Happy February, everyone!

Umamimart turns 5 years old this month, and I thought it would be fun to celebrate NOODLES! We’re all fans of noodles here, and there are pages and pages worth of posts, since 2007 (!), dedicated to the almighty noodle on Umamimart.

The column name “Great UM Noodletown” is an homage to one of my favorite late-night spots in NYC Chinatown called Great NY Noodletown. With roasted birds dangling from the windows, I had many a meals there–both solitary and rowdy–all on the dirt cheap, with slices of oranges always for dessert. Thank you, Great NY Noodletown. You hold a special place in my heart.

To start off the column with a big bang, I give to you Misoya, a ramen chain from Japan that has made its way to Santa Clara, CA. The first U.S. outpost opened in the East Village, NYC (looks like the owner of Totto brought it over). It’s right around the corner from Ippudo, a mega-popular ramen joint, but I hope it’s holding its ground there regardless. Personally, I think Ippudo is garbage and I absolutely cannot believe there are still lines to get in. I mean $15 for a bowl of ramen in a techno-club setting?? No thank you. Yamahomo bitched about it when it first opened. We have not been back since.

Anyhow, here’s Misoya, set in a strip mall right across the street from a hospital in sunny Santa Clara, CA. Welcome to the sprawling suburban nightmare that is my childhood. But you know I love it!

I think it’s hilarious that the South Bay Area (San Jose, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Mt. View) has all the awesome Asian eateries, rather than SF proper. [Sorta like having to go to boondocks Queens from Manhattan]. I have to say that it’s testament to the fact that the audience in the South Bay just has higher standards for Asian food. I’ll get a lashing for saying that, of course. But it’s true!!! Dim sum, Viet, sushi. Alright, I admit, the East Bay has superb Korean and Thai though.

Miso. Soul. Japan. Holla!

Don’t you dare seat yourself, asshole.

I always come early enough so there’s never a line. You get a view into the kitchen from the counter.

Hungry. The bowl of rice is FREE! Carbs with a side of carbs, please!

Misoya is known for… wait for it… their MISO ramen.

The miso broth here is komemiso, which is a Hokkaido-style, darker blend with a hint of spice. They put a dollop of the komemiso on top.

Soup is deep and hearty.

Grease bubbles are muy importante.

Noodles are bouncy and squiggly, just how I like.

It is imperative that you order the cha-shu pork ramen. I ordered the regular ramen once, thinking that it would come with the standard two slices. WRONG. That was a sad, sad day.

They boast that this cha-shu is special because of the way it is grilled over an open flame. It is the fattiest piece of pork you will have for the week, but well worth it.

Now this puzzled me: the fried potatoes in my ramen.

This must be a Hokkaido thing? The Tokyo-girl (ok, Saitama) in me shuddered a little bit.

The gyoza were chive-y pork bombs. I peeped a guy in the kitchen making them from scratch.

Delightful!

So I didn’t finish my potato, but did pretty well otherwise.

The ramen was $11, gyoza $4. Not bad!

The ramen at Misoya is a damn fine bowl of noodles. While I will refrain from using declarative statements like “Best in the Bay”, I will say that this is the CLOSEST you will get to the ramen you will find in Japan. This means: hearty, heavy, greasy broth, which is all the rage in Tokyo. Not surprising that Misoya was started in Chiba, which is where I had a great bowl of ramen at Tonikaku, on my last trip.

Washi calls most ramen he has here generally as “California Ramen”. This means an assari (light), clean, broth. Most ramen broths you find in the Bay Area are definitely light and seemingly “healthy”, California-esque. Don’t get me wrong, I like an assari, salt-based broth, but I have to say that my go-to has always been miso.

Misoya is located right across from Orenchi, which is always packed for some reason. Skip the line and just walk across the street! I am happy to have found a great miso ramen, even if I have to drive 45 minutes for it.

I’ll be writing about noodles all month! All year! Forever! Comment below if you have a noodle spot you love. And thank you for supporting Umamimart all these years!

