ramen california remixed: vegetarian ramen (finally!) and noodling for purists

by rameniac | 03 Feb 2010

Full disclosure. This is flagrant shilling. Well, almost. Firstly, because the folks at Ramen California did in fact contact me recently to explain that celebrated chef Sean Nakamura had finally started experimenting and introducing new items to the already stellar menu, but secondly because the little tasting I was invited to partake in really was fantastic. We’ve seen glimpses of Nakamura-san’s vision in the months since the restaurant first opened; their long-standing “preview menu” featured a controversial California ramen which health-conscious slurpers loved and ramen traditionalists were quick to dismiss.

Though that signature item hasn’t gone anywhere, Nakamura-san has in fact elected to placate some of his critics by introducing his trademark niboshi ramen straight from his original Japanese ramen shops, Kanagawa’s Nakamura-ya and Tokyo’s Sanshiro. Infused with a blend of three types of fish - bonito, mackerel, and sardines, it’s the first legitimate wafu ramen in town, and a great example of the state-of-the-art stuff that’s going down in Kanto these days. Amazingly, he’s also managed to recreate his unique take on chashu Stateside, which is lightly cured and infused with the subtle flavor of prosciutto. I repeat, that’s chashu with the flavor of prosciutto.

If that weren’t enough, Nakamura-san has even imported the concept of mazemen, ramen noodles served not in soup, but rather mixed in oil. Re-christhened “banmen,” it’s all the rage in Japan these days, and should go big here in L.A. There’s even a “vegetarian banmen,” for all you vegetarians who have been emailing me asking where one can find vegetarian ramen. Dressed in olive oil and adorned with the same thirty different farm-fresh vegetables found in the original California, it’s light, meat-free, and quite frankly, fantastic. As you might suspect, I’ve been eating at Ramen California a lot these days, and more often than not, I’m ordering this new vegetarian ramen dish. Who would have ever thought that would happen?