the ramen blog & other goodies!

Quick, describe the taste of chicken to someone who’s never had chicken before…having trouble?

Just as chicken seems to be one of the lowest common denominators in food flavors, so is the “instant ramen-ness” of Sapporo Ichiban’s original flavor. The “original” flavor doesn’t belong to the typical ramen flavor groups: it’s not shoyu, not tonkotsu, not shio, not miso. There is a slight miso-ness to the soup base flavor, but it’s barely discernable underneath the barrage of onion-ness, white pepper-ness, MSG-ness, and the plain original-ness of Sapporo Ichiban’s popular instant ramen. The curly instant brick noodles with a good chewy texture and the non-descript tangy aftertaste rounds out Sapporo Ichiban’s Original flavor experience. Ramen purists will turn up their noses at this instant ramen, but to a whole generation of college students and anyone who’s ever been on a tight food budget, this is a decent, affordable, and welcome alternative to Top Ramen.

Brick ramen rating: 6/10. Click through for the nutritional info. Read the rest of this entry →

Ramenramenramen has learned that Nissin is introducing a limited edition Cup Noodles to select markets across the U.S. The new flavor, called simply “MSG flavor,” was created in response to the overwhelming popularity of MSG flavoring. “You have no idea how many letters we receive from ramen fans asking for ‘more MSG’,” said a spokesperson for Nissin. “Some of the more (ahem) extreme fans even questioned why we had so many flavors. ‘Don’t even bother diluting the MSG with beef, chicken, shrimp, or any of those other weird flavors. Just give us the good stuff!’ Being the kind of company that listens to our customers, we came up with Cup Noodles MSG flavor!”

Food technicians at Nissin have spent the last several weeks tweaking and perfecting the final product. Recent focus groups have given an unanimous thumbs-up to the new flavor. “I drank 5 gallons of water after I ate just one Cup Noodles MSG flavor!” exclaimed one food tester. Another tester burst with excitement, “I can’t feel my tongue, man! It’s like the soup…ate…my tongue! This is the best Cup Noodles flavor EVER!”

The new flavor will be available in stores on April 1st. If demand is as high as expected, Nissin is already prepared to fast-track a sequel, “DoubleShot MSG Flavor,” for release later this year.

More than one person has taken me to task for not trying the tokusen toroniku (choice fatty pork) ramen at Santouka. Interestingly, not one of my friends think Santouka is very good. But then again, none of them have tried the toroniku either. So finally, I convinced two other ramen-loving (well, ramen-enjoying anyway) friends to go to Santouka and splurge on a toroniku free-for-all. Read the rest of this entry →

Rumor had it that Daikokuya was opening in “the OC” in the beginning of March. I happily went there two weeks ago only to find a Daikokuya sign and an empty store. Darn. Finally, after asking around, I found out that the official grand opening was set for “some time in April” (this was from two different Daikokuya employees, but neither could give me a firm date) and that the owner was currently in Japan buying decorations. The good news though? The location is already up and running and open for business!

The ramen shop does look a bit unfinished, with no real signage or posters; there’s only a little hand-written blackboard menu on the counter. The only items on the menu (so far?) are the Daikokuya ramen, a shredded pork bowl (a rice bowl with shredded pork), and the gyoza. Read the rest of this entry →

Off the Vegas Strip, away from the 99-cent shrimp cocktails, the iron chef restaurants, the all-you-can-eat buffets, things become a bit quieter and less boisterous. Drive a few miles away, and you’ll come across a quiet strip mall that could just as well be located in Anytown, USA. This is the kind of deserted strip mall that makes you feel like you might get mugged if you’re there after the sun goes down. In this unassuming strip mall, you’ll find an interesting mix of an Ethiopian restaurant, a kosher restaurant, a bagel shop (Harrie’s Baglemania…it’s damn good!), and–a ramenya?! Score! Read the rest of this entry →

I don’t normally shill for ramenyas that haven’t opened yet, especially one that I haven’t tried first hand, but in this case, I’ll make an exception.

Shigemi Kawahara, “Ramen King”, will be opening the first American outpost of his famous Ippudo in New York City at the end of the month. Kawahara-san gained fame by taking 1st place in televised ramen battles 3 years in a row, and then won the title of “Ramen King” in a TV competition in 2005. Ippudo was first opened in Hakata in 1985, and has grown to 34 locations throughout Japan.

Big in Japan has a recent review of Ippudo’s hakata ramen in japan while the Feisty Foodie and Eater report on last Tuesday’s sneak preview.

Hakata Ippudo NY
65 Fourth Avenue
New York, NY
212-388-0088

via gridskipper and rameniac