Aaaah, one of the things I really miss in London is a good bowl of ramen. Now that we’ve got a brilliant udon-ya for keeps, the next big thing will hopefully be ramen. Unlike in the States, we only have a couple of restaurants offering old school ramen which are alright. But considering there is a ramen boom sweeping across Japan, I’m just surprised it hasn’t hit London yet. I mean, I would have expected ramen to be more popular than udon outside Japan.

So I was over the moon to find out that Tsuru Sushi is running a series of monthly ramen events in preparation to them opening Tsuru Ramen. So I went and got some tickets for the first event for me, my sis and my brother-in-law, since we were always going on about ramen and would be checking it over with critical eyes. Plus it was my birthday and who doesn’t want to eat ramen on their birthday?

Tsuru Sushi serves general Japanese food and its three branches are situated close to and within the City of London, the financial district of London. Although I haven’t had their regular menu, I’ve heard good things about their katsu curry and sushi.

And check out the giant paper cranes or tsuru that are hanging from the ceiling. Nice idea for home.

This was the first food/pop-up event we’ve been to so we were really excited about it and wondering what kind of people came to these events. We were expecting a lot more Japanese people but there were only a few. But there were a lot of trendy people who seemed serious about noodles.

For this event, called Tsuru Ramen Ichiban, I ordered shoyu. The ramen would be the classic noodle with a soy or shoyu-based broth prepared from chicken, pork, fish and vegetable stock simmered for over 15 hours. An interesting point about the ramen is that it’s free of MSG. I’m not sure whether I’ve ever had ramen without MSG before…

While we waited for our ramen, we prepared ourselves with a welcoming pint of Asahi on tap which was cold and hit the spot.

And some house-made pork gyoza.

They are one of the bestsellers in this restaurant and I’m not surprised because they were juicy, full of flavour and perfectly cooked.

They were SO good that between the three of us, we scoffed FIVE plates. Oh yes. We go all out when it comes to food. My sister and I often used to complain when we lived in Japan that we never had enough gyoza with our ramen. One plate is never enough, right?

Then the other people in the restaurant began to get their bowls and we waited in anticipation until ours arrived.

It came with the usual accompaniments of chashu pork, marinated egg (or ajitsuke tamago) which was creamy and perfect, wakame (seaweed) instead of nori, menma (bamboo) and some negi (chopped spring onion) on top.

The noodles were standard ramen noodles and tasted fine. I’m not sure whether they make their own, although it didn’t seem like it. The chashu and the tamago were lovely and complimented the noodles. However, the shoyu broth was pretty heavy on the fish flavors, which isn’t particularly my favourite, but both my sister and brother-in-law really liked it. I think we were just happy to be slurping proper ramen in London.

Tsuru Ramen will be doing other pop up events with different broths from tonkotsu to spicy Tokyo to Hokkaido-style before going to Japan on a research trip to decide how and what they want their ramen to be. I hope they get to visit Nagoya and try out my favourite, the Taiwan ramen, a super spicy ramen made with lots of chilli, garlic and minced pork in a red hot soup, which apparently you can only get there.

We all really enjoyed the event and won’t mind going to more, and we will be looking forward to what kind of ramen-ya materialises. But as long as they keep their gyoza recipe as is, I’m happy.

Ramen is all the rage here on both coasts in the US, and it’s still going strong in Japan. Strangely though, I didn’t eat too much of it during this trip to Japan. Unlike Sam White, the host of our OPENharvest adventure, who had upwards of 50 bowls of ramen during his month-long stay, I only had three bowls. Once in Saitama, for a quick slurp before a whisky distillery tour; another at 10am one morning after a treacherous night drinking with my family; and lastly this shop in Chiba called Tonikaku.

We were on our way to the Natural Harmony center in Chiba to check out the process for testing radiation in food. Our guides Tou-san and Yoshikai-san wanted to take us to a good ramen spot for lunch on the way there, per Sam’s obsession for it. After making a few circles through town while studying the map on the cellphone, we finally found it.

There was already a long line out the door when we got there. A lady came around to take our orders before we were seated, and would not allow us to order for Tou-san, who had gone to park his car. She was very strict about this, and I loved her for being such a hardass. This would never fly in the States, as it is natural to cut in and out of line for anything, which aggravates the hell out of me. I really liked that they held people accountable for not being there IN PERSON.

