Ramen King Holds Court at Ippudo Opening

Shigemi Kawahara, who’s known in Japan as the Ramen King, unveiled the much anticipated Ippudo last night at a press event packed with food bloggers and dozens of members of the Japanese media. The East Village ramenya is his company's first restaurant outside japan.

With the last chill of winter hanging in the air, it was a perfect night for slurping noodles and hot broth. And oh, what noodles they were: The thin strands had just the right balance of springiness and softness and were impeccably fresh, since they’re made daily. For fun you can watch the noodle-making process through a tiny window in the hallway outside the loo in Ippudo’s basement.

It was somewhat of a letdown that Kawahara’s signature dish, The Ramen King, a pork-based creation containing a cube of gelatinous foam that changes the flavor of the soup as it dissolves, wasn’t served. Nonetheless the two ramens showcased were both delicious and offered contrasting interpretations of this classic Japanese comfort food. The Shiromaru Classic, surely one of city’s best tonkatsu ramens, wasn’t overloaded with too many ingredients, just some thin slices of Berkshire pork and veggies. The secret to the milky broth’s subtle flavor lies in boiling pork bones for 18 hours and reducing the stock three times, while reserving a bit of the broth from each step, and then reincorporating the reserved broths with the ultraconcentrated result of the third reduction.

The red Akamaru Modern had a lot more going on, with huge chunks of pork floating in a red broth seasoned with garlic oil. It’s clearly the favorite of the restaurant’s younger employees, who will have to learn to share when Ippudo opens to the public March 31.

Photos: Saori Yamakawa
Ippudo, 65 Fourth Ave., 212-388-0088

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By Joe DiStefano in Food on March 19, 2008 2:40 PM

Comments [rss]

mmelnick

I'd go if there was a vegetarian ramen bowl, but I doubt it.

The Edge

Minca is a let down for sure.

Rai Rai Ken is okay, but it's been super packed every time I walk by nowadays.

They're both still better than most of the off-the-shell ramen, though.

nivek

Cultural misunderstandings, here we go! Oh wait, I'm about 10 hours late. Oops.

babyhitler

pork bone ramen makes my ass bleed from the diarrhea i get after having a bowl. It tastes good though. Too bad about the whole keeping it down thing.

brucet

Ill stick to minca sank you and Ramen Setagaya gross and dissapointing.

BTW you know that american cup o noodle is not the same as the original japanese version (which you cant get here anymore).

Goomba, italian noodle in a cup is called chef boyardee. i believe its on the same aisle as ichiban.

MFer

I once wrote an ode about this.

DOWN AISLE THREE

Grocery shopping

for the week, Ramen noodle's

all you've gots to eat.

But there ain't no comparing Ichiban to real stuff. The 99 cent stuff taste every bit the 49 cents it is worth.

Can't believe I wasn't told about this earlier.

linus809

Hey Joe, I think you mean to say "tonkotsu" and not "tonkatsu".

Tonkatsu is a piece of breaded pork that is deep-fried.

Tonkotsu is the type of ramen that uses a milky pork broth.

bxGagger

i once had some "great spot" jp ramen,

it wasnt all that

i certainly wouldn't pay 10$ again for it...

Toby von Meistersinger

Ramen is good.

Did they have any vegetarian options?

And about Goomba. We have actually encountered some people who talk like that. However, let me ad a fourth:

d) hipster trying to be funny using slang from The Sopranos while pretending to be a Guido