Over the past few weeks I have been indulging myself with Halloween candy, birthday celebration meals and stress eating from the election. I needed a break from heavy foods and wanted a clean ramen to cleanse my senses with something a little healthier. I ditched the fatty pork belly and opted for a vegetarian ramen.
I have been using ramen kits lately for the times where I do not have time to make ramen from scratch or do not want to grab take out from a local ramen shop. Kits have some great fresh ramen noodles and a concentrated soup base that is essentially tare. They keep well in the freezer so they have been great during quarantine. I had this Vegetarian Shoyu Ramen kit from Myojo in my freezer ready to go.
If you are starting on your journey to making ramen from scratch, a tori (chicken) chintan stock is the best place to start in my opinion. Some argue that you should make a paitan broth as it is more forgiving, but you do not pick up on some of the nuances of making ramen stock and building a strong foundation.
For the month of August Way of Ramen is holding a contest on his discord to make a bowl based on a ramen, dish, or food that is inspired by any media. I have been wanting to start making ramen from the shows and movies that I have seen and this contest gave me the push I needed.
For my first bowl I wanted to make something not quite common, something that is realistically good, and something that I can personally identify with. I settled on a Kozuyu Ramen made by Megumi Tadokoro in Shokugeki No Soma (Food Wars).
The past few months I have been going out of my comfort zone and playing around with a Vegan Ramen. Now I know what a lot of you are thinking: “Ugh vegan ramen, it can’t be that good”. To be honest, I was once like that too. The word “vegan” was a turn off, however I was only exposed to vegan dishes trying to be something that it is not. I have seen dry vegetable/nut logs that are supposed to imitate a hot dog to jack fruit that is supposed to emulate meat, and even the infamous “Tofurkey”. When cooks are so focused in turning an ingredient into something that it is not, often they lose track of what makes that ingredient so special. When cooking we need to elevate the ingredient for what it is.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The fall weather and colors invoke a warm and cozy feeling from within that is begging to be nourished by ramen. It is a time where friends and family get together to have multiple feasts over a span of a few weeks with amazing leftovers. The day after Thanksgiving my family always takes the leftover bones of the turkey and repurpose it into Turkey Jook (congee). No waste! Since I am living the #ramenlife, I of course have to take it to the next level and make Turkey Ramen.
I still cannot believe that I was able to have a pop-up at Ramen Lab in New York. Just preparing for the pop-up was a mental exercise and an adventure of its own. The actual ingredient preparation and cooking for Ramen Lab was a whole nother beast that required the physical conditioning of a marathon runner.
It has been about a week since I left the City that Never Sleeps. After spending 9 days in New York and serving piping hot bowls of ramen at Ramen Lab, I finally understand the meaning behind its name. I did not sleep at all! Despite my lack of sleep, I was dreaming a lot. I was actually living it: The Ramen Dream.
The Nichijou Ramen lifestyle is about Ramen on the mind everyday, which makes it no surprise that ramen has crept into my wardrobe. I have quickly amassed a lot of ramen t-shirts and I began thinking... I need a Nichijou Ramen T-shirt.
The Rick and Morty craze has taken the world by storm. They have influenced McDonalds to bring back their Mulan Szechuan sauce and have driven some fans insane trying to get their hands on it. But life is too short to hunt down dipping sauce. When life gives you pickles, you turn yourself into one.
However, since pickle technology is very limited at this time, turning myself into a pickle is not a realistic goal. Instead, I did the next best thing. Make Pickle Ramen.
For any of those ramen heads out there who have made countless bowls at home, there is a point where you want to test your mettle and serve your ramen to others. There are a lot of amazing people out there who started popups at home, with some even starting their own restaurant such as Neighborhood Ramen. If you have that itch to have your own popup, know that it is hard work. But if you have the will there is a way.
Here is a crash course in starting your own popup.