Once we were in, we paid at the machine.

Whoever invented this is a serious genius.

We sat at the counter. Of course!

Three dudes behind the counter, making all the ramen and side dishes.

The man in the red was the owner, I believe. He said that Tonikaku has been around for six years now.

While I excitedly waited for my ramen, I went to the restroom. On the way, I peeked into the window of a little side room and saw this small factory:

Holy shitballs, they make their own noodles! At this moment, I knew Tonikaku was serious.

Back at the counter, I watched the boys make ramen. First, they would dunk a little scooper into a huge boiling pot. Each scoop was the soup base for the ramen bowl, that they would then filter through a sieve because it was so full of bones and the fat and all the GOOD STUFF!

Then, the noodles. Here is a little video of the guy shaking off the water from the ramen noodles.

My compadres and I were mesmerized as we watched the guy methodically shake the noodles. Sam noted that each ramen chef has his own way of doing this, like his own signature style. Like a barman’s cocktail shake.

Instead of the typical gyoza pieces, they have a gyoza bou, or log.

A little silly, but quite good. Just onions and pork and nira (garlic chives).

And, the moment of truth:

The housemade noodles were thicker than usual, and springy, just the way I like it.

The Egg!

And the broth. Oh the broth! I drank it all. It was so thick and heavy and oily and so full of flavor and umami.

Do you see all the bits of STUFF? There are ground peppers and all sorts of spices and bits of onion and meats. The oil pockets glistens under the fluorescent lights. Can’t you just smell this???

When Japanese people eat ramen in the States they are often disappointed–the broth is too light and frou-frou. For them, ramen soup should be heavy, hearty, and greasy enough to nurture you after a night of heavy drinking. Tonikaku satisfied all of the above , and after the meal, all I wanted was to be wheeled out and taken to a bed for a deep sleep.

I spent the weekend with my good friend Naoko in her cabin in the woods this weekend in Nagano. We had a wonderful time catching up, sleeping, going to the onsen (hot springs), reading, and of course, watching tv. This commercial is by far the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.

The gentleman keeps repeating futomen-dou-dou, which means “fat noodles-dou-dou.” Like futomen-do-do? What is dou-dou? Even more puzzling is the reason for this name, ‘Hybrid’. In the grocery store tonight, I tried looking for these Hybrid cup noodles, to make some sense of these ‘hybrid’ noodles, but came home empty-handed.

In the end of the commercial, the guy says, “Even without a car, it’s a hybrid/ even though it’s ramen, it’s hybrid.” Uhhhhhhh.

Yup, I love Japan.

Ramen, as some of my fellow writers have observed, is totally taking over North America. People are obsessively eating, finding new shops, and eating more. New chains from Japan are opening like once a month here in New York City.

Funny thing about ramen is it used to be really difficult to find recipes, but thanks to the internet and this ramen boom, I can find recipes even in English. Ramen is America’s new sushi.

Even though you can make ramen from scratch at home, it takes forever to make the stock, and you need access to various bones. Sure, chicken carcass isn’t too hard to find, but pork bone is a bit more difficult. Plus it’s always challenging to make the noodle, because you need kansui to make it yellow, which also gives it its elasticity. What is kansui? Here is explanation on Wiki.

Most noodles are made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water, and kansui, which is essentially a type of alkaline mineral water, containing sodium carbonate and usually potassium carbonate, as well as sometimes a small amount of phosphoric acid. Originally, kansui was named after the water from Inner Mongolia’s Lake Kan which contained large amounts of these minerals and was said to be perfect for making these noodles. Making noodles with kansui lends them a yellowish hue as well as a firm texture. For a brief time after World War II, low-quality tainted kansui was sold, though kansui is now manufactured according to JAS standards. Eggs may also be substituted for kansui.

I heard some Chinese grocery stores sell them, but noodle-making is always a task. I do have a pasta-maker, which will ease this process quite a bit, but still, after spending hours simmering the soup base, it’s too much of a bother.

