the ramen blog & other goodies!

I’ve been meaning to review this movie for months now, and noticing the Ramen Girl sign on a “dvd play” box at a local supermarket reminded me how behind I am on my posts. I’ve had mixed feelings about watching the Ramen Girl since first day I heard about it. When I finally had a chance to watch it, though, I was actually excited.

The movie started out poorly, with the introduction of a pretty damn annoying American boyfriend character. In a way, though, that, and my previous low expectations, probably helped me enjoy the movie that much more. The script was both random and predictable: even though you know how the story will pan out, “WTF just happened” moments abound, and you really have to wonder why they even bothered to introduce certain characters. Speaking of characters, don’t even get me started on every American character in the movie. Besides Brittany Murphy, all the American characters are barely even two-dimensional, which wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t just downright annoying.

But you know what? I liked the movie overall. The cinematography ranged from good to gorgeous, and most of the Japanese characters were more fully formed. Tampopo fans already know that Yamazaki Tsutomu (“Goro” from Tampopo) has a minor part (minor, yes, but he steals the show). Nishida Toshiyuki gives a solid performance as the “ramen chef with a secret.” But my favorite characters were the “two obaasan (old ladies) who never go home.” And Brittany Murphy? She wasn’t nearly as annoying as I thought she’d be. In fact, she even had a few good moments.

The Ramen Girl is worth watching if you’re looking for a fluffy way to spend two hours. If you’re looking for insight into the art of ramen-making a la Tampopo, forget it. If you’re looking for something light-hearted and maybe a fun, cheesy date-night movie, you could do worse. I realize that’s not exactly a strong endorsement…but hey, it’s got ramen!

Also available on netflix.

Momozono Robot Ramen isn’t just another ramenya in Japan. Shop owner Yoshihara Uchida had a dream, and 20 million yen and 7 years later, he’s got…a robot…that cooks ramen! The noodles are still cooked by a human, but the robot blends the customized soup (customers can choose from about 40 million different combinations of soy sauce, salt, soup strength, and other soup aspects) and puts the noodles, soup, and toppings together in about two minutes.

Looks like all I need is 20 million yen…oh, and handmade noodles…oh yeah, and maybe a soup recipe…sigh, guess I’ve got a ways to go before I can have a fresh bowl of ramen every day…

source: the mainichi daily news via the official ramen homepage and gizmodo

It’s another Mitsuwa food fair, this time featuring Kyushu and Okinawa cuisine. And yep, there’s a specialty ramen booth: Tatsunoya’s tonkotsu ramen, with splendidly rich and mild taste, which makes the soup just more than a “standard tonkotsu ramen”. Torrance and New Jersey ramen fans get a crack at this tonkotsu ramen over the next two weeks:
7/16 (Thu) – 7/19 (Sun) Torrance Store
7/23 (Thu) – 7/26 (Sun) New Jersey Store

And I’m not sure why the Mitsuwa web site didn’t mention it, but the Costa Mesa and Torrance stores get an Iron Chef Kenichi Sakai creation: a roll cake. Seriously? That’s all us OC residents get? Sorry, as much as I like Iron Chef Kenichi Sakai, I’d rather have the ramen…

via Go Ramen!

7/14/09: Oops, I’m a dummy. That’s Iron Chef Sakai, not Kenichi. Thanks to tipster Jason for setting me straight!

I’ve been too busy to catch up on my posts so I thought I’d share a few quick goodies before the 4th of July weekend. I’ve talked about how much fun nagashi soumen is to eat (“somen” to the search engines …it took me forever to find my own somen post) and now you can experience it at home! It’s been on sale in Japan since April, so if anyone knows where to get a hold of one here, let us know!

Thanks to Pete for the tip (from 2 months ago…yeah, I know, I know)! via Tokyo Mango

Gyoza and ramen go together like mom and apple pie! 4th of July and fireworks! Love and marriage! Beer and peanuts! Stop me before I keep going! Ahem…Bandai keeps coming out with such cool toys! Make your own gyoza with this Bandai Gyoza maker! Why oh why are all the cool toys available only in Japan?

via Akihabara News

After months, and I mean months of dealing with just about every major problem that an aspiring restauranteur could face, my good buddy’s shabu-shabu dreams have finally come true. Yes, I said “my good buddy” and “shabu-shabu,” not ramen, so I’m going to go out of my way to be biased here. You’ve been warned! California Shabu-Shabu celebrated their grand opening last weekend, and today, the wife and I decided to pay an overdue visit.

For those of you who’ve never been exposed to the world of shabu-shabu, shabu-shabu is a Japanese hot pot. You start out with a boiling pot of water flavored with kombu, add in assorted veggies, and cook thin slices of meat, usually beef, in the water by swishing it around. Because the meat is sliced so thin, it cooks in the time it takes for you to say “shabu-shabu” (which translates to “swish-swish). Two types of dipping sauce are usually provided with shabu-shabu: a citrus-y ponzu sauce and a sesame-based sauce. Also something that can surprise the uninitiated: you cook your own food! Read the rest of this entry →

I’ve always had an instinctive aversion to “experimental” type restaurants. Over the years, I’ve managed to associate terms and phrases like “fusion,” “nouveau,” “a new take on x,” and “inspired by y cuisine” with chefs who’ve never quite managed to figure out the essential essence of the cuisine he or she is trying to replicate. But recently, the thinking part of my brain had a minor epiphany: hello, dumb-ss…ramen is a fusion food! Ramen (and gyoza!) is the Japanese take on a Chinese dish, remember? How is that not fusion? Hello!

A few days ago, Go Ramen invited me to check out Rameniac’s new find, Ramen California, with a few fellow food bloggers. “Rameniac’s been raving about it! It’s the next evolution of ramen!” Uh oh…did he say what I think he just say? Call me stodgy, but I like my ramen traditional. I have very set ideas of what a bowl of ramen should be. Give me a good bowl of shoyu or tonkotsu ramen, keep your fancy schmancy “inspired” ingredients out of my bowl, and stay off my lawn thank-yew-very-much.

But Ramen California has a pedigree. It’s not just some random ramen-ya opened by some random chef with a random dream. Ramen California stars the Shigetoshi Nakamura, a revered ramen deity in Japan. If Iron Chef ever decided to add a Iron Chef Ramen, surely Nakamura-san would be the first choice! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to meet up with my foodie cohorts that night, but spurred on by the superlatives from two of the most respectable ramen fanatics in Southern California, my wife and I decided to ventured out of the Orange Curtain today. Read the rest of this entry →