Korean of Sorts

I took a bit of a departure from ramen yesterday, though I kind of expected that there might be ramen noodles in this soup, there sometimes are. We decided to go for Korean on the way to visit Rumi's sister, Chizuko.

This brings us to what is truly somewhat of a misconception about the Japanese. Just before the end of the recent school year, a student, an IB junior, approached me about advising her on her senior paper. I asked what her thesis was and she said, "How the Japanese are xenophobic." This is obviously not a thesis, and probably just an idea that she got from some social studies teacher who has no knowledge of Japan beyond the Shogun, Meiji Restoration, Pearl Harbor and Ichiro. No offense meant, that is all that is in their curriculum. What's worse than the fact that her statement is not a thesis, is the fact that it is probably not true.

The Japanese, both before and since the times of the shogun, are very much open to ideas from the outside. The examples are all around. Baseball, tea, their alphabet, even our very own ramen come from other countries to Japan. Japanese baseball is distinctly different in style than American baseball. Does making it their own work for the Japanese? Consider that they have won the first two World Baseball Classics handily. I say it does. Ramen comes from China where it bears some, though diminishing resemblance to what we see in Japan. Maybe a little something like this bowl I enjoyed in Yokohama in 2007, but even this was in a Japanese "Chinese" restaurant. The pork here is tougher, not butter-soft at all. It is sweet, the same pork you see hanging in windows of Chinese restaurants in the States. The broth is significantly lighter, akin to that of a wonton soup. The noodles however, where ramen gets its name from, are the same as the thinner style noodle we've seen so far.

The Japanese embrace ideas from the outside, evaluate them, and figure out the best way to make them fit the Japanese. You might say that they are individual as a nation, though there is still that group way despite a rise in individualism among the younger generation. One author referred to this generation as "practicing individualism as a group."

So this brings us to the Korean lunch. Remember this is a Japanese Korean restaurant. The kimchi soup that I ordered at Tokyo Sundub was distinctly different from kimchi jigae in NY Koreatown. There were several variations available and I went for the standard with miso. The broth, as hot as it looks came in four levels of heat. I went for the three-out-of-four. The food arrived to the sound of some painfully incessent J-Pop and the set included rice, a sweet custard, three kinds of pickles (cabage, carrots, and bean sprouts), and the star, the kimchee soup. As the pop gave way to Lionel Richie singing Easy Like Sunday Morning, I dug in, mixing the pickes into the rice as the plackard on the table told me was the "propper way" and diving into the soup with my metal chopsticks. I'm not sure if they use metal chopsticks in South Korea, my only other experience with them was at a North Korean resturant in Cambodia. Ah yes, the aforementioned 74 days off in a row. The soup was curiously devoid of actual kimchee. It was packed with tofu and there were traces of pork, but there were only about four pieces of actual cabbage. Shennanigans! It was however wonderful, so good that despite the burning I kept going back for more. The rice and pickles, which were of a sweeter variety, balanced the fire and, along with five or six glasses of water, I drank every drop. No noodles. Different than Korean food I've had before, but yummy. Truly Japanese-Korean. The custard, coconut I think was not for me. It's a texture thing. If you want to serve pudding serve it. Don't cube it and serve it with some liquid, it just feels wierd. And don't even bring up bubble tea, that's just nasty.

No rating for this lunch my loyal readers, I only rate ramen. I enjoyed the lunch though, today Saikai Ramen!

Jangara

Ever since I came up with the ridiculous idea to try to write about ramen, I've been thinking of going back to Jangara. I've eaten here for the past two years that I have visited Tokyo and the place is extremely popular. I was on my own again, but it was ok because the place has an English menu.

I went with the Ko Ban Shan Ramen today, a soup of rich garlic and pork flavor. This was partly out of a desire to have something different and partly an f-you to the guy who gave me the menu and told me another was the most popular, as if that meant that was the one to eat. At 1,100 yen, the prices here are steep.

The place was crowded and even though it was 11:00 in the morning, I had to wait about five minutes or so for a seat at the counter. It's all counter, there are no tables here. The line that divides the stairway and has arrows pointing up and down is further indicator that around lunchtime the lines here get pretty long.