One day I was Googling around for new methods, and I came across something very interesting: adding baking soda while cooking pasta supposedly turns it into ramen noodles. WTF?! I was so intrigued, and tried it for myself. It’s AMAZING.

Spaghetti is a bit too thick, so cappellini is the best choice here.

Package directs you to cook it for four minutes for al dente pasta.

After 2 minutes or so, it’s still pasta.

The original Pasta de Ramen recipe post (on Cookpad from Japan) said to add baking soda after 4 minutes, but I was too impatient and added a table spoon of it at 3.5 minutes.

Baking soda ratio: if you are making a box full of pasta, I would add 5 tablespoons of baking soda. Think 1 tablespoon per serving.

Holy bubble! VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember is to use a big enough pot so that you can avoid a mess on your stove.

Cook for an additional 2 minutes. Boom, something in the cooking liquid turned regular pasta into ramen noodle!!

You HAVE to try this, because it starts to smell like cooking ramen noodles as well. The color also changes, turning a darker yellow, which is just like ramen noodles.

Can you see it’s a bit more sticky than regular pasta?

Doesn’t this look like ramen noodles?

Just to give you an idea, this is regular pasta. The color is definitely very different.

I made yakisoba with the noodles. It gets very sticky, so I rinsed it with water once, then made the yakisoba. This was actually better than using packaged yakisoba or ramen noodles since it didn’t get soggy at all.

Yep, the stove is a mess.

Scientifically, kansui is Na2CO3 and baking soda is NaHCO3. I have no idea what this means, but apparently by adding baking soda, it acts as the kansui, and turns pasta into ramen noodle.

I am not saying this is the best, but for amateur cooking at home, this totally is a GREAT method, especially things like hiyashi-chuka (cold ramen) And it’s definitely cheaper than the packaged noodles.

Please try this for yourself, so we can share the jaw-dropping moment of “Holy shit, it smells like ramen!” just around minute 4:30. When you buy the cheap ramen noodle packets, why don’t you leave the noodles, and make Pasta de Ramen instead, with the soup powder? I always gets grossed out eating cheap instant ramen since the noodles are fried, but this method will totally kick things up a notch!!  Sure you need two pots, and it beats the “instant” element (plus you will be probably too drunk to care), but this will make a gourmet instant ramen.

Wouldn’t it be weird/fun to find penne in ramen soup that tastes just like ramen?

I must admit that Washi and I have more-than-healthy appetites and the lunch boxes at the Edible Schoolyard event did not satiate our piggie tendencies. After our pleasant, healthy sandwich meal, we decided to check out the latest the Financial District had to offer in terms of ramen. Thanks to a tip from my brother-in-law we were off to grease-ball it up at San Francisco’s newest ramen joint, Ramen Underground.

But first… look who we met on the way there!

Ramen Underground turned out to be a great encore to the main event. The tiny shop seats about 15 people and the interior is painted black. Each bowl of ramen is $8 with $1 toppings.

Notice the MSG option as their toppings

I got the shio.

Shio ramen

Noodles

The broth was excellent, smooth and dimensional without being salty. Although the noodles were a little rough (my sister dubbed them slightly “ropey”) and the chashu a bit tough, I was thoroughly charmed by the broth.

Miso ramen with spicy topping

Egg topping

Ramen Underground just opened last Monday and I really look forward to it getting better with time.

Overall, a very memorable lunch outing.

1. Sushi
2. Pho
3. Burritos

Pho can interchangeably be “noodle soup”, as ramen would fall into this category. As would dan dan mein. Or Sichuan-style egg noodles with sliced pork and pickled mustard greens. Or Cantonese-style egg noodles with pork/shrimp wontons and roasted duck. Ad infinitum.

Noodles + Soup FOREVER.

Throughout the years, I’ve tried most of the ramen spots in San Jose, as it’s usually the Saturday lunch of choice in the Akabori Household (fast and cheap). Although Orenchi only just opened in 2010, it is definitely in my top three favorites in the Bay Area.

Orenchi translates to “my house” in Japanese slang. It was opened by the folks who run Sumika, which is a yakitori joint in Los Altos (also South Bay).

