the new york city ramen tour

as told by chris p thompson

if you have only ever had ramen that at one point in its life was molded into a block shape (or a cup shape), you should probably do what you can to get to these places. after all, it is soup weather.

..........................

sapporo and menkui-tei these are unremarkable but authentic places that predate the current fad. i do enjoy menkui-tei's tan-tan ramen. i have never once eaten at sapporo and not been sick within the hour. but this is the price we pay.

menkui-tei is on 56th between 5th and 6th

sapporo is on 49th between 6th and 7th

momofuku hahahahaaa j/k j/k

11th and 1st

minca minca was a revelation when it first opened. wow. i can eat this ramen once a month tops. if you let it sit for more than 30 minutes it turns into solid pork fat before your eyes. i once saw bigcountry eat two full bowls in one sitting. it was not pretty.

e. 5th between ave a and ave b

setagaya the longstanding favorite for me, they made a shio ramen that was light and subtle and multi-layered... highly enjoyable. sadly, they kept changing the recipe and chefs and the multitude of different locations seems to have sort of ruined the place. the staff is actually korean, which is funny (arigatou goJAimasu!)

1st ave between 9th and st mark's

ippudo yes, i know, shut up. hype, hype, hype. it's good. i really actually think it's good. but so do 437 tourists who are in line in front of you. also, that SPACE, i'm sorry NO. it reminds me of what people who open "pan-asian fusion" restaurants in hell's kitchen think is What Gay People Want. dreadful.

4th ave between 9th and 10th

ramen totto hidechan's sister shop. also good!

52nd and 9th

kurichan ramen and okonomiyaki this is the dumbo ramen and okonomiyaki shop i'm opening as soon as the check clears.

thanks chris!

apparently secret ramen places also exist... maybe if you bribe him he'll tell you where they are.

xoxo

yeh

week 37: hidechan ramen

since i ran out of things to say about ramen last week,

i interviewed my token ramen-expert friend chris p thompson to talk about

hidechan ramen

{hee-day chan}

{totto ramen's east side cousin}

here it is:

 would you rather belly flop in a pool of ramen or a pool of mayonnaise?

ok mayonnaise but it has to be kewpie, and there must be either sriracha, wasabi, or red chili oil mixed in.

tell us about your first experience at hidechan (in third person).

chris was having a lot of trouble walking down 52nd street because the line for the schnitzel truck was blocking foot traffic. eventually he broke through and arrived at hidechan (irasshaimase!), where he selected his desired noodle firmness and eagerly awaited the hakata spicy miso ramen. various japanese peeps slurped contentedly. in exactly the space of one bloggy photo and one twitter-check, the bowl arrived. three minutes and 47 seconds later, tongue completely numb, chris decided that there was now a compelling reason to go to east midtown.

why are hidechan's noodles like this: 

and totto's like this:

the following informative and entertaining educational video can answer this question better than i ever could:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm_ubnnZusc

describe hidechan's ramen in four verbs.

render

tingle

numb

fatten

 if hidechan's spicy miso ramen were a person (dead, alive, or imaginary), who would it be?

it would be the cartoon baby that serves as the corporate logo for want want holdings ltd.

 his tongue and belly love being on fire, also it is secretly chinese (we haven't talked about the secret ingredient, which i theorize to be szechwan peppercorns).

and who would it be in love with (food or person)?

um spicy girl? (supaishii gaaru)

 have you had the pork buns or the gyoza or any of the other sides?

yes i always order mentaiko rice, which is spicy fish roe with thinly sliced nori over rice. pretty standard but quite excellent. japanese people often judge a ramen place partially on it's gyoza (this is the equivalent of us judging a burger joint partially on it's fries, which is fair), but i admit i haven't yet tried them. wanna go later?

how does it compare to ramen that you've eaten in japan?

actually, you know what's crazy? of the times i've been to japan i can recall eating at a real ramen shop exactly once; my enthusiasm for ramen began only after my most recent trip (fall of 2006). furthermore, i don't think that one real ramen experience would be a good gauge for comparison. picture line c3 circa 2004 in tokyo, it is 4 am, last train long gone, sam passed out face-down on the counter, big country singing (!?), and haruka furiously apologizing to the whole place in japanese. the taste of the ramen is pretty much the only thing i didn't take away from that otherwise memorable experience.

yay! thanks chris!!!

stay tuned for a detailed list of chris' favorite ramen places...

...15 restaurants to go!!!!

xoxo

yeh

hidechan is on 52nd and 2nd. and it's open until 2am mon-sat!!!

week 36: totto ramen

and just like that, as if it were on some kind of cue,

it is soup weather. 

