Vegetarian RaamenLinks

Here is a link to a vegan (no meat, no dairy) raamen: Link Me! You have to scroll down past the desserts and hot dogs.

There's another site I don't have the address for that talks about chicken raamen being the only raamen a vegetarian could eat until the discovery of vegetarian raamen. Uhm, chicken is meat. If you eat chicken, you're not a vegetarian. (Are you celibate if you have sex only once in awhile? Or married?)

Another site mentions baby raamen. Oh, no! They're serving baby raamen! (Is that raamen with babies or mini-portions?)

Yet another crunchy-style raamen for veggie people can be found Here! A really simple advertisement for Sunny Maid Mi Chay.

And here's a link (Click me, baby!) to an article about the kinds of instant crunchy raamen found in the world, including vegetarian curry-flavored raamen in India and halal raamen in Islamic countries (which isn't necessarily vegetarian, only that the meat in the raamen was killed according to Islamic law.)

Another link to another site (evidentally sponsored by the Superior Tofu Puff people) about how to make a vegetarian raamen using, wait for it: Superior Tofu Puffs. But that doesn't make the raamen any less vegie or good. Just with tofu. Sounds like something I should check out. You can, Here.

Stay with the Tao, move with the present.
And bring a good, hearty raamen.

The Costly Add-Ons

You walk into a raamen-ya and see a machine to your right and a poster of Lao Tsu, founder/writer of Tao, on your left (like the one on the left of this post). The machine has lots of buttons to push all with words related to raamen. You choose your favorite, you hope. You insert the money and start punching. Now, in the raamen shop I went to a couple of days ago, the basic miso raamen was 590 yen. About $6.00 (US). But if you want any toppings (green onions, more meat, bean sprouts) you have to pay extra. At this particular shop the extras were a buck each (about ¥100.) This adds up. If you want two toppings, your basic six buck raamen becomes eight.

This system seems to be new and spreading. I'm sure it's a good deal for the shop owner as it cuts down on required staff and a register.

Also, to be fair, the drinks were all ¥50; incredibly cheap.

The raamen-ya: Gatsunko. The raamen: Shoyu (soy sauce) with extra bean sprouts. The service: slow but not noticeably slow. The raamen: good. Not knock me out good, but good. The ambiance: functional and sporting menus on artistic hangings on the wall: like the menus were a work of art, inlcuding ambient lighting. Some wood but fixed stools. This raamen-ya is near an engineering university where the student body runs 90% male so ambiance wasn't a top priority. That said, the outside attracted me: A very nice, modern, woody exterior with plants.

On a scale of 0 - 10, about a 7.5 (Points off for the extra toppings charge but points on for the exterior.) I should come up with some criterion for this scale.

Peace Through Raamen, My Friends, Peace Through Raamen.

About The Shouting and a new Restuarant.

Drifted into a modernistic shop - modern in that it had etched glass for partitions and had a black/red wooden motif which seems to be the current rage for raamen shops in Japan. While the decor was modern, the serving style was not: Lots of shouting. As a cure, I've posted a calming Toaist photo with two swan-boats.

Let's talk about the shouting, shall we? First, you open the door and are met by a veritable avalanche of shouting: Irrashaimase! Yelled by the first eagle-eyed worker to spot you. Then all the other workers shout out in response. Irrashaimase!! You sit down, scan the menu, choose your poison and relay your choice to a server. This server shouts it out to the cooks who in turn repeat the order in nice loud voices. All the way down to the poor slob stuck washing the raamen bowls. Miso raamen Icho! Miso Icho! Miso Icho! Like an echo, if you know what I mean. Then, while you're eating, the shouting continues for each new customer who comes and goes. You leave: everyone shouts: Arigato-gozaimasu! Or Maido! (this being the first part of the phrase Maido Arigato-Gozaimasu!) A quiet little out of the way place for a romantic interlude a raamen-ya is not.

This new place was called Hokushin 北辰.
A chain but this particular place was put up about three months ago.

It had a vegetable raamen that I ordered that had slices of carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, corn, bean sprouts and four small hunks of an unidentifiable meat, more than likely pork. At first it tasted funny but I grew to like it. Lots of vegies. Lots and lots. And the noodles were al dente, perfect. In fact, the vegetables were not over-cooked, either. The carrot slivers were crunchy. And it was cheaper by about 100 yen than the place yesterday. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate it about a 7.6 (points off for chain affiliation but points added for quantity and price.)