There is always a looooong line out front, especially on weekends.

This day, we waited about 30 minutes. Kunio was not pleased.

Orenchi’s very enthusiastic poster that resembles those you would find outside food shops in Japan. Big bold colors and typeface and the requisite EXCLAMATION POINT!!!!!

A nice note from Chef Maruyama:

We started with Kirin on tap and I had an oolong hai:

Enter karaage (fried chicken):

Chicken is organic, yada yada.

Hideko got the shoyu (soy sauce) ramen:

Spinach, menma (bamboo shoots), a slice of cha-shu (roasted pork belly), naruto (fish cake) and scallions.

Look at all the grease balls in the soup! This gives the soup an all-encompassing, mouth-covering roundness that is crucial for good ramen broth.

I always get the shio (salt) ramen, as I enjoy a more refreshing broth, as opposed to the heavy tonkotsu (pork stock):

Chashu, mekabu, wakame, tororo-konbu, yuzu, scallions.

Bouncy, squiggly egg noodles, which are my ramen noodles of choice:

There is yuzu (Japanese citrus) in the soup, which adds to the clarity of the soup. I can’t get enough of it.

And, the best part…

…Tororo-konbu aka slimy seaweed!

I always order a side of soy-marinated soft-boiled egg for $1.

It’s usually yolky and boiled to soft-porn perfection, but this day’s egg was a total failure:

And let me share with you the BEST KEPT SECRET on Orenchi’s menu. Behold: the side of takana gohan:

Yup, carbs with a side of carbs, please–this is how we roll. Kunio declared this as Orenchi’s “point” (ポイント, or strongest) dish. It is a heaping pile of pickled takana (mustard greens) over a steaming bowl of rice. For THREE DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS. Read $3.60.

AMAZING!

And, game over.

Stay tuned as I’ll be writing about another fave South Bay ramen joint. In a supermarket.

My trip to France was my first international experience ever. As much as I tried to prepare, there really is just no preparing for the unknown. From walking a mile underground in between each subway line to the reality of the hotel rooms, everything seemed to be more difficult than I had anticipated. What do you mean small? Thankfully, as all reigns true, food is the international unifier regardless of barriers.

When it came to culture shock, the biggest wake-up calls I received were a Kentucky Fried Chicken amassed with obnoxious teens and Chinese-borne sandwich cart vendors. So you mean to tell me you speak Mandarin, French, AND English? I’m glad I learned all those 15 words before I traveled all the way over here.

On a cloudy, rainy day in Paris, we happened upon this easy-on-the-eyes, comfort-zone respite of a Japanese noodle house in what appeared to be an actual Japantown in Paris!

Now, I have it on good authority from TWO Japanese people that “lamen” is a phonetic corruption of “ramen”, and is not actually the French translation.

After enduring a week of ghastly humidity throughout France, the rain was welcome weather for eating lamen.

The chef prepared for us a decent plate of yakisoba with calamari rings, followed by a simple but solid bowl of pork lamen.

After Paris, we ventured down south to Nice. Similar to my post on Liguria, the French Riviera is so much different than the rest of the country. From the architecture to the cuisine, it just screams quaint, romantic, seaside living. Like with this bouillabaise for starters:

It was no Joe’s Crab Shack of course, and it did not compel me to scream, “TAKE YOUR TOP OFF!” but it did the trick.

Another regional specialty, like the bouillabaise but far less recognized, is socca. Socca is a chick-pea pancake with lots of olive oil and black pepper. Other cultures have similar dishes–like farinata in Italy and besan poora in India–but socca truly is my favorite. Not just because of the flavor and consistency, but because of this particular experience.

You know how in San Francisco there’s the Tamale Lady? Well Nice has the Socca Lady and her name is Theresa. Caricatural in all her glory, she owns the crowd at the Tuesday Farmer’s Market in Old Nice.

