All Posts By

ramen mom

New York City

Ramen Lab

Posted on March 28, 2016

This was my second bowl of ramen in one day and most definitely the noodle highlight of my trip to New York. This ramen was the bomb! I had heard about Ramen Lab and couldn’t wait to try it. I arrived just as it opened at 5 pm and put my name on the waiting list. I was already third on the list and since it’s a no reservation restaurant standing room only for 10 people I felt pretty darn lucky. When I say standing room let’s just say be prepared to stand. There aren’t any seats so don’t expect to relax and stay for long. The long bar has a hook underneath to hang your purse and that’s about it. Be prepared to cut the conversation and just slurp and enjoy the noodles. No idling if you know what I mean. This was fine for me since I came solo this evening but quickly met my neighbors a couple originally from Australia but living and working in the city. They serendipitously discovered the restaurant as they were wandering around Nolita and wanted to give it a try. Ramen Lab is kind of like a pop-up ramen shop showcasing monthly chefs from Japan and around the world presenting their versions of ramen. Machida Shoten, from Yokohama, Japan, was serving their signature tonkotsu broth served three ways either spicy miso, shoyu or shio which you then get to customize to your liking for noodle texture, soup flavor and fattiness. I chose shio, al dente noodles, light soup flavor and light fattiness. You then select three condiments served separately which included spicy soybean paste, sesame, grated garlic, fried onion, diced onion and black garlic oil. I picked the grated garlic and sesame and skipped the egg since I was still a bit full from my earlier ramen lunch. I chatted briefly with my neighbors until my piping hot bowl of noodles was placed in front of me. I really liked the simplicity of the bowl with just the seaweed, spinach and the fatty chashu. I took one slurp and knew that this was the real deal. So smooth and flavorful and light like requested. The thickness of the noodles was a nice surprise along with the single piece of fatty melt in the mouth chashu. Just the right amount of fat and meat. I added just a bit of the grated garlic and sesame but felt the broth and noodles didn’t really need anything added to it. It was special as is — unadorned. Since it was an open kitchen I got to talk to the waitress and also to the cook as I was curious if they served a similar type of noodle in Japan and he said that the noodle they were using is very similar but not exact. After all Ramen Lab is the product of the company Sun Noodle which provides most of the ramen noodles to restaurants and markets in the U.S. I wouldn’t be the wiser since it tasted delicious. The concept is rather exciting to have a revolving menu of ramen presented by different chefs. I highly recommend Ramen Lab and hope to make my way back here again.

Ramen Lab
70 Kenmare Street
New York, NY 10012
(646) 613-7522
www.ramen-lab.com

New York City

Ivan Ramen

Posted on March 18, 2016

Just off a redeye flight from California this time sans ramen boy. Here to run the UA NYC Half Marathon so eating many bowls of ramen felt justified and guaranteed that I should be able to burn off the calories. I had made a lunch reservation at Ivan Ramen weeks ago and had just bought Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo’s Most Unlikely Noodle Joint to read in anticipation of my visit. I don’t know why we never tried his ramen in Tokyo while living there. Now that he has set shop in New York and I wanted to wander around the Lower East Side it was the perfect opportunity to slurp some of his noodles at his Clinton Street restaurant. I was one of the first customers so I was promptly seated at the bar facing the open kitchen. The servers were very friendly and helpful asking me if it was my first time and giving recommendations of what to order. I ordered the shoyu ramen and a roast pork musubi (rice ball) as an appetizer. The bite sized musubi with the pork and roasted tomato on top of the rice and sour notes from the salted plum wasabi was a tasty melding of flavors and texture. However, the juice from the roast pork made the rice a big soggy and hard to pick up with the seaweed and I felt $4 was a bit steep for a very tiny musubi. The shoyu ramen was outstanding. It came piping hot the way I like it and very simply dressed with roast pork, shredded scallions and two halves of an egg with a perfectly soft yolk. The chicken and fish stock was light but still rich in flavor. The rye noodles though were excellent. I hadn’t had rye ramen noodles before and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

My waiter Jonathan, a fellow noodle enthusiast, gave me a rundown of ramen joints in the city. Too many and not enough days to tackle them all. For sure I will bring ramen boy to try Ivan Ramen when we are in New York again.

Ivan Ramen
25 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
(646) 678-3859
www.ivanramen.com

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Packaged Ramen

Instant Ramen Cacio e Pepe

Posted on March 7, 2016

Hail David Chang Momofuku’s supreme leader for creating this super simple and delicious recipe. I’m still on my Whole30 program and didn’t get to taste this yet (I will though!) but hubby slurped it down as soon as I plated the noodles. Ramen boy missed out he was too slow to get to the kitchen. The recipe comes from the Lucky Peach #1: The Ramen Issue magazine. It is filled with great recipes and stories but if you can’t find it on the newsstands you can find Lucky Peach online as well.

