Sun Noodle Ramen Kits

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RAMEN!!! I love ramen. Ever since I had my first taste at Toki Underground, I’ve been hooked. It changed my whole outlook. I should have known there was a non instant version that I was missing out on. But that was ALL I knew. My friend Lorri in NYC shipped me a bunch of ramen kits by Sun Noodle and I’m obsessed.

The kit comes with two individually wrapped servings of fresh noodles and a pack of tare that you dilute in hot water. The rest is up to you!

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I can only eat cooked sprouts, but lucky me, these sprouts for the ramen are cooked. I made a sauce that was sesame oil, black pepper, soy sauce to taste.

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Dropped in some sprouts into boiling hot water for a minute. Then drained.

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Tossed it into the sauce and added some green onion and called it a day. This is probably something I made up, but it worked with the soup!

I went to the local asian market, and picked up slices of char siu and crispy pig. I blanched some chinese broccoli. I also cooked a can of bamboo shoots, stirred them in some chili oil, sesame oil, oyster sauce and soy sauce. I also sliced up a sheet of seaweed and boiled a couple of eggs (since I can’t eat them poached or soft boiled).

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I also picked up a jar of pickled red ginger. And put the bowls together how I wanted it. ALMOST PROFESSIONAL RIGHT?

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I used a tonkatsu broth for mine. OMG SO GOOD. MY FAVORITE.

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He and my friend Anna both went for the spicy sesame. They both said it was one of the best ramen they’ve had. AND IT WAS INSTANT at HOME. Ok, I did fancy it up a bit with extra ingredients, but restaurant quality noodles and soup at home was just super amazing to me. I’ve got a couple of these in my freezer in case I wanna do another ramen night.

THANK YOU SO MUCH LORRI for introducing me to these. My life is changed again, by ramen.

 

 

 

Cheu Noodle Bar Philadelphia

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Mmmm. Ramen noodles. Soups are definitely my comfort food. And I love that ramen is everywhere now. Thrillist featured this place as one of the top 25 ramen places in America, so while in Philly, I had to!qeI2cuTjiYLNWxtd.jpg

There was a little bit of a wait at like 9pm, but that’s a sign that its good right? The guy was super friendly, and we got a couple of the specials while we waited. I had the white tea/lychee, he had the watermelon ginger. Both were unique and delicious. I liked mine better because it was light, floral and only a tiny bit sweet. x25ujXOoIDeWAUHs.jpg7sNidfhSKj06YwlY.jpg

Awesome shirt. 2qFu1P2Ue3M34Gyo.jpg

We sat at the bar, so we got to see the magic happen.HX8Bq4zaVw6NZtsH.jpg

It must be a requirement for ramen places to be so cool looking.aebSrcAqZegw3E65.jpg

Sichuan beef dumplings. Nothing to write home about. Sorry.gnQdQiKBDOLtrBfn.jpg

WHERE’S OUR RAMEN. Anna and John. Hilarious couple to road trip with <39Npi1w6Bd71JgRTb.jpg…and the main event. Miso Ramen, with pork shoulder and sea beans. I think they ran out of sea beans in mine because I only got mustard greens. Which is fine by me. It was delicious. I actually never got a miso broth before. I usually go vegetarian or the full bodied broths. It was delicious and reminded me of my mom’s suki yaki, oddly enough. Now I want to make that.

I’m hungry.

Cheu Noodle Bar
55 South 10th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Sakuramen

Now that it is cooler outside, I don't seem as crazy when it comes to my love for noodle soups. Noodle houses seem to be everywhere now a days. That's fine by me, I love trying out a new noodle joint.

One cool sunday evening I found myself here, in Adams Morgan waiting about 15 minutes for some ramen. On a SUNDAY evening. That's a good sign I guess. My friend told me to get the Tonkatsu red. Always judge a ramen place by their full bodied broth. I got mine mild, 0 spicy. She got 5. She later on told me she should have gotten 2.

Pretty normal layout, the kind you would expect from a small ramen joint. Service was friendly. Pretty low maintenance. They were busy, you don't ask for much.

They've got a selection of buns and gyoza if just ramen won't fill you up.

I thought the flavors of the soup was great. Not too salty where I felt dehydrated and headachey after. The noodles were good, but I like mind a little thicker. If I happen to be in Adams Morgan, I'll have it again. But parking s a pain, like for anything else you wanna go to there.