The gentleman behind the counter took the chip that I was given at the register when I paid on the way in and gave the order to the fellow you see here who put the bowl together. Notice the graphic in the foreground. This is a friendly reminder that when the soup makes your nose run, which it surely will, it is impolite to put your snotty tissues on the counter. It is better to put them in your empty bowl after you have eaten. Ahh, the gentle reminder of good manners. The smells in this place were absolutely killing me folks, it smelled wonderful. there was an intensity and a bustle to the atmosphere, I began to get excited.

Clockwise from the top, nori just above the pork belly, at 3 cod roe in front of the mushrooms we talked about yesterday, at 6, 'Kakiniku' pork, at nine the egg. In the center holding it all together a reasonable amount of green onion. The toppings here are a strong 4/5 losing a point only because the egg, which is marinated again but not sliced, was boiled through. The pork, two ways no less was heavenly and there were ample amounts of the other toppings. But lets take a minute to talk about the cod roe. I'm not usually much of a fan of fish eggs, except a few of the smaller ones and I really can't stomach cod roe at all. This however, blended into a paste of sorts that is a little spicy actually has a nice flavor, if a little salty. I'm not sure if this is meant to be eaten straight, or whisked into the broth. I whisked it in and it was actually pretty good. Two kinds of pork just can't be a bad decision, but I think I would have preferred that they second wasn't chopped. Still, it's nice to have a change.

The broth was a nice change as well. Being a huge garlic junky, I went right for this one. The flavor was intense and indeed my nose began to run with the first spoonful of broth. The one criticism here would be a bit too much salt, maybe only combined with the cod roe, but this was the kind of sodium show that would get taxed in David Patterson's NY.

You might notice that I have yet to mention the noodles, that's because there weren't enough of them to mention. They were the thin style again, cooked perfectly, but just lacking in the amount. In Japan I'm surprised there is no law governing the "right" amount of noodles in a bowl of ramen.

Overall a good bowl of soup. Not perfect, but good and a bit different from what we've seen. I gave it 4 bowls.

Local Knowledge

When I told some friends we were visiting about my blog, they said then you must try Toride Ramen which is near their home in Shibuya. Happy to take any tips I can get, we set out on an afternoon walk to eat and visit the national TV studio where they make some kids shows Hana loves.

Toride was pleasant inside, not too harried of an environment, but not fancy either. Ramen shops shouldn't be fancy, this is after all essentially fast food. As I tried to look at the menu, I realized how hopeless this was, all Japanese and very few pictures. What I did notice right away were the prices. Though there was something that told me right away that this was going to be a better bowl than a had tasted thus far on this trip, what Rumi told me said "House Ramen" was only 700 yen. Seven bucks! Or more accurately $7.51 by yesterday's exchange rate. I ordered the "House" with nori and marinated half-boiled egg. They offered two different types of noodles cooked to seven different specifications.


Take a look at the goods ladies and gentlemen, this
is as good as it gets so far. Notice first of all what is a departure from what we have seen, this is again tonkotsu, a pork bone broth, but notice the color and texture. It has a white or cloudy color and a smooth almost silky texture. Enough salt this time, though not too much. If you look closely, you will see what look like bubbles, but are, rather, beads of oil from the pork that are present, while not a Valdize sized slick across the surface of the soup. I believe this is known as Hakata Ramen, though I'm not sure. I do know that I drank the whole thing.

The toppings again, decent though I do like more green onions, I'll need to specify in the future. Additionally, you will see peeking out from under the nori thin brown strips. These are kikurage, a wood ear mushroom preserved which have and almost crunchy texture. The egg in this case has been soaked in in a marinade that turns the whites brownish on the outside. Again the yolk is soft enough to dip, but does not run. I gave Rumi half of mine again, Dr. Lombardo would be proud.

The real story here though was the noodles. This is the first time that we have been to a restaurant that offers different types of noodles. These are the thinner variety which one companion likened to somen noodles. In addition to a choice of noodle, the menu offered seven different levels of doneness to which they could be cooked ranging from a mere dip in the boiling water to I suppose mush? I ordered my firm and they were cooked just that way. It was hard to resist the option to add more noodles for 150 yen, but I need to show some restraint.

Additionally, this is the first ramen shop on this trip to offer additional toppings on the table, pickled ginger and a blend of red pepper and something green that makes the soup spicy (in the black cup to the left of the soup). I chose to add just a bit of this, I like a kick.