I cut the recipe in half since I only had one package of instant ramen noodles. Easy peasy to just combine the one cup of water, 1.5 T butter, 1/2 t olive oil and fresh black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Give it a quick stir and reduce the heat so that it comes to a simmer. Stir in one cup of grated pecorino romano and quickly add the noodles and continue to stir so that the cheese doesn’t get clumpy. Continue agitating and mixing around until most of the liquid is absorbed. Should take about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Plate the noodles, add some more pepper and go to town.

You will definitely be purring as you slurp down these noodles.

Packaged Ramen

Nona Lim Ramen

Posted on February 22, 2016

Hubby found these Nona Lim ramen noodles in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods near his work and brought them home for ramen boy to try. The noodles looked like the real deal especially the Hakata style ramen and so I was eager to test it on the noodle master. Also, I am on the Whole30 regimen and can’t eat ramen until March 15th so no noodle slurping allowed for ramen mom. However, it is perfectly timed right before my New York trip to run the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon so that I can carbo load at some great ramen joints while I am there.

In the meantime ramen consumption by proxy and these fresh noodles will give me an opportunity to experiment with some stock. Unfortunately Nona Lim doesn’t provide any broths for sale. A variety of other soups and broths but nothing for ramen. Rather odd but do check out the website for what’s available. Since it was a last minute lunch choice for ramen boy I cheated and used the stock packet from another frozen ramen noodle brand that he likes. I cooked up the noodles for just a minute per instructions, drained and plopped in the tantanmen broth and added a dash of shichimi togarashi (7 ingredient Japanese spice mixture). No toppings as he likes his noodles plain unless there is chashu which I didn’t have on hand. I used the Hakata style noodles which typically is served with a tonkotsu broth so ramen boy did mention that tantanmen soup and Hakata noodles shouldn’t go together but he liked the springiness and taste of the noodles.

Next on my agenda is making homemade stock so that ramen boy can try the Tokyo Style Ramen. Until then noodle on …

Nona Lim

Walnut Creek, CA

Ramen Hiroshi

Posted on February 15, 2016

Ramen boy and I had a ramen lunch date at Ramen Hiroshi in Walnut Creek while his dad played tennis nearby. Great timing since we got there when it opened at 11 am and we were starving. It’s a small shop but well arranged with tables and a bar to sit as well and luckily we didn’t have to wait as we were the first customers. The menu is limited to five types of ramen and a variety of appetizers. There were so many great appetizer choices that I would have tried them all but we agreed to share the gyozas. The menu described it as housemade pork dumplings with crispy thin crust served with spicy sauce. I wasn’t sure if this referred to the dumpling skin but surprisingly discovered that it was the thin crust skirt on the gyozas which they flipped over for you to gently break apart to discover the little pork dumpling gems beneath it. Score! These were delicious that ramen boy only shared one gyoza with me. I asked him if these gyozas were in the same league as the bite size Tenten gyozas we’d eat in Tokyo. I’d buy them uncooked and would attempt to pan fry them never accomplishing the same kind of thin crust. He thought these were the best he’s had in California. This was a good sign that the ramen to come would likely be just as tasty. We both ordered the Hiroshi Tonkotsu Ramen. It’s their house signature ramen named after the owner with a pork broth, 3 generous slice of the braised pork belly which had just the right amount of fat and a chock full of goodies like a marinated soft-boiled egg, lotus root, black mushroom, seasoned bamboo shoot, green onion and red ginger. No need to order any additional toppings for this ramen. The noodles were thin and firm the way I like it since mushy ramen noodles are the worst. The broth was rich in flavor but a tad too salty to me. Ramen boy ordered kaedama (extra noodles) on the side but for the first time couldn’t finish it. Tennis will likely bring us out this way again and I definitely would like to come back and try the tantanmen and some of the appetizers. Ramen Hiroshi is definitely a ramen contender in the East Bay.

Ramen Hiroshi
1633 Bonanza Street
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Tel: 925-942-0664

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Costa Mesa, CA

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai

Posted on February 12, 2016

Another race another ramen-ya to check out. This time in Orange Country since I was running Surf City Marathon/Half Marathon in Huntington Beach. 16,000+ runners and one Matt Damon. I did my research, mapped out my itinerary for the short weekend and as soon as I landed at the airport I picked up my car and headed straight over to Costa Mesa for a late ramen lunch. Lunch closed at 2:30 but I made it in the nick of time to quickly peruse the menu and order the limited time offer mizore ramen which is yuzu (citrus fruit) chili paste and grated radish in a shoyu based pork broth with their signature toro chashu, mizuna (Japanese greens), green onions and radish sprouts. Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai originated in Japan in the late 1950’s and is known for it distinctive wide and curly noodle and is hand-crumpled to give it curliness and texture perfect for slurping. Several cuts of pork belly are simmered for hours with their secret recipe resulting in a meaty yet melt in the mouth chashu. Of course I ordered a soft boiled egg as well which didn’t disappoint but truthfully more ooze is always the best. The crisp greens went very well with the light broth which is not greasy and perfect with the springy noodles (kind of reminded me of thin and flat udon noodles instead of typical ramen) and the meat. The surprise element of the dish was the grated daikon (radish) that thickened the broth. I think ramen boy would appreciate this type of ramen. A must try warranting another trip to the OC and another race.