Homemade Ramen Burger

So this is the newest crazy food thing. It doesn't seem that crazy to me though. I love ramen, and I love burgers…and now that its introduced together, you know I had to jump on that train! Since its only at the Smorgasbord in NYC I have to make it myself.

It was quite the adventure. I actually had to make it two nights in a row because I wanted to perfect it. The first night, I got the Asian flavors right. Sesame oil, soy sauce, white pepper, sriracha all the flavors that scream…ramen.

Now I can't make my own fresh ramen (yet! I dare to dream) so I had to get cheapie Japanese style ramen packets to start. It was pretty easy to make. I mixed cooked ramen noodles with an egg, then molded it in a wide flat ramekin, and pan fried it.

I seasoned ground beef with soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil. Formed a patty, seared it then cooked it in the oven while I made everything else. Like a fried egg.

I am very proud of how it turned out, and taste testers agree, but its definitely way too intense for me to eat regularly. But I would make it again if someone wanted me to!

 

Daikaya

Hmmm. I’ve been craving ramen a lot lately. Maybe because the weather got cold again. What are you doing mother nature? *shakes fist. We decided to try out Daikaya one cold Sunday.

20130422-091558.jpg Daikaya is located right next to Graffiato in chinatown, DC. Tiny place, and set up like a ramen place is known to be. Side by side seating. Fast paced and buzzing with chatter and slurping. They are very hi tech in there. Seating system is via tablet. Order system is also via handheld.

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Our server was super friendly and helpful. Explained the difference between broths and helped up make all decisions. Even though it was busy, he was very patient. It was a sunday evening, and the wait for 2 wasn’t that bad. Maybe 5-10 minutes. I would guess bigger parties would be more of a hassle. Don’t count on sitting together.

The noodles were great. Perfect texture. I think I picked the wrong broth for myself. The shoyu was great, and very traditional, but I’ve come to realize, I like a lighter broth, like the miso, or I will try the shio next time. The bowls were too big for me, and I got tired of the flavor. The egg in it was delicious! It all was really great at first…but half way through my bowl I was sleepy!

I would definitely go back. Great vibe. Delicious broth.

 

Izakaya Blue Ocean Restaurant: Ramen

After hearing many great things, and being recommended this place often, I finally got the chance to try Blue Ocean Restaurant. I hear their sushi is GREAT and their ramen is flavorful. But that would be too much for me to judge on at once, so let’s break it down by food. Today we are talking soup. Ramen noodle soup to be exact.

I ordered the soy ramen soup. And that was it. It came out in a perfect portion, for me. Meaning it wasn’t a huge bowl that I was doomed to waste. There was bamboo, a seaweed sheet, scallions, half a boiled egg, and piece of pork. Your standard ramen bowl. No extras to add in were even offered on the menu. Just straight up ramen.

And that was all it needed to be. The noodles were a perfect texture, the soup full of flavor. WOW. I did not expect this from a non dedicated noodle joint. I am happy. Maybe all the other places had too many choices? And I made the wrong choice? Now I have to reevaluate and try ALL the soups every where else. Or maybe not. But yes. It was GOOD. and I am satisfied. Better than Tanpopo for me.

Sansei Seafood Maui

This glorious bowl is the Dungeness Crab Ramen with Asian Truffle Broth, served with cilantro, Thai basil and mild jalapenos, from Sansei Seafood. It was a Tuesday night and this place was PACKED and popping.Had a very hip vibe to it, and it was definitely the place to be. Did I mention they have karaoke and half off sushi on Thursdays?

We took a seat at the sushi bar, where we were helped by Frank, our super friendly sushi chef for the night. He recommended this award winning bowl and it was …amazing. I don’t even know how to describe it, and I am sorry, you will just have to figure out a way to get your hands on some crab, truffle broth ramen. I’m sad that we only had one bowl.

The sushi was good, they had a lot of island specials, but as you probably already know, food is a lot more expensive in Hawaii, and I wasn’t willing to gorge on my usual amount of sushi for 4x more money! Plus there were other unique to the island things I wanted to taste!

Star Noodle Maui

I don’t know why, but I always want ramen. I think if you’ve read my blog long enough you know that. So while we were in Hawaii, I had to have at least two bowls of ramen. Not knowing anything or anyone familiar with food in Maui, I used the trusty Yelp app, and checked out places with good ratings.

One of the places that got great reviews and had a line out the door was Star Noodle. This got me excited. I was really looking forward to a great bowl of ramen.