The chashu was absolutely perfect in every respect. Free from overbearing sweetness, sliced thin but not skimpy. Soft as butter it was not even necessary to chew, and would quite literally melt when pressed between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. I regret not ordering the chashu ramen which would have come with ten or twelve slices rather than two. Lucky for me one magically appeared in my bowl when Rumi started getting full.

This was far and away the best ramen so far on this trip, nothing in New York that I have had to date can come close to this. If there had been just a bit more in the way of toppings, I could have granted a perfect score, but as it stands this was very very good. Overall rating: 4 bowls.

Felonious No Salt

Rumi and Hana fell asleep a little early last night so I took off on my own to try one of the ramen shops, Ganso Sapporo-ya, in the mall next door to the hotel. I was eager to redeem myself after the poor choice I made the last time out.

There was one major problem with this plan though, I speak very little Japanese and can read none. Lucky for me there are normally pictures of items on the menu or if you are lucky life-sized plastic replica's such as the ones you can see in the case to the left. More on these at a later date. So I sat down and when the waitress came to take my order managed as well as I could, "I'm sorry but can I show you a picture." Of course in some corners of the world that might get you twenty, but she politely followed me out to the front of the resturant where I pointed to something that looked just like what I've been after.

I confirmed that the broth would be pork bone flavor and my mouth watered at the sight of the bowl. I added a tap beer to my order and sat down to wait.

The house radio was actually playing That's the Way I Like It as the bowl soon arrived in all its porky glory. Not chashu this time, but stewed pork belly, cooked slowly, typically all day long in a ginger and soy broth until it becomes butter-soft. Three big glorious chunks atop this bowl. Additionally, there were plenty of beansprouts this time as well as preserved bamboo shoots, menma, a personal fave. But there was more. Every year I find myself wanting green vegetables when I'm here, we seem to end up eating a lot of cabbage, and last night I wanted greens. The kicker here ladies and gentlemen, was the spinach. Indeed, there was only one cricism of the toppings, again skimpy on the greeen onions. No matter, I decided to dig in.

It was close folks, really close. The toppings as discussed above were almost perfect, just look at this piece of pork. Thank god I don't belong to any religion that would deny me the likes of this. The noodles again were almost perfect, perhaps just slightly past where they should have been cooked. The problem here? The broth. I wondered how they managed to get all the fat out of that pork without any salt. I didn't have to worry about my blood preasure last night folks, the broth belonged in a health food store. And of course, the Japanese do not keep salt on the table, so I had no course to correct this problem.

Overall though, it wasn't bad, 3 bowls.

Two Shams of a Mockery of a Sham

Finally, everyone feeling ok after the flight and it's time to get out into the neighborhood and find some quality noodles. I'd seen reports elsewhere that there was a street with several ramen shops located at the east exit of the JR Ikebukuro station. We headed in that direction figuring that several shops on the same street should breed competition and a free market should kill off the weak.

After a few minutes of walking around, we found Shitennou Ramen, which seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. It was a shop where you put your money in a machine, push a button and get a ticket. I selected Miso ramen, hit the wrong button for Rumi's ticket selecting shio (salt) flavor instead of shoyu (soy sauce) flavor for her. She was a good sport about it though; lucky for me she happens to like shio.

Being early, it took the cook a few minutes to get the order together, but at last steamy smells and finally soup.

Right off the bat, something just wasn't right. There were way too few scallions on top. Kind of as if they had been an afterthought, or were just added to contrast the red bowl the noodles came in. I decided to hold off judgement on the toppings, perhaps the cook thought it so good, so rich in flavor that less would in the end prove to be more. However, first taste revealed the presence of a second topping, also inadequately represented, moyashi (bean sprouts). Now this is a shame. I love me some bean sprouts and there must have been about eight total. Again they seemed an afterthought.

Approriate consideration however should be given to the noodles here. Cooked to perfection they were neither too hard nor too soft, but at the perfect consistancy for retaining their own flavor as well as that of the broth. Something akin to al dente with pasta, but perhaps just slightly beyond. These were a straighter variety, nothing like the curlique mess of last night's instant surprise, but noodles that were essentially straight but for the occasional kink. Slightly yellow in color, but not egg noodles for sure. (Although I do love me some egg noodles aside a plate of pot roast).