Taciturn in voice and demeanor, she glares at you while you stammer, “Socca por deux… uh… sils vous plait…” Gulp. With a nod of her head and a shoo of her hand, you stand there completely unsure of what to do next so you go sit down and sort of just wait, feeling totally insecure. Then you wait and you wait some more, and then finally, around the corner like Batman’s Robin on a runaway sidecar, comes this man with his glorified pizza warmer. Behold, the socca contraption:

Not only does the entire bottom of the contraption hold a single socca that Theresa makes in her kitchen, but it also holds smaller socca-esque pies.

Theresa takes the whole tray of socca and you see her start cutting it up and throwing it on paper plates, calling customers and familiar faces to come get theirs. I tried to play it cool like I’m not on the edge of my seat, feeling a little like a penniless child near an ice-cream truck, and then just as fast as she shooed me away, she brought me my very first, official plate of socca.

Unfortunately, the wait continued because this thing was like 500˚F of steaming, creamy chickpea.

Back in Paris in the 5th Arrondisement, is this amazing Japanese patisserie, steps away from our little hotel called Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki.

Stuffed to the gills with French macaroons and cafe cremes, this shop was a sweet intermission.

There is nothing like learning things for the first time and, while I preferred the South of France to Paris, the diversity and unexpected finds of the city were worth learning the hard way. And when you don’t know what else to order or just have a hankering, get the soup a l’oignon.

I must stress that this is the best onion soup I have ever eaten to date.

HIGUMA
32 bis Rue Sainte-Anne
75001 Paris, France
01.47.03.38.59

THERESA’S SOCCA
Tuesdays @ the Cours Saleya Market
Old Nice, France

PATISSERIE SADAHARU AOKI
35 Rue de Vaugirard
Paris, France 75006
+33.1.45.44.48.90

PREFACE
Summer Slurp Series, Pt. 1: Nikumiso Udon

The one (and only) thing that I miss about the disgustingly humid temperatures in Tokyo is the arrival of cold noodle dishes on menus everywhere. During the hot months of June through September, I would convince myself that I deserved a daily reward of a big bowl of cold noodles for surviving each hot day. There are many hiyashi-men (cold noodle) dishes, but the most common ones are zaru soba, somen, nikumiso udon, and hiyashi chuka.

The second installment in Japanify’s Summer Slurp Series introduces hiyashi chuka.

+++

Hiyashi chuka (cold ramen) is an attractive looking dish. Cold ramen noodles are piled onto a plate and topped with strips of cucumber, ham, egg and seaweed. On a hot day, the cold noodles coated with a sweet and sour sauce accompanied by crunchy cucumbers, umamiful ham and a dab of hot mustard, looks like the best option amongst hot noodle soup or fried rice.

As a child, my mom would prepare the instant stuff by Chukazanmai. When I think back on it though, the only instant part about instant hiyashi chuka is the sauce that is draped over the noodles. My mom still had to fry the egg and cut all the ingredients. It was definitely not like those Tasty Bites pouch packs.

As long as you have all your ingredients lined up, hiyashi chuka is a no-brainer. The only thing you really need to cook are the noodles and an egg. The rest is just about plating your ingredients.

Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Ramen)
Serves two people

INGREDIENTS

2 servings of ramen noodles (preferably the fresh noodles in the refrigerated section)
1 Japanese julienned cucumber
1/4 lb. of ham, cut into strips
1-2 eggs
1 large sheet of nori (seaweed), cut into strips
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
1 tsp karashi (Japanese mustard)
1 tbsp grated ginger

Sauce
1/3 cup dashi
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves grated garlic

METHOD

1. Add water in a big pot for boiling noodles. Set stove on high.

2. While the water is boiling, julienne cucumbers and ham.

3. Grate garlic and ginger. Cut the nori into strips. Roast sesame. Mix karashi (if you are making it out of a can). Set all these ingredients aside.

4. Combine ingredients for the sauce (including the garlic you just grated). Make sure the sugar in the sauce has dissolved.

5. Keep your eye on the stove: once the water boils, add the noodles (see package for cooking time).

6. Fry the egg into a thin omelet.

7. When the egg cools, cut into strips.

8. When the noodles are cooked, strain them with cold water from the faucet running through the noodles. Prepare a cold ice bath for the noodles and dunk the strainer full of noodles in the ice bath. Leave for a few minutes until the noodles get really cold.