I promise to get pictures of these places soon, not just park photos passing as Taoist thought. Before it's too late.

Peace be Upon You; Share Your Raamen.

New Shop - No Pictures - But a Link

"Found," if that's the word for a chain-restuarant, a new raamen shop: Tomenbo or, in the lingua franca of the country: 東麺房 (East Noodle Factory?).

Here's a link: Tomenbo.

How was it? I'd give it an 7.5 on a scale of 1-10. The food was good (lots of vegies in the vegie raamen but it also came with tiny little chunks of what could be considered meat. Beef or chicken? Hard to tell, they were so small.), the service was okay but the decor was chain-restaurant average. Nothing too exciting. And, to make it even better, slightly above average in price. But it had a child's menu which most raamen shops don't have. On the other hand, the music was Japanese pops of the worst kind but thankfully not too loud.

A current trend in business in Japan seems to be the franchise. You can get a lot of different kinds of franchises from bookstores to, obviously, restaurants. (Although it should be added that McDonald's, up until recently, was one franchise owned by the late Fujita Den (藤田田), one of Forbes 100 richest people in the world.) The restaurant I was at today was a franchise run by what appeared to be a husband-wife team with the husband the cook and the wife the server. It would be interesting to find a raamen shop run by all women. I have found a shop that has female cooks and male servers, however.

Franchises are available, by the way. If you go to their website (address up there) you can find out all about it. If you and your computer can read Japanese, that is. And if you have the money. It costs about 2,000,000 yen plus a place to put it. (relatively cheap, really.)

Peace! Like Raamen, Should be Everywhere.

Tale of Two Vegetable Raamen Bowls

I ate at two different raamen places last week but didn't take any pictures. First, a hole-in-the-wall small dump run by a small family. (As opposed to a giant family? Very short people, at least.) They had a vegetable raamen and a bunch of other raamen choices. I chose the vegetable raamen.

Veggie Raamen Recipe

I swear to whomever it had more vegetables (carrots, onions, bean sprouts, cabbage, a mushroom) than noodles. Didn't mind, though, because it was delicious. And it had no pork! Truly a different approach. I asked the waitress why there wasn't any pork in my vegetable raamen and she said, "Because it's vegetable raamen." And I could see she was silently adding "Dummy." Good enough reason for this raamenhead.

Then, yesterday I ate at a chain raamen restaurant with a vegetable dish. It had cabbage and carrots. And two pieces of pork that was mostly fat. (Do you think people would protest in non-pork eating cultures if I ate it?) The taste was generic. Neither good nor bad nor indifferent. The price was slightly lower than the family raamen-ya.

Why is the hole-in-the-wall family-run raamen shop better than the chain restaurant? Why is the chain restaurant so... bland? I know it's trying to match the tastes of everyone, but why can't it be popular AND tasty? Lowest common denominator on the prowl. The smaller shop was just pleasing the owner and her family. Great.

Be Proud! Choose Raamen! Choose Peace!

Ramen Fueled

I've written about Fueled By Ramen Records before. A long, long time ago. In a Galaxy Ford far away. But since then they've added bands, the bands have released records and are going on tour all over the universe. Or at least the continental United States. For example, their group "The Academy is..." will be in Toronto (which, I know now, isn't in the CUS anymore. I guess they moved it.) in February. And "Paramore" will be in Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma, WA also in February. Busy busy. If you like lively music, check out Fueled by Raman's website by clicking on the link above. (No, I don't get a kickback from mentioning them.)

How is this all related to food The Raamen? Besides the name of the record company? It isn't. However. And However! Here's a review for a raamen restaurant in Toronto if you're alive in Toronto after attending or before attending or just hungry near the The Academy Is concert: Review Here. For another review of the same restaurant, click Here! Which one do you believe? I guess it's up to you to check out the place and report back.

I did a google search for Madison, WI and raamen restaurants (spelling it "ramen" like the rest of the unenlightened world) and the first zillion sites mentioned Fueled by Ramen Records and one of their bands who recorded in Madison, "Fall Out Boy." I guess Madison doesn't like raamen in restaurants. Who knows, eh?