The egg. For a moment here, though just for a moment, I thought they gentleman might redeem himself. The egg was absolutely perfect. An egg so good it pained me to give half to Rumi, but hey she is tolerating this foolishness and I did screw up her order. Boiled to the point where the yolk begins to congeal, but not harden. It won't run, but you can dip your chopsticks into it to a degree. And something I'd not seen before, it was cut with a knife that finished the sliced edge with a crinkle cut which allowed it to hold some soup on the surface as it floated on top. Poor egg. It deserved to hold something better.

The soup was where they really lost me. The menu boasted the variety of soup gaining the bulk of its flavor from the slow cooking of pork bones, tonkotsu. A standard to be sure, but this was off. Way off. The flavor was neither bold nor clear and the soup was devoid of the everpresent little fat drops that usually dot the surface when it's good. A real letdown. Not gross, just not special.

Finally, and perhaps this is partly the reason for the broth's lack of appeal, the pork. Two slices of chasu (braised pork shoulder or loin). Cut thin and somehow tough. Not the tender soft slices that one tastes and tries to make last for the duration of the bowl, just dry maybe even roasted slices of meat. These were almost bad, but they were pork so bad is a tough level to achieve.

Overall folks, a tease. A mere suggestion of what a bowl of ramen could be. The components under-represented and failing to flatter what were actually good noodles.

Overall, two bowls. Thank the egg.

Midnight Snack

OK so my first ramen this year was a lackluster event. Hana didn't sleep much on the flight, a total of two hours, so we were all pretty shot last night by the time we got to the hotel. Additionally, my wife's nephew came by and visited us at the hotel for an hour or so since he had to get back to Kyoto and this was his only opportunity to visit. So as a result, there was no late night trip to a ramen shop and I had to find another means of filling the craving.

Oh yeah, and a word on the flight; JAL, great service, lousy food. Baked ziti for breakfast is not exactly most people's idea of arrival in Japan, but what do you expect in this day and age.

Japanese convenience stores are truly wonderful places, especially to the outsider. You can get decent food, pretty cheaply. and in my experience they are clean and bright. To our pleasure, our hotel has a branch of the ever-present Family Mart on the lobby floor. When Hana didn't sleep on the plane, I thought for sure she would sleep well our first night. Nope. Not even close. She was up after about an hour and a half nap and, thinking it about noon, wanted to play. Rumi and I were pretty hungry as well so Family Mart was our best option. There really is a myriad choices when it comes to instant ramen or cup ramen here with flavors ranging from"seafood" to "french curry." I think I may actually have to revisit to see exactly what french curry tastes like. But for the time being I grabbed a Nissin "Big Cup Noodle" for myself and a seafood for Rumi.
You are no doubt familiar with cup noodle, and I hesitated to go there, but thought it would provide a good contrast to what I am setting out in search of for lunch today.

I was surprised however that there was more writing material in the BIG cup noodle than I had expected. There were a whole bunch of toppings in there. Yellow masses that resemble conjealed chicken fat which I quicly identified as egg, shrimp, or rather the underdeveloped children of shrimp, scallions and some other questionable cubelike form of sandlewood color. Poke, poke, grab with chopsticks....ah yes this must be a crouton or something. I showed Rumi proud that I had figured it out. "That's what they call meat," she informed me. "Beef I think." I certainly didn't think so.

A quick word to appologize for the photo quality, the kid was finally asleep and I didn't want to set the flash off too much. Anyway, you don't really want to see this in anymore detail than you probably can.

Rumi's Seafood Cup Noodle actually contained real seafood in it. Octopus and shrimp, as well as crab stick, which while not actually crab, is usually attributed to another creature of the ocean, typically pollock or haddock I think.

All in all, disappointing. I will award a score of a half bowl, for the ease and convenience of a ramen like substance at 3am and the amazement at the variety of choices available. Today, Ramen for real.

1/2

1 Day to go

Here we go folks, one day till departure and looking forward to a smooth flight. I suppose I will be blogging my first meal from the airplane, though I doubt it will be ramen. Actually a few years ago I was served instant ramen as an in-flight snack, but I'm pretty sure that was not on JAL. A quick check of the JAL website boasts a "Sky Oasis" buffet of snacks that are self-service throughout the long haul. They also boast that they cook rice en route, rather than simply reheat it. Ah well here's hoping they serve a noodle.