Ramen Monday

The other day I was visiting a friend's restaurant, he asked me for the name of a good ramen place for one of his customers. Before I answered, I asked a few questions. Although my friend didn't know, he called his customer Randy over to my table. I realized that this guy really didn't know too much except for the ramen lists he's seen online and the three main soup bases: Shoyu, Shio, and Miso.

I explained that each region in Japan is known for their own style and taste. This opened the door to an hour long discussion of ramen. I don't claim to be an expert, but my friend Keizo is, he runs www.goramen.com. Keizo moved to Japan to learn ramen and has trained at Tokyo's hottest ramen spots. Just following his ramen adventure in Japan makes you want to try the number of places he's been.

I'm not much of a traditionalist when it comes to some foods, so I'm not really a fan of shoyu (soy sauce), shio (salt) , and miso ramen unless it has a twist to it.

For Randy, here are some examples I spoke about:


Hakata Ramen
Rich soup stock made from pork bones
Shin-Sen-Gumi


Ebi Wantan
Shrimp wonton ramen
Foo Foo Tei


Shoyu Ramen
Pork broth and soy sauce
Santouka


Karaage Chicken Ramen
Japanese fried chicken ramen
Tamaya


Gyoza Ramen
Dumpling ramen - the best of both worlds
Tamaya



So for Randy, enjoy your ramen on Monday and let me know where you finally decided to go...


Photos by Jay Terauchi

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