{you know, the edible version of scarf weather. the best kind of weather}

not that it needs to be soup weather to eat ramen

because ramen was the non-kosher food of choice at summer camp... 

my friendsies brought cases of the stuff in their duffels. don't even ask how we cooked it. it's really embarrassing. 

but anywho. 

ramen is the type of soup that tastes best when you're eleven and you've just had a really long ice skating practice and you're still in your skating tights and your little skating dress but you must have food to even have the energy to change into your jammies. so your mommy bypasses the leftovers and just sticks some "line noodle soup" on the stove. bless her.

and maybe it's because i'm so used to the mommy line noodle soup that i've not been so terribly wild about all these ramen places around the city {i am no chris p thompson}

but let it be known

totto ramen

is the exception. the first of its kind.

there are two levels of spiciness, but i think one would win:

there was a really long line when i went but i think my friend matt must have given the hostess the sexy eyes or something because we got in way sooner than we expected.

we started with the 

char siu mayo don

pork+mayo+magic rice+green things

even though it was pork, it was very light and clean tasting. like a good albert herring performance... at first impression, you think you're going to want a little something more {like a spicy bit or a sauce} but, no no, it's quite comforting as it is. 

the ramen that both matt and i got was the

totto miso ramen

koji miso+ground pork+paitan soup+egg+green things+bean things+onion+char siu pork

what is a koji and a paitan? i do not know. but they were happy and them two together in the broth were i think the secret behind why i liked this ramen a lot a lot.

the broth was thick. not thick like the dead sea up in thur, but in it you could taste the little miso granules.

and the little granules clung to the doodles.

my goodness it was tasty.

{alas, still no doodle will be mushy enough for me, but these were actually closer to my liking than i expected. yay!}

it was really mega flavory. 

even matt who will only eat at harry's burritos really liked it.

hopefully soup weather is here to stay because the owner of totto has another new place, hide chan, across town...

so don't be surprised if that's one of my 12 remaining restaurants!!!

xoxo

yeh

totto ramen is on 52nd and 9th. 

next to lucky burger, kitty-corner from brian's old apartment {read: many a drunk percussionist know this block well}

watch out, eddie huang!

i finally convinced mum to bring pork into our house. 

i was going through withdrawal... being 300 miles away from baohaus is a lot harder than it looks!

so mum and i pretended to be eddie and made our own baos.

we made the steamed buns that we make during our annual dumplings of the world festival {recipe below}

and instead of forming them into the old school ball shape, 

we made the taco thingies that are so much more conducive to adding cucumbers and cilantro {no crushed peanuts here, sadly. mum is allergic}

i wasn't lucky enough to score pork belly-mum got the leanest loin she could find-but beggars can't be choosers.

the result was unbelievable goodness. maybe the best thing mum and i have ever made.

they were so doughy and sweet and comforting! the kind of comfort you can only get from mum's home-cooking. 

and pork. 

pork, how i've missed you.

these were almost better as good as baohaus' :-)

george gershwin tried to get in on the fun but nobody would help him fill a bun :-(

.....................

i don't usually post recipes, but it would have been cruel of me to keep this from you:

steamed buns!!

adapted from grace wiertz young's recipe 

{i don't know who grace is, but this recipe has been in my family since i was two and only wanted to fill them with kraft cheese}

ingredients:

1 package yeast

3/4 cup warm water {110 degrees}

4 cups flour

1/4 cup warm milk {110 degrees}

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup veggie shortening + additional shortening for greasing the middle of the buns

clues:

dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water in a small bowl until it bubbles

put 3 cups of flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center

add the yeast mixture, remaining 1/2 cup warm water, 1/4 cup of shortening, the milk, and sugar --> stir to combine

add remaining cup of flour in fourths until a dough forms and is no longer sticky

knead for 5 minutes on a floured surface

put the dough in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise for 2 hours

punch down the dough, knead for 2 or 3 minutes

melt the additional shortening in the microwave

divide dough it into 12 equal pieces and shape into flat oval-shaped circles on top of individual squares of wax paper

brush the top of the circles with shortening and fold them in half

let rise for half an hour

steam in a bamboo or metal steamer for 10-15 minutes

and...

voila! 

fill them with whatever you want! if you're lucky, your mum will buy you pork belly. 

if not, other kinds of meat will do...

top them with cukes, cilantro, and crushed peanuts

dip them in soy sauce and sriracha!

if you don't make these, you are seriously a dufus.

xoxo

yeh