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai
891 Baker Street, B21
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel: 714-557-2947
http://ramenbannai.com

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Packaged Ramen

Millet & Brown Rice Ramen

Posted on February 4, 2016

Gluten-free organic ramen abounds at the supermarket and I wasn’t too surprised considering a gluten-free version of everything exists. Ramen boy wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole but ramen mom on the other hand thought what the heck why not give it a go. It’s also detox week with my Kaia fitness group and I have been a bad girl not following the plan. Eating ramen somehow doesn’t denote “healthy” and so I justify it by thinking the noodles are fueling my long runs. Like all instant packaged noodles this is a cinch to make. I chopped up some green onions, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms and added a soft boiled egg for the toppings. The noodles looked like the real deal once cooked. I added it to the broth and could tell that the broth and noodle ratio was off. First of all I couldn’t see the noodles and as soon as I added the toppings everything submerged into the liquid. The toppings should be able to sit nicely on top of the noodles. With my chopsticks I dug in to some of the noodles and slurped away. The millet & brown rice noodles were a bit chewy but at least not mushy like I expected. The miso broth was rather flavorless so I had to add some tamari to boost the taste and thankfully I had some leftover kimchi to eat with it.

No more GF ramen for me unless you can convince me otherwise. Give me a good bowl of ramen and I will happily run those extra miles to burn it off.

Packaged Ramen

Sapporo Ichiban

Posted on January 27, 2016

I grew up on Sapporo Ichiban ramen. It was quick and easy to make and whenever I had a bowl all was good. I know it’s not the healthiest of meals but it’s cheap and tasty and if you dress it up it’s enough to impress the pickiest eater. Well, except for ramen boy. For lunch I made a grown up version with some yummy kimchi. My grandmother taught me the proper way to make packaged instant ramen but it has taken me years to actually follow her footsteps. I lived with my grandparents my senior year of high school and I was lucky that my grandmother was such a wonderful cook. Everything she made was effortless and with love. She always cringed when I made my lazy one pot noodle dish. I liked salami and so it usually got thrown in at the end with chopped green onions and an egg. While cooking the noodles I would stir in the powdered soup seasoning and break open an egg directly in the pot and let it sink to the bottom. Then I’d pour the messy goodness in a bowl. My grandmother told me that I had to cook everything separately including the egg and to be sure to drain the noodles before putting it in the hot seasoned broth. Too many pots I would tell her. The muddled flavors tasted just fine to me back then.

Not now though. I take the time to make ramen the way she taught me. Even though I haven’t had Sapporo Ichiban ramen in ages I always have a package or two in the pantry. The shelf life is forever. Pure comfort food at the ready for a trip down memory lane. Like today.

Noodle Thoughts

Ooze

Posted on January 17, 2016

I went to Davis Farmers Market hoping to pick up some fresh ramen noodles from Pasta Dave but out of luck this weekend. Pasta Dave makes delicious fresh noodles, mostly Italian, having tried some in the past. He is well known in the area for taking his pasta craftsmanship seriously with his pasta on the menu at top end restaurants like Ella in Sacramento. I was really excited to chat with him about his ramen noodles but his prickly manner matched the weather and completely put me off. Hubby and mother-in-law were also perplexed with his behavior so I’ll blame it on the rain and try his ramen noodles in the future. Instead I picked up some fresh Vega Farms eggs to try making shoyu tamago (soy sauce eggs) that is a popular topping on ramen. Ramen boy is not fond of eggs so his response to these were “yuck” but I’m sure once he tastes this golden yolk he will be forever changed. The recipe I tried is from Tadashi Ono’s Japanese Soul Cooking. He is a New York chef and author and owner of Ganso Ramen on my noodle hit list come March when I run the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon.

These eggs are so easy to make. I had the ingredients on hand to make the marinade with shoyu (soy sauce), mirin (rice wine), sake, water, ginger, scallions and garlic. I think the key to great soy sauce eggs is having the very best eggs you can find and Ono-sensei has some very handy tips like poking a hole at the bottom of the rounded part of the egg and to swirl the eggs around at the beginning while cooking. Instead of sharing the recipe on my blog I am going to send you to another. Elly’s Anatomy of Ramen series is brilliant and she highlights Tadashi Ono’s shoyu tamago recipe.

Luckily I only made four eggs because I can eat them in one sitting they are so decadent and delicious. Ojai, my handy yolk tester, totally agrees.

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Noodle Thoughts

Slurp!

Posted on January 14, 2016

Throwback Thursday. Living in Tokyo the noodle master is five years old and already serious about his ramen. It has to be Ippudo and it has to be for lunch on the weekend. He’s cranky without his noodle fix! Oishii!