Tasting Marutai Kagoshima Black Pork Tonkotsu Ramen

I'm down to the last three packages of ramen from the Marutai gift box / sampler pack of Kyushu ramen I bought at the supermarket.  Because there is an odd number of ramen inside the box this review is only about one ramen.
Front of the big Marutai Kyushu box showing all 7 ramen inside.
Marutai Kagoshima Black Pork Tonkotsu Ramen
Before I started tasting all of the ramen in this box, I wondered if I would be able to tell the differences between all of the types of soy, shio, and tonkotsu ramen in the box.  I figured that tonkotsu and the other kinds of ramen would definitely taste different, but what about between the types of tonkotsu or shio / soy ramen.  I'm glad to say that you can definitely tell them apart and they have distinct flavours and textures to the noodles and broths.  This is more of that Japanese quality that you kind of learn to expect as the products have to be good.

This black pork tonkotsu ramen is made of a soup stock based on the bones of black pigs from Kagoshima prefecture.  There is supposed to be a hint of the sweet taste of vegetables, and there is even vegetable powder listed in the ingredients.  Kagoshima is famous for its pork and the ingredients also include browned green onions too.

The black color on the front of the package probably represents the black pork, and the color schem with the red bowl and the creamy broth of the soup work quite well together.  Quite pretty.  You can see that is comes from the southern part of Kyushu as the area is in green on the yellow island map.
Back of the package with cooking directions.
You get some powdered soup stock (blue packages), some oil/fat/flavour packets, and a couple of bundles of noodles.
After cooking, the ramen smelled pretty good.  You could tell it was a nice tonkotsu broth. When I tasted the soup I could tell there was some richness and creaminess to it as to be expected for a tonkotsu.  However, it was definitely not as strong or tasty as the Kumamoto Black Garlic Oil Tonkotsu Ramen, the first tonkotsu I had from the box.  The broth was kind of mid-range and milder with the sweetness from the vegetable powder.  The noodles were good and it was a decent soup, but not the one to write home about in this box.
The bowl of ramen with some choy, sliced turkey, green onions, and you can see the flecks of browned green onion in the broth too.
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