Respect the Ramen

I have long been a fan of the noodle, be it spaghetti, udon, pho or vermicelli. Love them all. Ramen however has always been an ugly step sister, something one ate in poverty stricken student days in order to conserve precious resources for beer (or in my case for a dim sum binge). Not something one ate because of taste. In all honestly the depth of my knowledge has been the little pre packaged plastic food products, a slightly more edible Mr. Noodle. Little did I know that the ramen is a cuisine with a history, a depth, and a dedicated following.

My first tip off occurred while straining to see inside a soon to be opened eating establishment – Liberty Noodle. Because I’m nosey, I moseyed through the interwebs to find out the story. Apparently it’s a modern (or western, depending on your take) version of a Ramen House. Which sounded great to me, except for having absolutely no idea what a Ramen House was. But I like the noodle (as mentioned above) and the people connected are some of the same as opened Blowfish, which I’m also a fan of so count me in for learning more. I put the soon to be open restaurant on the top of my ‘to go’ list.

However fate surprised me by placing a fully operational Ramen House, Kenzo, directly in my path. This Ramen chain recently opened a location at Yonge and Dundas – moments from home. Being a person who does not take signs from the food gods about lightly (and also a hungry person in front of restaurant) I decided to take my introductory course in Ramen early.

This is what I learned; Ramen is about the broth, as much or more so then the noodles. Not that the noodles are neglected – according to the menu the Kenzo noodle are hand cut and slow ripened (must find out what that means). In the mouth they have integrity, not the bite of Italian al dente but a resistance to the teeth that is pleasing. The broth I chose, miso, may not have been the best introduction. It was strongly flavoured with the richness and saltiness I associated with the soup, but rather one dimensional. I think next time I’ll try something that has a bit more spark (reading reviews indicate some are quite spicy). The toppings were nicely done, including fall apart tender pork, bean sprouts and various greens. All in all a pleasant little dish.

So I have been schooled. Ramen is not only for the starving students among us but its own cuisine, one both satisfying and flavourful. Now if only Liberty Noodle would open – I’m fascinated how the team behind Blowfish is going to gentrify the hell out of this concept.

http://www.kenzoramen.ca

http://www.libertynoodle.com/