152. Bay Area - Orenchi Ramen and the Amazing Soft Boiled Egg / 俺ん家ラーメン (Bay Area: Santa Clara)

Orenchi Ramen in Santa Clara has the best ramen in the Bay Area hands down.  There.  I said it.  Whether it is the house special with the traditional tonkotsu broth, other variations with a simple salt or shoyu base, or even the dipping tsukemen that is only offered to 15 early bird patrons, any noodle at this Japanese ramen house is sure to please... even if it is over 100 degrees outside.

The texture of the noodle is chewy and elastic, just the way that pulled noodles from Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan should be.  And although I cannot say the noodle has any particular flavor, it is submerged in a broth that is concentrated, almost milky with absolute pork essence.  The soft boiled egg that sits atop the liquid lipid lake is the crown jewel of the bowl.  Typically, ramen from other restaurants comes with just half an egg, but Orenchi grants guests a whole entire egg, the white of which encapsulates the gleaming gold that lies within.

A must try is the french fries okonomiyaki style (お好み焼き風ポテトフライ).  Orenchi substitutes the traditional bottom of an okonomiyaki pancake with good ol' French fries, but the top is still the same... tart Japanese mayonnaise, drizzles of otafuku sauce, some seaweed seasoning, and a generous heap of bonito flakes.  We all love topping our fries off with some greasy goodness (think carne asada fries), so you know that this is a mouthwatering monstrosity. 


With our own bowls of ramen and fries to share, it is hard to order anything else.  We did manage to scarf down some karaage with everything, but there is still an extensive menu that includes takoyaki, potato croquettes, and roasted pork over rice that requires exploring.  But I guess we can save that for our next visit... hopefully not in 100 degree weather.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Orenchi Ramen
3540 Homestead Rd.
Santa Clara, CA 95051

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142. Tokyo - Locals Only: Tsukemen from Ginza Ishii / 銀座 いし井のつけ麺 (Tokyo: Chuo-ku, Ginza / 東京都: 中央区, 銀座)

One thing that I love about traveling is finding those hidden gems that only the locals know about.  Tokyo local Kristen-chan took me to a couple of spots that were completely void of tourists and foreigners save for myself... but I blend in around here right?

Down a quaint side street not too far from Ginza Station (銀座駅) is Ginza Ishii (銀座 いし井), a noodle shop specializing in dipping ramen (tsukemen / つけ麺) that is unassumingly popular.  Perhaps because the locals want to keep this a secret.  They certainly eat these noodles like they have been doing something mischievous.

Before entering the shop you will pay for your bowl of noodles with a ticket vending machine.  Although overwhelming at first, there are actually only a couple of types of noodles.  All other buttons are size preferences, additional toppings, and beverage choices.  If you are still bewildered, it is probably a good idea to pick based on the prices printed on the buttons.  An average bowl of tsukemen should cost 800-1,200 yen.

The machine spits out your ticket, and the only thing left to do is to play the waiting game.  Which customers will finish their noodles first?

The chef serves you by placing two burning hot bowls of noodles and broth quickly on the counter top.  His swift action indicates that the heat from the scalding hot broth has traveled through the ceramic bowl and that he does not want to burn his fingers.  In his silence he does not tell you, though, that the bowl will still burn your tender non-F&B industry fingers off while you lower the bowl down from the counter to eat... no matter how quickly you move.

If you squeeze the chilled lime over the noodles, it might sooth the burning sensation.  But by now your stomach is so full of the burning desire to eat that the pain in your finger tips has quickly numbed away. 

The broth is quite unholy.  And by unholy I mean that it is devilishly good.  It is fatty.  It is flavorful.  It is salty and savory all at the same time.  The pork is so smooth and tender that it truly does melt in your mouth.  There may even be fragments of the meat floating, sinking, or swirling around in the sinfully rich and fatty broth.  Did I mention the broth was searing hot? This is what you will dip your noodles in.  Transferring the noodles over and dipping them into the broth will feel like you are cheating on your significant other.  And slurping the noodles up ever so loudly in true Japanese fashion will taste like you cheated with her younger, sexier, naughtier sibling.

Oh, and when you finally bring your attention to the soft boiled egg... it will feel like your one act of sin has quickly turned into a love affair that you have to keep secret.  No one can know about this egg and its silky, velvety golden yolk.  No one.