Be Positive! Keep up the Life!

The Raamen Pie

Here is a link to something called a "ramen pie." It is in the Mainichi newspaper online. The pie comes in all the flavors of raamen you love (miso, salt, and shoyu) and like but instead of being in a bowl of soup, it comes in a pie. There's even a contact number if you'd like to make inquiries. In Japanese only at present but I'm sure after they start getting a flood of calls from around the world they will set up an English desk. Probably in India. Outsourcing in the pie business is rampant, you know.

These raamen pies seem not to have any preservatives and can't be frozen or re-heated so you'll have to buy and eat rather than stock up for the next millenium (like you can with a certain unnamed -cough Top cough - raamen.

Peace Be Upon You and Your Raamen!

For no particular reason I'm typing...

"tap-dancing lily-livered corporate bean counters." I did this because I read an article in the Sun Times of Chicago about Google and China. It isn't only Microsoft that listens to the Chinese government. What does this have to do with raamen? Nada, mi amigo. But I want to see if I can google "tap-dancing lily-livered corporate bean counters' and hit this blog.

Read Quicktakes at the Sun Times of Chicago here: Corporate bean counters.

And soon, the Tedorigawa Raamen podcast featuring the sound of water boiling, noodles being boiled, and noodles being slurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrped. Yummy.

Keep Up! Work Good!

The Movie I Forgot:

Tampopo!

I can't believe it! I can't believe I haven't provided a link to this movie! I mean, if you want to talk about raamen you are going to have to provide info about this movie! It is the Raamen Movie of the last Century! There's a link above - perhaps - to the Wikipedia entry on "Tampopo."

Below, too, are links to the Internet Movie Data Base (imdb.com) entry on the same movie, starring Nobuko Miyamoto and Tsutomu Yamazaki (both of these links link to a Japanese language site that lists their movies.)

Tampopo starring, among others, Ken Watanabe of "The Last Samurababble" fame, has some great scenes about food, erotica and food, and the proper way to eat it. Great flick. Some people say it is the "Shane" of raamen shops.

Food reviews
Other food reviews from the LA (Los Angeles) area for those of you withing spitting distance of that area. First, go to the LA food blog (lafb) and check out this page. It has four reviews of ramenya in the LA area place thing.

Not in LA anymore, Toto.
A touching story about a raamen shop owner can be found here, along with a review of the food. (In Tokyo.)

A site here on how to make Pho Tai (Vietnamese raamen)

Keep Up the Good Life, Everyone!
(and rent "Tampopo.")

Random Raamen Photos

Here are a few pictures and a link to a vegan raamen.

Really Random Raamen
Originally uploaded by Tedori.

Linking The Raamen

Today we are going to bestow links (not sausages) to news and what nots concerned with raamen, sometimes spelled 'ramen' but never spelled 'Top Raamen.'

The raamen boom sweeping the islands of Japan continues. By the way, there is a TV show in Japan wherein two guys cruise around the entire archipelago tasting raamen hither and yon. I just watched a show where they went to the northern-most raamen shop in Japan and slurped the local specialty. Naturally and of course, the raamen was 'delicious' and 'wonderful' and 'extraordinarily unique.' That is what all television heads say when they try any food shoved into their mouths. I once saw a man taste a lightly fried scrambled egg and declare it 'delicious.' It was an EGG! How delicious could it be?

To the links (not golf).

The raamen boom and it's ensuing debate amongs purists and faddists.

A restaurant review that includes an organic raamen shop in the greater downtown West Los Angeles area, if you've got the urge and money, drop in.

A beef and broccoli recipe that demands crinkly-crisp ramen (those Top Ramen thingies) as one of the ingredients. Sort of like the hamburger helper of the new millenium.

Speaking of recipes, here's a how-to-raamen site for those with little imagination on what to do with a 16~20 cent pack of crispy-crunchy Top Ramen noodles. (i.e. boil them.)

Another raamen restaurant review from a Buddhist perspective is available for your zen-like mastery of the noodle.

Here lie some clothes (including a golf shirt and thong that says "I (picture of a heart) Ramen!"

If you like punk-ish rock, you might check out Fueled By Ramen records. I know it's on the list on the right, but this jushttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gift makes it easier to get to. They're getting a lot of notice recently, especially with the group: Panic! At the Disco. Yes, I know it has nothing to do with the lovely noodles we have come to enjoy, raamen. But! Music is also part of life, no?

