Jinya ramen in all its Stinky Porky Glory!

Take a good long look at my delectable bowl of steaming ramen. Drink it up with your eyes. Leer at its lusciousness brimming out of the bowl. You know you want it. Sad for you, it's not available on the menu. I customized this ramen bowl myself at Jinya's Ramen Express at the Hollywood & Highland Center.

jinya ext
Forget Chipotle, build-your-own-ramen is the future!

Jinya's Ramen Express is a unique build-your-own ramen bowl experience—the Chipotle of ramen, if you will. Like at Chipotle, you can opt for the restaurant's signature items or build-your-own meal. Of course, I was going to create my own bowl of ramen, but it's not easy to choose given all the tempting options.

I named my special custom bowl Stinky Porky Glory, and, no, you can't have one unless I tell you what's in it, then you can order one for yourself. So start taking notes!

jinya menu board
Ramen easy as 1,2,3

Starting the bowl is a simple 3 part process: First, pick a base of ramen, rice bowl, or salad. Obviously, ramen is the right call to make at step 1.

Next, choose from several broths like tonkotsu, tonkotsu spicy miso, chicken vegetable, chicken spicy, and vegan. I picked tonkotsu. (By the way, I tasted the vegan broth, and it satisfied even this pork bone broth lover. Made from soy milk, it is incredibly creamy and rich.) Step 2 is also where the noodle is selected. There are only two choices here: original thin and spinach. I picked thin.

jinya toppings 1
Are these ramen builders called "ramenistas"?

Step 3 is where the fun happens—choosing the toppings. Within the proteins department are the usual pork chasu and chicken choices, but also offered are seasoned ground meats called soboro and tofu with spicy mapo sauce. I went for pork chasu and the pork soboro, but this was when I was told by a ramenista that I could only have one protein option. A little begging here goes a long way. I got both the chasu and soboro! After all, my bowl needed to be extra porky.

jinya toppings 2
Hard to choose from all these.

For the garnishes, you can choose all or none of them. I picked onion, green onion, and kikurage (or wood ear mushroom). For veggies, I tossed in spicy bean sprouts. Under the "Top it Off" category, I got everything offered: sesame seeds, crispy garlic, fresh crushed garlic, and red pickled ginger (to cut the richness). Finally, for the sauce, I applied black garlic oil.

Now, my Stinky Porky Glory was complete! I peaked on the pungent toppings and maxed out on the pork add-ons, thereby producing the stinkiest and porkiest bowl of ramen possible at Jinya Ramen Express.

jinya ramen building
Poor ginger. Not a chance.

How'd it taste? As awesome as it sounds—super rich with lots of porcine and fatty flavors, then intensify those profiles with garlicky goodness cranked up to 11. The red pickled ginger was supposed to balance out the power of the pork and garlic. The ginger never had a chance.

I walked away from my empty bowl with my tongue thick with tonkotsu soup and a cloud of garlic fumes chasing me as if I had my own personal storm cloud. The crowd parted for me on the walkways of the Hollywood & Highland Center as I made my way to the parking lot. Bow down for the Stinky Porky Glory!

Here's the recipe for Stinky Porky Glory at Jinya Ramen Express:

1) Ramen option

2) Tonkotsu broth with original thin noodles

3) Add on proteins: pork chasu and pork soboro (ask nicely since it's extra)

Add on garnishes: green onion, onion, kikurage

Add on vegetable: spicy bean sprouts

Add on "top it off": red pickled ginger, crispy garlic, sesame, and garlic

Add on sauce: black garlic sauce

JINYA Ramen Express (at Hollywood & Highland Center)
6801 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 317 (The Deck food court)
Hollywood, CA
323.391.1916

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