the ramen blog & other goodies!

nagashi soumen fun

edjusted — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:54:09 +0000

It’s not ramen, it’s soumen. And not just any soumen, it’s nagashi soumen 流し素麺 (”flowing” soumen)! Only distantly related to ramen, soumen is thin white noodles usually served cold (sometimes in a bowl of ice) with a light dipping broth. Watching this video brought back a very fond memory of the funnest meal I’ve ever had (well, besides the live, still-moving whole-fish sushi I had once with my Japanese host pointing excitedly and repeating in English “fresh! fresh!”, but then again, that probably belongs more in the “most terrifying” meal category).

I lived in a tiny Japanese town with an incredibly friendly host family during a study abroad program, and my host parents made it their purpose to expose me to Japanese culture. One night, my host father took me out and led me to a dark alley. At first, I thought maybe the price for their hospitality was my left kidney, but as we walked deeper into the alley, I noticed an interesting sight near a street lamp: there was a small group of people huddled excitedly around a long, slanted bamboo sluice about 6-7 feet long or so. The top of the bamboo rested on top of a scooter while the bottom of the bamboo was propped up on top of a red bucket. As we got closer, I noticed that everyone had a small bowl in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other. I could hear water flowing down the sluice and I saw…something white…shooting down the sluice…noodles??? Noodles!!! Clumps of white noodles were sliding down the sluice, and the object was to “catch” the soumen, dip your prize in your bowl of tsuyu (noodle broth) and slurp to your heart’s content. It’s not just a meal, it’s a game! I was naturally delighted, and will always remember that happy meal in that dark alley on a warm summer’s night. Sometimes the simplest meals are the best.

The video features Pan-kun, a celebrity chimpanzee (yes, I think that’s an odd phrase too) in Japan, who has his first experience with nagashi soumen. His sluice is much bigger than mine was (ahem), but I bet I had more fun.

thanks to Japan Probe

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Tags: ramen tidbits

weird al hearts top ramen

edjusted — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:32:34 +0000

I’m posting this new Weird Al song for 3 reasons:

1. I like Weird Al.

2. This lyric: “You like Top Ramen…need Top Ramen…got a cupboard full of ‘em, I’ll keep ‘em coming…you want it, I got it, go get it, just heat it, dump the flavor packet on it and eat it.”

3. If you like the song enough to buy it via this itunes link, I get a shiny new nickel. A whole nickel!

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Tags: ramen tidbits

North Korea invents “Super Ramen”

edjusted — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:55:48 +0000

“North Korean scientists have created a new type of noodle that has twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary ramen.” –wait, did I read that right? North Korea? Apparently, a technologically-advanced team of North Korean scientists have specially engineered the “super ramen” from ingredients such as soybean and corn, instead of the usual wheat flour. Designed to stave off hunger pangs longer than “conventional” or, I guess, “non-Super,” ramen, this could certainly be a breakthrough for a country that’s experiencing severe food shortages and famine.

Sadly, somehow, I don’t think anyone at Nissin is losing any sleep over this, though I’m sure diet fad heralds are eager to see the outcome of this grand experiment.

Thanks to Korean Melon and Big in Japan. Photo courtesy of yeowatzup.

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Tags: ramen news

“Cat Ramen Boss”

edjusted — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:21:11 +0000

“You’ll believe a cat can make ramen!” No, that’s not the official tagline for this movie, but it should be. Or should it? Neko Ramen Taishou, or “Cat Ramen Boss,” began as a manga about a cat who runs a ramenya. The manga inspired an animated TV series and a live action movie version will be out this month in Japan. No, I’m not making this up nor have I been drinking.

The 2007 animated TV series is available for free download on Vuze.com (with English subtitles!) and is both wacky and entertaining. My favorite is episode 12 (”slightly gansta ramen!”), though episode 2 is also quite mya mya meow mya nya nya mya nya.

For more info and links, check out Dread Central.

via Japan Probe

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Tags: ramen tidbits

(mostly) NYC link

edjusted — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:12:23 +0000

What are you doing November 9? If you’re in NYC, you should be at The Brooklyn Kitchen Ramen-Off! (thanks to Not Eating Out In New York)

It looks like New Yorkers are having all the fun this month. Join the Nippon Food Club of NYC on their ongoing mission to find the best ramenya in New York.

