Instant Gratification

All of this thinking about the trip to Japan has me craving some ramen.

As a kid, ramen was just Top Ramen or Maruchan Ramen in NY. But there is an alternative to instant which is slightly more difficult to cook (it requires you to boil two pots of water) and tastes a whole lot better. This type of ramen can be found in the US at many asian groceries. This particular bowl was "Spicy Miso Flavor."

The noodles come in a sort of fresh pasta state and the flavor packet is an oily goo of a liquid, though some brands have powdered packets and some brands have a few packets.

I added a few of my favorite toppings, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. On this one we have scallions, preserved bamboo shoots (menma), nori and since chashu isn't exactly hanging around in most kitchens, some leftover pork roast slices to top it off. All in all a decent lunch, but it didn't really satisfy the craving.















Overall rating: 1bowl

The Idea

I travel to the Tokyo every summer so that we can visit my wife's family. This summer I had the idea to write a blog celebrating one of my favorite things about Japan, Ramen. So my goal is to try to eat a bowl of Ramen at a different restaurant each day and write about it. I'm not sure how well the family will be able to tolerate me needing to go to a new Ramen-ya each day, but I will give it a shot. I will also try to document other culinary delights and oddities I encounter along the way. So here it goes, it won't be very good for my blood presure and will probably damn my cholesterol but hey, it's all in good fun. The trip will start on July 5 and we return to NY on July 30.

This delicious bowl is from the popular Jyangara Ramen shop in Harajuku on last year's trip. An absolute must repeat this year.

If anyone happens to know of a good bowl in the Tokyo area, please let me know.