9. Strain the noodles well after removing from the ice bath. Plate noodles with your hands. Grab a handful and place a pile in the center of the plate. Lay the cucumber, ham, egg strips and nori over the noodles.

10. Sprinkle some sesame seeds over the the strips. Smear karashi on the rim of the plate and plop some ginger on the plate.

11. Drape half the portion of sauce over each plate. Mix.

Hiyashi chuka involves a long list of ingredients but requires very little cooking. You can even prepare all the toppings in advance, then just boil the noodles when you are ready to eat.

The variety of ingredients in hiyashi chuka synergize for a party of flavors and textures that are heavenly on a hot day.

*Every Thursday, Japanify aims to make Japanese cooking at home easy, accessible and affordable. For questions, please email Yoko directly at yoko@umamimart.com or simply comment below!

Recently, I had a ramen epiphany in San Francisco. It was at Ken Ken Ramen, a tiny operation that pops up in the Mission every Thursday and Sunday, at The Corner (a coffee shop/ restaurant space).

Robert Patterson, who grew up in Japan, no longer wanted to travel all the way to San Mateo (or god forbid even hop on a bus to Japantown) for a decent bowl of ramen. He dreamed of a ramen shop right in his own neighborhood, where locals could gather over a steaming bowl of noodles and soup and guzzle down a pint of draft beer. After careful research through Japan with his team, Stefan Roesch and Taka Hori, they created a damn good bowl of ramen.

Ken Ken offers different specials every time they open, and even have a secret menu. [How to access that menu, I cannot divulge--you must be a regular!]. But their staples are simple, to the point, and very crucial for any ramen-ya (ramen shop):

Ramen. Gyoza. Karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken). What more do you need?

Taka preparing a bowl of ramen:

Gyoza, by Ryoji that day:

Taka straining noodles:

Torching the chashu (slow-roasted pork):

They offer the three basic soups: Shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), and miso. The latter is my favorite wherever I go, and this was no exception. All their soups are made from scratch–no industry ingredients are used for the base. WOW.

Ken Ken Miso Ramen:

Marinated soft-boiled egg porn:

The most impressive part of the bowl? The noodles. I contemplating as I slurped–these noodles are the REAL DEAL! I like my noodles bouncy and al dente, and they were both. The Japanese have a word for this–shiko-shiko. This was it.

Turns out that Ken Ken CUSTOM-MAKES their noodles. They use flour from Hokkaido and a noodle press from Japan–they are constantly tweaking their recipe. OH MY GOD. While other ramen shops are out there getting their noodles from massive manufacturers (often from China), these guys are actually doing all the research themselves! This is massive, and incredibly admirable.

I usually like my miso soup to be made from a redder miso, which I find brings out more complexity. I truly appreciated however, that the soup was clear-tasting, and not a greasy, oily, globby mess which seems to be all the rage these days. Can’t deal.

Excellent gyoza. The wrapper was thick and had great texture. Again, shiko-shiko (bouncy).

Purin by Junko Schwesig, aka Bay Alien.

San FLAN! So clever.

Vanilla bean specks! Worthy of a Yamahomo battle, for sure.

Taka, from Hakata. Ryoji, from Yokohama.

All ramen is $11 a bowl, and $3 for extra toppings.

There are still a few ramen spots I need to try out or revisit around the Bay Area, but Ken Ken offers the best I’ve had in San Francisco proper thus far. There is an energy about these Ken Ken Ramen guys that is truly dynamic, and their passion for ramen, and every single one of its ingredients, shines through in each bowl. The chashu charred with a hand-torch, the perfectly soft-boiled egg, and most importantly, the CUSTOM-MADE NOODLES!!!

And keep an eye out during the summer months for hiyashi-chuka (cold noodle salad)!

Thanks Ken Ken, for bringing awesome ramen to the Mission! Let’s keep it alive.

KEN KEN RAMEN
Thursday + Sunday
12pm-2:30pm; 6pm
Till they run out of noodles!
Follow @KenKenRamen