For hardcore ramen fans only: make your own tonkotsu ramen. From scratch. Seriously.

I’ve mentioned this before: Tomato Ramen fans (you know who you are) need to head to Foo Foo Tei to try their Beef Tomato ramen!

New York’s Ippudo is offering six new seasonal ramen, including a Tomato Ramen (I’m starting to see a pattern here) and a simple but delicious-looking Tori Ramen.

Vancouver has another new ramenya, the simply named menya (”noodle store”).

Can a ramenya succeed in the land of pasta (or, wow! there’s ramen in Florence?!?)

Wondering how to survive after college? Here’s a chance to win a free copy of the book Ramen Noodles, Rent and Resumes: An After-College Guide to Life!

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Tags: italy ramen, L.A. ramen, NY ramen, recipes, vancouver ramen

iron chef: ramen!

edjusted — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:27:44 +0000

My favorite iron chef has always been Masaharu Morimoto. Maybe I’m biased because I had the opportunity to meet him in person at his Morimoto restaurant in New York, but I’ve always preferred his quiet, unpretentious style over some of his counterparts’ tendency to be more flashy. And unlike some other “celebrity” sushi restaurants that are more hype than substance (cough, Nobu, cough), Morimoto the restaurant is not only amazingly good, but (relatively) reasonably priced, but I digress…

NY Magazine recently featured a two part article on ramen, featuring Morimoto’s tips on ramen and his pick of the 5 best ramenyas in New York City.

I’ve only visited Rai Rai Ken, his number five choice, but was a bit surprised (spoiler alert) to see him choose Momofuku as #1. I’ve never eaten there before, but from what I’ve heard, Momofuku Noodle Bar (emphasis mine) is really more of…well, a noodle bar than a ramenya.

So can any NYC ramen patrons out there chime in? Does Morimoto-san know ramen? Is a trip to NYC in my future?

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Tags: iron chef, NY ramen, ramen tidbits

Japanese Cup Noodle recall (in Japan)

edjusted — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:08:55 +0000

An elderly woman in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, became ill after eating a Nissin Cup Noodle. After an examination, paradichlorobenzene, which is used in mothballs and insect repellent, was found in the soup. The specific Cup Noodle was traced back to a factory in Ibaraki Prefecture and was manufactured on August 30 of this year. Nissin President Susumu Nakagawa announced that his firm will voluntarily recall about 500,000 Cup Noodles that were produced on the same date.

(By the way, for anyone who’s wondering, Cup Noodles are known as Cup Noodle (singular) in Japan.)

via Japan Today with thanks to Cutie for the tip.

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Tags: cup noodles, nissin, ramen news

ramen rating: foo foo tei

edjusted — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:59:37 +0000

Located in a seemingly deserted neighborhood and housed inside what looks like a liquor store in a not-so-good neighborhood, Foo-Foo Tei is the unlikely ramen hotspot of San Gabriel Valley. Foo-Foo Tei has been on my radar for a while, and since the star of Go Ramen! has committed himself to eating Foo-Foo Tei’s 31 styles of ramen in 31 days, I decided that there’s no time like the present to join in the festivities. In fact, I ran into both Go Ramen!’s Keizo and fellow food blogger Exile Kiss. Is Foo-Foo Tei the new ramen party central?

Since Keizo is and will be doing a much more thorough job than I could in covering Foo-Foo Tei’s offerings, we’ll be doing something a bit different for this review. Our impressions of Foo-Foo Tei will be covered slide-show style. Click on to the first picture, gentle reader, then click on through to read the conclusion!

I have great respect for what Foo-Foo Tei is doing, and the shoyu ramen was a good introduction. Though I found the shoyu ramen to be a bit lackluster, the masterful chashu and the creatively tasty gyoza have convinced me to come back for more. Maybe one day, I’ll also work my way through all 31 types of ramen. Foo-Foo Tei’s shoyu ramen gets a 7.5 out of 10.

Foo-Foo Tei 風風亭
15018 Clark Ave.
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
626-937-6585
M-F: 11:30am to 2:30pm (last order 2:15pm)
M-F: 5:30pm to 10:00pm (last order 9:30pm)
Sat: 12:00pm-10:00pm (last order 9:30pm)
Sun: 12:00pm-9:00pm (last order 9:30pm)
Cash only if under $20