RAMEN

After Ruther took the JLPT exam last Sunday (I hope and pray he passes), he asked me if I wanted to go to Yokohama. Of course, I knew we were going to eat at Ruther's favorite ramen shop there so I said, "yes". It was an enjoyable gastronomic experience indeed. And I especially love the ticket machine where you simply pick what you want to eat and just press the button/s. (They don't have that at the ramen shop here at Tokaichiba.) No more cashiers, no more lack of change. Hassle-free...

The first time I ate ramen here in Japan was the night we arrived - September 1. Ruther brought me to the nearby ramen shop (about 8 minutes away from home by foot) and got me the small bowl. When I tried it, I found it salty but flavorful. The noodles were tasty and the addition of nori (I did not like this at first, but got used to its taste eventually), vegetables and meat were yummy. Ramen is eaten using chopsticks and a Chinese-style spoon but i have not mastered both yet. When the spoon is not available, drinking the soup from the bowl is all right. After several ramen bowls these past months, I eventually got used to the strong tonkotsu taste and now, when it's particularly cold outside, I ask Ruther if we could go get a bowl of hot steamy ramen. I still have to practice the slurping (they say it helps cool the soup and the noodles) but I'm sure I'll get it pretty soon...

Ramen is basically soup, noodles and add-ons. The secret of ramen's popularity is in the soup. The main types of soup are: (http://www.world66.com/asia/northeastasia/japan/food/ramen)

Shouyu - a dark, relatively clear soup that gets its color from soy sauce. Shouyu soups are often made from fish stock. The flavor can range from strongly fishy, to mild and salty, to lightly sweet and tangy.

Shio - a thin, light, slightly salty soup made with pork. This is the least popular but has the least fat.

Miso - a cloudy, salty and strong soup that derives its flavor from a fermented soy-paste called miso.

Tonkotsu - (Ruther's favorite) a thick, cloudy soup made with pigs bones. The color can range from pale white to light brown.

A visit to the Ramen Museum at Shin-Yokohama taught me that ramen noodles can be thick, thin, wide, curly, or straight. However, the noodles used for ramen are either yellow egg noodles or white flour noodles. During early years, the egg noodles were more popular but now, flour noodles are widely used.

And now, the toppings ("gu"):

Cabbage - either chopped into large pieces or shredded

Chashu - slices of grilled pork (Ruther's favorite and mine; usually we order the one with several slices of pork meat)

Corn - boiled separately and just added later on

Hourensou - spinach

Menma - soft, brown bamboo shoots

Moyashi - bean sprouts

Naruto - a white fish cake, usually featuring a red spiral pattern on the inside. It is served in thin slices. (whenever I see this I remember Ranma 1/2)

Negi - Japanese leek, cut very fine and served raw or fried

Nori - squares of dried seaweed

Tamago - hard-boiled egg

Ramen, they say, is best eaten extremely hot. But I can't do that. Aside from being a poor slurper, I burn my tongue quite easily. They also say that in an average bowl, there is about 5 grams of salt in there and the fat content makes nutritionists cringe. So I suppose ramen-eating has to be an occasional thing only.

Ruther once told me, "Love, once you try the ramen here, you'll never go back to instant ramen any more." He was right. Call me a ramen lover from now on...