Ramen Surprise

Three months ago we wrote about how the tonkatsu ramen purchased at Nijiya Market had soup that came in a plastic bag.

Perhaps enough customers complained to cause the supplier to eliminate the plastic bag; when I emptied the contents into a bowl, the gelatinized soup was on the bottom. (The soup was no longer liquid; the formula obviously had been adjusted.)

The other change was a 30% increase in the ramen price, from $9.99 to $12.99. I thought food-price inflation was over!

I Refer to Myself

as "your humble blogger" for a reason.

When I bought the prepared ramen at Nijiya Market I dumped the contents in a large bowl and heated it for three minutes per the instructions (I assumed that the soup was in gelatinous form).

Upon stirring the noodles, vegetables, and pork, I discovered the hot soup was in a plastic bag which should have been cut open and emptied before microwaving.

The next time I bought the ramen there was a new warning sign, "Please remove soup bag first and pour into the bowl." The ramen company must have heard from other customers to add the warning.

It is comforting that I wasn't alone in my stupidity.

Too Much to Swallow

Ebi Shio Ramen (Chron photo)

Like many starving students back in the day, I got through a few all-nighters with the aid of a hotplate and 25¢ packages of ramen.

It required a major psychological adjustment to pay $10-$15 for a ramen bowl when restaurants began offering them in the new century, but the quality of fresh noodles, freshness of ingredients, and complexity of the broths eventually won me over to the price differential. The fare that was being served in the restaurants was completely different from the packaged version.

However, I'm going to have to draw the line at paying $175 for a ramen dinner in San Francisco:

the ticket price at Noodle in a Haystack, opened by married couple Yoko and Clint Tan in San Francisco’s Richmond District in the spring, can seem shocking: $175 for a ramen tasting menu.

Not just ramen: chuka soba (wheat noodles)

The Chronicle's food critic effusively describes the uniqueness of each dish. (Note: I have italicized food-critic prose that I find particularly pretentious praiseworthy.)

...a deviled egg, made from the typical marinated egg you’d see floating in a bowl, repurposed as an hors d’oeuvre. Its yolk was whipped with Kewpie mayonnaise, concentrated fish powder and pickled daikon radish juice and topped with garnishes of fried chicken skin and boba-like marinated salmon roe. Like Willy Wonka’s three-course chewing gum, that single half of an egg seemed to contain a full narrative in itself.

That course has since been replaced with a coat button-sized brown butter financier topped with a fluffy dollop of creme fraiche whipped with smoked soy sauce. The morsel was scented behind the ears with dabs of garlic oil, and it was all finished with a briny plop of black caviar. It’s not so obvious an act of foreshadowing, but it got everyone at the counter cooing with pleasure.

The new menu has also leaned harder into the seasonal produce conventions of California cuisine. A delightful miniature ramen came disguised as a pomodoro pasta, complete with a potent Early Girl tomato jam, a kelp-tomato broth and even some burrata topped with chile crisp oil. The Tans also got on the corn train: For a scallop and sea urchin dish, they pureed Brentwood sweet corn and turned it into an airy, whipped version of corn potage, the French-influenced cream of corn soup that you can buy from vending machines on the streets of Tokyo.

From the description of the hours, knowledge, and skills that go into this dinner the price is merited, I suppose, if one subscribes to the labor theory of value.

Although it's not my cup of tea, things can't be that bad in the City dining scene if there are enough customers willing to fork over $175 for ramen, or $72 for fried rice.

Hankering for Ramen

Hankering for a hot and hearty soup on a cold day, we stopped for ramen noodles at Serramonte Center in Daly City.

The rest of the country may favor creamy chowders, beans, and bacon, but here in California ramen can be stocked with vegetables, pork, and eggs to make a filling meal.

This ramen is different from the dried, MSG-laden product that we heated on the hot plate in our dorm. At $12 it's 50x the cost of the 1970's packaged version, but we’re happy to pay the price. It’s cold outside.

Time Well Spent

At the International Marketplace in Waikiki

One Bay Area Japanese shopping center that we frequent is Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose.

