Noodling
Around at Ramen.Co
Chef Keiko Shimamoto Brings the Ramen Burger
to the Financial District
By Angela Chen in the
Wall Street Journal
With
the opening of Ramen.Co, chef Keiko Shimamoto brings the Ramen
Burger—with pressed noodles in lieu of a hamburger bun which was wildly popular
at the foodie flea market, Smorgasburg—to the Financial District.
“I
always wanted to bring my ramen to the states, and the success of the ramen
burger enabled me to open a full shop,” said Mr. Shimamoto.
His
various ramen offerings are inspired by the four years he spent in Japan. For
example, the Wakayama shoyu ($11)—with scallion, kikurage (a type of mushroom),
fried onion and a choice of pork belly, chicken, beef or egg—is inspired by his
travels in the Wakayama area of the country, where the tonkotsu broth is made
with pork bone.
His
Brooklyn blend ($12), a best-seller, is made with the same stock and has the
kikurage and fried onion, but is seasoned with black garlic oil, “to give it a
little kick,” and sea salt. “It reminds me of Brooklyn when I eat it, I suppose
because it’s stuff that has that hipster appeal,” said Mr. Shimamoto.
The
original Ramen Burger ($8) is of course available, along with yakitori ($8),
shredded beef ($9) and tofu ($8). All are dipped in a shoyu soy sauce that
takes six hours to make.
Mr.
Shimamoto is also trying out bento lunchboxes served with rice, green salad,
pickles and potato salad. The meatloaf option ($10) and chicken karaage, or
Japanese-style fried chicken ($10), are the most popular.
Posters comments:
1) Having lived in Japan for two years (and now decades ago), I now have an acquired taste for Ramen soup and noodles.
2) A warm Ramen broth and noodles at 0300 local time on the south slope of Mt. Fuji was good for my morale.
3) A "bento" is a compact and convenient lunch, even when traveling on the Bullet Train.
4) Most Ramen in the new world USA is made in California these days, and mostly made from wheat flour. To save money, it is now often "chicken flavored", which suggests one can add some dehydrated or freeze dried chicken chunks to the meal. The more astute can even add chicken (or whatever meat preference they have) TVP (textured vegetable protein - American high tech usually made from soybeans) to the meal. I suspect many college students already know all this.
5) Others than the Japanese also make ramen these days, often at a higher price and with more ingredients. I particularly enjoy the Ramen noodles from Indonesia, for example.
6) You can make your own ramen noodles at home, too. And you can use about any kind of grain to make them.
Posters comments:
1) Having lived in Japan for two years (and now decades ago), I now have an acquired taste for Ramen soup and noodles.
2) A warm Ramen broth and noodles at 0300 local time on the south slope of Mt. Fuji was good for my morale.
3) A "bento" is a compact and convenient lunch, even when traveling on the Bullet Train.
4) Most Ramen in the new world USA is made in California these days, and mostly made from wheat flour. To save money, it is now often "chicken flavored", which suggests one can add some dehydrated or freeze dried chicken chunks to the meal. The more astute can even add chicken (or whatever meat preference they have) TVP (textured vegetable protein - American high tech usually made from soybeans) to the meal. I suspect many college students already know all this.
5) Others than the Japanese also make ramen these days, often at a higher price and with more ingredients. I particularly enjoy the Ramen noodles from Indonesia, for example.
6) You can make your own ramen noodles at home, too. And you can use about any kind of grain to make them.
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