the associated noodle press

Posted by rameniac at 11:43 AM | 15 Jul 2008

A few weeks back, journalist Adam Goldman interviewed me for an Associated Press article about the increasing popularity of ramen in the U.S. As I no longer work for a newspaper and don't have access to the AP database, I wasn't sure how I'd find the resultant article. Thankfully, site member tampopo put it up in the rameniac forums! Here's a link, courtesy of the Times and Democrat of Orangeburg, South Carolina. Hopefully, the day will come when every small town in America has a ramen shop (or two, or eight) to call its own!

nano noodling

Posted by rameniac at 10:06 AM | 29 May 2008

Now I've seen everything. Faithful rameniac reader Delicious J sent in this tip about the world's smallest bowl of ramen, a nanometer-sized portion of ethanol soup and nanotubular noodles in a silicon "bowl" carved by professor Masayuki Nakao using a using a particle beam at the University of Tokyo. The bowl is apparently 1/100th the width of a strand of human hair. "Kaedama kudasai!" I'm gonna need extra noodles with that. And probably a side of gyoza.

via pink tentacle via yomiuri shinbun

D.I.Y. noodling (A.K.A. getting yer pull on)

Posted by rameniac at 01:52 PM | 15 May 2008

I get quite a bit of mail from people asking for ramen recipes. However, most of the ones I've come across are for the soup only, and you're supposed to add prepackaged noodles after the fact. This one, forwarded me by my buddy Neveaire, details how to make ramen noodles from scratch. Is it a good recipe? Does it suck? I wouldn't know, because my cooking skillset consists of ripping open foil packets and waiting three minutes. Barring having any authentic kansui to take the place of the eggs, the author seems to know what he or she is doing, so I say go for it. Ironically, the soup in this recipe is the afterthought. "Chicken stock and shoyu?" I'm also digging the arabiki sausages as toppings. I used to use Vienna sausages in college, but whatevs (~_^)b.

tasty things two

Posted by rameniac at 02:31 PM | 11 May 2008

The Umaimono Gourmet Fair is back, and Mitsuwa is spreading the love coast to coast! This year's "tasty things" food fest will spotlight shinasoba (Chinese noodles) from Yokohama's Kujiraken and feature a return appearance by Chibaki-ya, which should most definitely wow with a rare take on "shark's fin ramen." Beef Tongue from Tsukasa in Sendai and takoyaki octopus balls from festival stalwart Kukuru round out the lineup. The fun starts this Thursday. Pretend you're in Japan by burning up a few $5/gallon tanks of gas! Here's your travel itinerary:

Chibaki-ya	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun) 5/22(Thu) - 5/25(Sun)	Torrance New Jersey
Kujiraken	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun) 5/22(Thu) - 5/25(Sun)	Costa Mesa San Jose
Tsukasa	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun)	Costa Mesa
Kukuru	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun) 5/22(Thu) - 5/25(Sun)	Torrance, Costa Mesa San Jose, New Jersey

click here for pictures from last year's event

escaping to new york

Posted by rameniac at 06:58 PM | 20 Mar 2008

Gridskipper scoops rameniac! Just kidding, those guys are alright by me. But alas, I couldn't make it out to New York City this past Tuesday, so you'll just have to take their word for it: Ippudo's sneak preview opening party was a star-studded affair featuring founder Shigemi "the Ramen King" Kawahara and appearances by the trademark akamaru and shiromaru tonkotsu ramen that we've all come to know and lust after. I bet these bowls simply rolled right out of limos trailed by paparazzi, kind of like the M&M dudes. Oh wait, you mean they're not real? Ah, but Ippudo is, and the restaurant will be soft-opening over the next week and a half. Chopsticks at the ready. On your mark, get set... go!