Fail. It was aight. And we were HUNGRY and I still didn’t think it was awesome. I got the Hapa Ramen, which is Pork Broth, Roast Pork, Poached Egg, Bamboo Shoots, Kamaboko, Baby Bok Choy, Mayu, Spicy Aka Miso. In theory it sounds all good right? But the broth lacked flavor and depth.

All is not lost. Their pork bun was good, and I think their selection of small plates are worth trying. Boo still thinks my pork belly sliders are way better.

Tanpopo Ramen

Ramen, Pho, Suki Yaki, all these things have something in common. They are noodle soups, and they are all comforting. AND I NEEDED IT. After getting poked and prodded by doctors the other week, and STILL being sick a week later I needed some comfort food. Not up for the trek out to my beloved Toki Underground, we decided to try out Tanpopo Ramen House in Annandale.

I’ve heard mixed reviews about this place, noting that things got better as its been opened longer. Sick and wanting a fatty broth I went for it. A dark restaurant inside a tiny shopping center it gave the hole in the wall feel that you’d expect from a ramen house. They also served sushi. The walls were covered with cute ramen eating faces. There were only 2 other tables when we got there, and service was good, even though we were in the back corner away from everyone.

I got the tonkatsu. It was milky, and noodley and had all the soothing qualities I needed at that moment. It wasn’t as savory and POW like Toki’s…but it definitely gets the job done for something you don’t want to drive out the city, and look for parking, or wait for. But that’s the trade off. I was sick, and needed something to warm my insides. They have a couple different broths to choose from and plenty of add ons. I will definitely give it another shot when I’m not stuffed up and dying.

Tanpopo Ramen House
4316 Markham St
Annandale, VA 22003

France: Food edition

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If you know me, then you know that I went to France with the top priority to EAT. I chose to go eat, over going into the Eiffel Tower. Yea, I know, terrible.

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Lets talk about charcuterie. I love it. The first “french” food I had when I got there, was french bread and charcuterie. This is pretty much a plate of meats. Hams, sausages, bacon, and pate. Sometimes you can get it with cheese, and little pickles. It is served with butter and french breach. This was my staple. I wanted it all the time. Too bad that I came back to America and am prepping for a cleanse, because I would eat it all the time here too.

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The cheeses, the butter, the mayo, the baked goods…everything smells so heavenly and tastes even better. If I had to pinpoint what France smells like, I would say butter and cigarettes. Here, ketchup isn’t left on the the table with the salt and pepper. You can get freshly whipped mayo to dip your fries and anything else into.

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In my opinion, everything is expensive. And not just because the dollar to the euro is pricey, but because food in general is expensive…except foods in charcuterie! A lot of the restaurants have only prix fixe menus. It is much cheaper to hit the market and cook at home. But if you are a Parisian in the middle of the city, your kitchen is pretty much non existent. My cousin eats a lot of simple foods that can be prepped without a stovetop, microwave or oven! Crazy. I know. Lets just say we had a lot of charcuterie…and I loved every minute of it. Brie, camembert, pate, these were much cheaper than they are in America…probably because we have to import it. For example, a wedge of brie is $8-14 but in France 1 euro! I definitely ate a LOT of cheese while I was there, what lactose intolerance?

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For breakfast, we went to Chez Prune, where for breakfast you got a basket of breads, a plate, and a dessert.

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For Dinner we had more charcuterie. And a really hard to open bottle of wine.

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We went to their Japanese town for ramen and bubble tea. The ramen still can’t touch Toki Underground, and the bubble tea is a lot different than I expected…it was actual tea, with a mango syrup for flavoring. The balls were delicious though.

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I waited my whole trip, for moules-frites. Mussels and french fries. And what better place to have it than at the south of France? For 14,50 euros we got this…

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I’ve never had such tasty mussels in my life. The french fries were scoop shaped, so I got a good amount of mayo on every fry. Crisp outside and hot mealy goodness inside. The mussels themselves were perfection. Provencale herbs, right amount of seasoning, creamy, buttery and the touch of lemon and wine to freshen things up. It was unfortunate for my belly that it wasn’t any bigger. The pot alone had at LEAST a hundred mussels and I could only fit half of it. If we knew the portion was going to be so large, we would have shared. I was so sad to waste it. They don’t let you take food in doggie bags by the way. In case you were wondering. Anywhere in France actually. Maybe even Europe.

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Here’s more pictures of food to make you hungry. I want to go back and eat.

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