I LOVE RAMEN!!!

As I've said before, and I'll definitely say it many more times for the foreseeable future, Japan does food absolutely right. And one of the dishes they completely own is Ramen. One of the joys in my life is tucking into a nice, big bowl of tasty, porky, oily bowl of noodles. I know that may sound unappealing, but it's not. Despite its Chinese origins, once the Japanese got their hands on it, they totally made it their own and now, food wise, it's synonymous with the name Japan. It baffles me that some Americans still think of ramen as just a brittle block of pre-fried noodles only available in a little plastic bag bought at a local grocery store for pennies.

Why would I go out and pay 7 bucks for what I can buy for 30¢ and prepare myself? Enjoy your pricy ramen, loser!

2012 was a pretty big ramen year for me. While I traveled to Tokyo over the summer every chance I got I went for a big bowl of ramen.

Pictures of all the ramen I ate in Japan. I swear I did other things while I was there.... I think. 

Living in L.A., it used to be near impossible to find a good ramen place. There were always a lot open, but few, if any, were something that could have been considered anything near good. But over the last couple pf years, L.A. has stepped up their game and we're currently in something of a ramen revolution. Some times they get it quite right:

They may look similar, but trust me, they're different. Look at the egg in the first one and compare it to the last one. See? Different.

And sometimes they get it horribly wrong:

Okay, I know what you're thinking, it's indistinguishable from all the others, but... oh screw it. They all look the same.

The name of this place was... whatever, it's closed down now anyway. Which has proven to me that if I find a bowl of ramen unsatisfactory, that shop closes down. That's right, this town's ramen shops  live or die on my taste buds!

Ramen comes in many types of soup bases like Tonkotsu (豚骨 pork bone broth), Shoyu (醤油 soy sauce), Miso (みそ) and Shio (塩 salt). I've recently read of strawberry milk ramen, pineapple ramen and milk flavored broth ramen. And a while back on a Japanese television program I even saw ramen lined with lemons. My personal favorite is tonkotsu ramen with the noodles on the hard side. What's your favorite?

Here's a couple of links to some of my favorite ramen joints:

JAPAN:
Ippudo Ramen
Ichiran Ramen

LOS ANGELES:
Tsujita
Shinsengumi
Men Oh Tokushima Ramen

And here's a great blog all about ramen:
Rameniac






         

Read more »

Japanese Instant Noodle Review: Peyangu Spicyness MAX!!

A lot of things are said about Japan (a lot of ignorant, inaccurate obscene things, as well as a lot of very thoroughly researched accurate obscene things), but If there's one thing Japan knows how to do right it's instant noodles.

From ramen to yakisoba (basically Japanese chow mein for those not in the know), they have an almost impossibly wide variety of all things instant, and they're all usually delicious as well, an important trait they seem to throw out when they make the import to America for whatever reason.

Last Summer my friend came back from a trip to Japan bearing gifts from her sister who is also a friend of mine. Amongst various snacks such as chocolate covered and cheese covered soy sauce rice crackers, which were tastier than that sounds, she also included a popular brand of yakisoba called Peyangu (ペヤング). This was different from their normal flavor, as it had the words "spiciness level MAX" sprawled under their logo. Now, when a Japanese food product is labeled spicy they are usually anything but. Japanese like their food salty, sometimes sweet, but you will rarely find anything that is truly spicy. That's just not their thing. Koreans do spicy. Thais do spicy. Japanese do NOT do spicy.

And if anyone mentions wasabi to me, I will throat chop them. Wasabi is not spicy. Wasabi, as Wikipedia accurately points out, stimulates the nasal passages more than the tongue. Whenever someone in an western TV show and/or movie eats wasabi they wave air on their tongue and immediately go for the water. That is wildly inaccurate and makes me shake with fury as I imagine reaching into the television and strangling the writers to death while rubbing wasabi into their eyes.

I digress.

Anyway, as I'm not accustomed to Japanese food actually being spicy, I was skeptical and dismissed the "MAX", written all in caps, in English even, warning me to be careful, and prepared it as instructed on the package and partook of the instant noodle snack.

Now, I don't believe in the devil, but if he does indeed exist and is a fan of Japan, this is his go to Japanese snack of choice.

As it is displayed on the shelves of various Japanese convenient stores... in HELL!

I was quite lucky that I ate this a couple of days before my own trip to Japan, because had I eaten this the day of, I would have definitely missed my flight. The effects of the yakisoba didn't take place until the day after consumption, but when they did I was in for the fight of my life, as it lit my bathroom, and my rectum, ablaze. To hell with TMI, you will know my pain.

On that trip to Japan, I visited  a book store known for strange and unusual and sometimes jokey products, as well as books, called Village Vanguard. When I went there I saw this particular flavor of Peyang displayed and wondered if my friend hadn't intentionally played an awful and heinous trick on me.

So evil, only Empirical Storm Troopers there have licenses to sell it.

My final assessment: if you like, no, LOVE spicy foods and don't mind not being to taste anything other than said spiciness, and you love yakisoba then give it a try. Your belly, your tongue and rectum will hate you for it, but your heart will... no, actually that will hate you, too.

Four stars. One star off for destroying my innards. :(







         

Read more »