At each Mitsuwa location is a Santouka restaurant, also one of our favorites.

Your humble blogger is partial to Santouka's tonkotsu ramen.

From the website (the Engrish is charming, no?):

Tonkotsu ramen, San Jose

Under the original production method, the white tonkotsu (pork bone) soup was produced from repeated trial, error, and improvements. It has a mild, gentle flavor and was dedicated it to be delicious to the last drop...

Moreover, in order to create a mild tasting soup, we have boiled pork bones for long time. When the white colored soup is complete, we do not re-boil them to protect its taste and smell.

Santouka Waikiki has the same menu

In the coming years I will be flying more often to visit family, and it's good to know that some of my preferred eateries have a branch in the Islands.

Also, note the "we have kamaaina 5% off" sign.

The time spent waiting in line for my Hawaii resident ID continues to pay off.

Aloha Means Let's Eat

Shirokiya: crowded at 2 p.m. Thursday

After my first day on Oahu I realized that I should have lost some weight to prepare for the trip.

Driving in from HNL, we stopped at the new Shirokiya Japan Village Walk in the Ala Moana Shopping Center. It was a Japanese cornucopia: sushi or udon, ramen or tempura, teriyaki or karaage, mochi or custard? I settled on pork ramen, higher-quality fare and 50 times more expensive than the dried instant version that I scarfed in college.

Across the street from our hotel, quirkily named the Laylow, Autograph Collection, was Marukame Udon. one of the most popular restaurants in Honolulu. It would be a one-hour wait for a table (no reservations), so we'll probably pass this go-round. So much food, so little time.

Maybe the Lines Will Be Shorter

 Santouka, San Jose

Fans of ramen are willing to travel great distances (okay, maybe up to an hour) for a bowl of hot, slurpy goodness, and we're no exception. The restaurants we favor are in Mountain View and San Jose. San Mateo has a couple of small ramen houses that are nearly as good, but there's always a line out the door. (Economists say that when demand exceeds supply, and when prices don't increase, there will be queuing.)

Ramen Dojo, San Mateo

Japanese chains have been eying the Bay Area ramen boom and are coming in full force:

In the first two months of this year, two Japan-based restaurant groups opened Mensho Tokyo and Nojo Ramen Tavern in San Francisco, joining outposts from two other Japanese chains: Men Oh Tokushima Ramen and Ajisen. A fifth, Ippudo, is slated to open a Berkeley location later this year, courtesy of a partnership with Panda Express.

May the tastiest noodles win.

Maru Ichi, Mountain View

Kuro ramen broth is black from roasted garlic.
Toppings: roast pork, egg, sprouts, stewed pork and cod roe

When in Mountain View and craving a bowl of ramen, we head to Maru Ichi on Castro. The noodles are fresh and the broth, especially kuro (roasted garlic) style, is tasty without needing the enhancement of MSG. The varied toppings are also a treat---it would require hours to assemble them at home.

The restaurant's policies of no reservations and cash-only do not deter the crowds; during peak periods the wait is at least 30 minutes. If the line gets too long, we sometimes abandon Maru Ichi for other excellent restaurants on Castro Street. But usually we wait it out; when you get a taste for something you just have to have it.

Ramen Dojo, San Mateo

Garlic pork ramen

At the Ramen Dojo there's always a wait. Because there are good, fairly inexpensive noodle joints elsewhere in the Bay Area (for example, Santouka in San Jose and Maruichi in Mountain View), we hadn't bothered standing in line. Today our curiosity finally prevailed, and we waited half an hour for a counter seat. (Ramen Dojo opens at 5:30, and we arrived at 5:45.)

The delay was worth it. For about ten bucks you get a decent-but-not-huge-size bowl replete with ingredients: quail egg, pork, mushrooms, green onions, garlic, ginger, and lettuce. And, of course, the noodles and soup. RD likes to spice up its fare--"spicy ramen" is how it describes itself on the business card. Caution: even the "non-spicy" version was noticeably peppery.

We'll be back. The Ramen Dojo waiting line is as good a place as any to catch up on our e-mails. © 2013 Stephen Yuen