Monthly Archives

February 2016

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.