Finally, to aid our knowledge of that which is raamen (and easily findable on the 'net) we have the wikipedia entry for said food: at Wiki.

Take Care, Everyone and Enjoy!

Nude Noodles?

Quick! Has anyone seen the 'sport' of eating sushi off the naked body of a woman? (Sometimes, rarely, a man.) There was a big stink about it when some Japanese businessmen did it with some Chinese women in China about a year ago. I was just wondering: Can anyone eat raamen off a naked body? Anyone ever try?

Conversely, why would you want to slurp raamen soup that's dribbling off someone's unwashed armpit? Or sweep in and suck up a noodle from a smelly toe - complete with toejam? (Well, there are a lot of sick puppies out there....)

Keep up the good work everyone!

Alive! It's Alive!

Yes! After incubating in relative holidaic splendor for months on end, your

手取川 Tedorigawa Raamen 手取川

blog has emerged, phoenix-like, and literally sparkles with anticipation! Ready to slurp the slurp! Ready to swirl the soup! Ready to nudge the noodles! Raamen! The Ultimate Post-Drinking/Pre-Breakfast Snack! (And yes, still, not the dried up captain crunchy packaged goobledegook most college students ignorantly claim to be raamen but the real raamen of soup and noodles and sometimes pork and sometimes vegetarian and sometimes spices and usually a big bowl with chopsticks to match and a low price especially if you whip it up yourself in the privacy of your own kitchen surrounded by either good friends or the SWAT team from Homeland Security.

Either way: Good Morning! Good Raamen!

Rock and Noodles

Okay! Went to a cool raamen shop that had things most places don't have (at least raamen shops don't have.) First, a menu for kids. Smaller portions with orange juice and a cheap toy. And, rock music on the speakers. Not pop music, rock. As in loud guitars. Great place but a little pricey and the noodles were over-cooked. But worst of all, I forgot the name of the place! This affords me the opportunity to go back and a) take a photo to share with you all and b) see if it was just that day the noodles were over-cooked or if it's a regular thing. And to check out the music some more.

There is currently a raamen boom here in Japan. Raamen shops are springing up everywhere and they're starting to get away from frumpy old 'traditional' designs and going with trendy new 'modern' designs. At least for the building and fixtures. This results in Euro-trash modern settings for ancient food. It's both sad and amusing. I have a feeling someone's going to upgrade the food to 'trendy' new heights soon, too. Maybe a vegetarian tofu California raamen (I'm sure there must be one) or a caffeine-free 'lite' raamen. And jazz on the stereo. Maybe a Bill Frisell greatest hits CD.

The Nation's Biggest Noodle....

...Chain.

Set for 600 yen. A bowl for 490 yen. And up, plus build-it yourself (i.e. add the few ingredients they have available - egg, onions, etc. for about an extra 100 yen each.)

Yes, I did it. I slurped some tonkotsu (豚骨) raamen at the nation's largest chain: Kourakuen. 幸楽苑, which could be translated as Sweet Fun Garden. It's transliteration is Kourakuen, 'ko' (幸) meaning 'sweet,' and 'raku' (楽) meaning 'fun,' or 'enjoyable,' and 'raku' (苑) meaning 'garden.' However, the food was good and plentiful. The service was quick and didn't shout at the customers like Samurai no Michi (侍の道) did.

The big surprise, though, was that it was quiet: neither loud waiters and waitresses nor loud music. In fact, the music was definitely muted but I think I heard some Bill Frisell guitar work. The music was jazz, I might add. Plus, no here's the surprise, the entire restuarant was Non-Smoking. Non-smoking, I tell you, in a land where the cigarette warning says: "Don't smoke too much."

In the heat wave Japan is going through right now, though, raamen shops aren't doing so well. According to one source, Korakuen Raamen's sales are down 10% over last summer. I guess when it gets hot, people try to avoid hot food. (Although everyone sells a zaru- something. Zarusoba or zaru-raamen. ざるそば. Cold noodles.)

What I've found out about Korakuen - mostly from their menu: They've been in business since 1954. However, if you want more info about this chain of nearly 200 restaurants, you can check out this link: Korakuen.

Enjoy Your Raamen!