Ramen

who doesn't love a bowl of ramen. Espeically in japan every where you look you will find Ramen i mean  EVERYWHERE! its like the equivalent of starbucks in seattle. But they are all indivially own and each place serve their own particular style . Upon arriving my ramen IQ was very low i didn't know the different varieties or styles of ramen that were available. But that all change once i landed in japan.  There, to the  many local  and foreigners  there is something magical about this warm bowl of delicious goodness with the spring onions and MSG that draws you back for more and more. Yes i hate to say it but Yest there is MSG in ramen. MSG is one of those things you cant go without in Asian cusine its that extra layer of flavor (i hate using that term) but its true. Although in japan and across asian its called ajinomoto i believe used in small amount it really is not that harm full and i believe just some things taste better with it.

As for ramen there are four basic types of broths there is 

1. Shoyu which is a Soy sauce base broth that is darker

2.Shio which is a salt base broth that is clear

3. Tonkotsu which is made with alot of pork bones, It is a bit more thicker and muddy color from all the fat and cartilage from the bones but pack full of flavors aslo it is the heaviest.

4. Miso which is made with a miso base broth.

 Once you have decide on your broth then comes the noodles you have a choice of them beiing cooked Katame which is on the harder side or Yawarakame which is on the softer side. 

one you have decide on that along with it comes the usual toppings braised pork belly or char sui, green onion, boiled egg 

along my stay in Osaka i had the liberty of eating alot or ramen, i was fortune enough to stumble into a little place near Tanimachi Called Ya mon honma ramen.  I quickly became a regular and made friends with the owner. Mr. takashi. Armend with only my little notebook of japanese phrase and what every japanese i could still remeber from my four years in highschool plus the help of his smart phone we able to understand one another. It started out with small talk like where are u from how was your day and what did u do today to eventual being able to ask him how he made this amazing broth for ramen. he was more than willing, allowing me to go behind the counter and see what was in his giant stock pot and what he put in it along with how to make the amazing pork belly. I wrote everything down step by step i wanted to get this right and then go home ab able to create  ramen the right tway. This was my in and i love it.

Along with ramen is the infamous UDON you can't talk about ramen and not mention udon. I feel udon and ramen will forever have this on going battle to see which is better than the other. Like in david changs  mentions in his cook book when he was working for a udon chef and the chef found out that he wanted to make ramen. The chef sat him down and told him it's UDON OR RAMEN pick one and we now konw which one he choose. AS for me i love the two they both provide something uquice and different. It also depends on my mood sometimes i feel like ramen and sometimes i am sick of ramen and want udon. I feel ramen provide a more complex broth where as udon  is a bit more simiple but elegant ANd to me udon feels a bit more bosh then ramen also most udon place are usually more nicer then ramen joints.

Cherry Blossom SAKURA

friends

My japanese Bento box crew

Ninja Crew Yoko and Natsuki

Kenya my roomate/ homie for life

cooking with my japanese mom

Chawanmushi!

Rice with nori, Tamakoyaki, Tempura, Veggis with seasme dressing

Osaka Castle

Osaka/Nara

Shitennoji Temple

Shin-Sekai

Nippombashi Den-Den Town

Osaka at night

Nara the land of Bambi

OSAKA

Its been a little over a month since I landed in the land of the rising sun. It has been a surreal experince thus far. I now know how the karate kid felt like tryinng to talk to Mr. Miyagi. There is little to no english. The kaisian people are very proud of their langauge. Luckly i had taken 4 years in highschool and that background helps tremendously, espiecally when it comes to reading names of trains stations and locations. I would have to say being here only for a month my japanese has improve quite rapidly. The late night study sessions with flash cards with my roomate prove to have it`s benefits. He wants to learn english and I want to learn Japanese so it works out. I carry a notepad filled with every possible word or phrase i will encounter on a daily bases but still everyday it is filled with new words and phrases.
While on my daily adventures to Osaka, thru the narrow passages, shopping malls, underground food court and getting lost along the way i have come to a realization that the Japanese love to eat and shop. Within every block there is some kind of a mall and underneath all of these malls are massive food courts. Think of it as a giant whole foods but more refined and filled with tons of japanese people push and shoving there way towards the beautiful and intrigit displays of food. I am talking about one floor dedicated to pastry`s and bread and another floor for savory food, meats and seafoods. The japanese are so meticulous and precise about everthing espeically food. Everything is organized in a certain way and it is absoultly clean. I mean it looks really like the acuatlly photos.
The other day i was buying vegatables and literally withthin every 20 to 30 minute a worker would come by and replace and produces that had a slight belmish. I found this amazing but i guess that is why everything is so expensive and japanese seem to be willing to pay the high prices for it. There is usully a cart near by the prodcues that i go to which has all the slightly belmished or rejected produce, that i still consider in good shape for half the price, thats where i do my daily shopping. Fruit is rediculoulsly expensive coming from Southeast asia where fresh fruit was like a $1 and now to japan where an apple is $4! Unreal! granted it is the most perfect looking apple you will every have, a bright deep red in color and so perfectly shaped like it just came out of an apple mold. A little pint of strawberries is $6! also i dont know how but the japanese have some how figured out a way to have famers grow everything to be miniturerized and perfect. Or maybe everything in the U.S is just super sized and japans got it all right. they have eggplants that are the size of a small tennis ball and they are all perfectly shaped nothing is misshaped where one is bigger than the other they are all uniformed. Its like then all came out of a mini farmsville where hobbits and elves grow the produce.
I feel as if the japanese have this everlasting friendship and facination with all things french. They are obessed with their pastry`s and baking. I mean their are pastry`s everywhere from Finaciers, Macaroons, bon bon, montblanc, madlines, cakes, and anything sweet imaginable. it is like being in a kid in a candy shop with all these beautiful desserst around me i just want to try them all. There will be a whole floor that sells Finacers and macaroons but they are all perfect its unreal! i don`t know how you can pick. As for the bakeries oh man i think i am a sucker for fresh baked bread. When i smell the bread its like the most amazing thing ever. i just have to go to every bakery and stare at amazement. I wont even need any more bread or nor will i even be hungry but i always get suckered in to getting something its my vice. There is this sense of overwhelming joy when i get fresh bake bread in my hands and then i slowly take it apart and eat it. I dont know why but this makes me really happy. It could be that because i eat rice every meal that when i eat fresh bread it gives me this nostalgic feeling of being home and waking up to eating fresh bake bread. or it could be beacause when i travel i am living on a poor mans budget and bread is the only thing that can fill you up for cheap.
The japanese have this amazing way of taking something such as pastry`s and desserts that the french have done so well and some how improving it. By creating this smaller version of this more perfect replica of the orignal. I feel that japan is one of the only few places that can really emulate or replicate the original and elevate it. Its like they saw a shop in Europe and they were some how able to bring it to japan excatly the way it was over there. Its not like China where most things are 80% real in Japan its real and 110% more.


The famous Dotombori walkway. Its like time square in Osaka

Yakitori you cant go wrong with meat, grilled on a stick anywhere in the world. its the most basic yet still the most delicious thing ever.

The View from my apartment night and day.

My first Japanese breakfest complementary of my roomates mom. Rice , salmon, tamagoyaki , sauages and asparagus with japanese mayo.








Traditoanl chawanmushi, Japanese steam custard.

The most famous thing in Osaka and what they praised themself on the most is Okonomiyaki ( as you like it pancake) its filled with pickled ginger, lettuce meat of your liking and then topped of with bacon and served with japanese worcester sauce and japanese mayo. (these ones said this is delicious okonomiyaki and welcome)