growing affinity for ramen

Ramen - the heart of Japan, something I consider 'soul food' here. (perhaps, only second to sushi) Another thing I consider it is, a Japanese heart attack in a bowl, taking into factor all the lard and oil that usually accompanies each sip of the rich broth...hee hee. Despite having said that, I LOVE the stuff now...though this has not always been true.

I used to turn my nose up at ramen, thinking it was more of a greasy spoon typical single man's feast (which it is, btw)...but over time I have grown to appreciate it and instead of eating it once or twice a year, it has become more like once or twice every few weeks! What a complete turnaround, eh? Many women dislike ramen for fear of gaining weight...though recently I saw plenty of women at the ramen shops we frequented, so...perhaps this is changing, too? (additionally, women tend not to drink up all the greasy soup as men often do.)

I think the turning point was eating ramen at the reknown Jyungara Ramen in Akihabara (Tokyo)...already 3pm (way past lunchtime) yet an almost 30-minute wait, just for ramen! Incredible. Heavenly. Sinful. The soup was tonkotsu: broth made from pig's bones cooked until the soup becomes white from the marrow, bone material, and so on...and it was topped with a TON of ingredients, like: mentaiko (spicy cod roe), menma (CHinese pickled bamboo shoots), green onions, char siu (Chinese BBQ pork), soy sauce-boiled egg, benishoga (red pickled ginger)...and more! Free noodle refills are offered, and if one still has the room for it...rice at the end, dumped into the remaning broth and eaten.

So in another step to becoming more 'Japanized' I have become a lover of ramen. I wonder what the next step will be...hmm. Another sign of becoming more Japanese is craving sushi right after a long vacation abroad - it has become our tradition to eat sushi while jet-lagged. At first it disgusted me, the thought of sushi right after getting back to Japan...but this too is changing. I hope to try a few more ramen shops and find a favorite!

Recent RAMEN eating diary: last Sunday 'tan-tan men' (yummy sesame balls in spicy broth) on the ski trip, last Saturday (at the place Kazuyo likes) for lunch...(ohh, more than once a week?!), the weekend before that my student's favorite ramen joint...