That is perhaps the reason why the patrons in the noodle shop act as if they are doing something wrong.  The tsukemen tastes so delicious that eating it feels almost like adultery.  Get here.  Get here quick before anyone finds out.  Get rid of the vending machine ticket.  Leave no paper trail.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

銀座 いし井 / Ginza Ishii
東京都 中央区 / Tokyo Metropolis, Chuo Ward
銀座 3-8-4 / Ginza District, 3 Chome 8-4

See more shots of our tsukemen on my Flickr set here.

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Post 82.2: Tsuke Udon - Mr. Lee Brought Fresh Udon from Japan, Part 2

One more pack of fresh Japanese udon left... what shall we do with it?

How about following the instructions on the package of noodles?

The instructions in the package suggested that the noodles be served tsuke style, which meant that the noodles should be dipped into sauce or broth rather than having the sauce or broth poured over the top of it.  I've only ever had tsuke style udon in Japanese restaurants before, so I thought it would be fun to make it at home.  Ken approved.

Ken and I strolled through Mitsuwa to see what kinds of ingredients we could add to the udon.  We picked out a package of beautifully cut pork belly on skewers.  I also picked up some more honshimeiji mushrooms.

I made a quick marinade of soy sauce, ponzu, minced garlic, sesame oil, and salt and pepper.  It didn't have to sit long because the cuts of pork belly had high fat content, which would already give the skewers a large dose of flavor.

After boiling the udon and tossing it into an ice bath, I placed them in a bowl as the foundation for our skewers, soft boiled egg, and other ingredients.  The mushrooms were blanched in the dashi broth that came with the package of noodles, and they were quickly removed from the hot liquid and placed on the bed of noodles.  The soft-boiled egg was cooked to the point at which the white was solid but the yolk was still runny.  Awesome.  A quick chop of green onions made for a nice touch of color and a refreshing crunch for some texture contrast.

The tsuke, or dipping, broth was served just above lukewarm.  It was just salty enough to coat the udon with a tingle of flavor.  The grilled pork belly skewers provided the rest of the pizzazz of flavor.

A Japanese meal without miso soup just isn't a Japanese meal at all, so I prepared a miso soup with cubes of mini tofu and ribbons of seaweed.  It doesn't take more than five minutes for that soup.  All in all, it was a simple meal, but a good amount of time was required for the delicate preparation.  Thanks again to Ken and Mr. Lee for the chance to cook with fresh Japanese noodles.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

This post features photography by Ken Lee.

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Post 82.1: Yaki Udon - Mr. Lee Brought Fresh Udon from Japan, Part 1

Ken's dad recently returned from Japan and brought with him some fresh udon from a local noodle shop in Tokyo... and I was fortunate enough to be around when Ken wanted someone to cook them.  Who, me? Me cook udon? Fresh udon? Well, who am I to say no to this request? I love noodles! Especially Asian style noodles... and it's been a long time since I've cooking anything special.  Lucky me.

Besides submerged in soup broth, one of my favorite ways to have udon is stir-fried or yaki style.  Yaki udon is a stir-fried noodle dish.  Some may even say that it's the Japanese variation of Chinese chow mein.  Instead of the commonly used thinner, Chinese yellow egg noodles, though, yaki udon uses the thicker, more doughy udon noodles.  It makes for a very luxurious tasting dish... one that allows the eater to swivel the silky texture of the noodle around the plate or in the mouth for complete enjoyment.

The first thing I did was to make sure I had a good amount of mushrooms to work with.  Since I was cooking with Japanese noodles, I decided to go with a duo of Japanese mushrooms, a well known Shiitake and the more honored honshimeiji mushrooms.  I soaked the Shiitake mushrooms in a cold water bath, and cut the bottoms off the honshimeijis to give them a proper cleaning.

The next step to make julienne some vegetables.  Carrots, celery and spring onions made for a very colorful trio of vegetables that added vibrant color and freshness to the stir-fried udon.  When stir-frying, the spring onions get added at the bookends of the cooking process.  It is added first when the oil first coats the wok to infuse some of the onion flavor in the cooking lubricant, and it is added again at the end of the cooking process as a garnish.

When eating yaki udon, I've usually had it prepared with thinly sliced beef from the fattier areas of the cow.  It get prepared with white or brown onions that are caramelized to give the udon the rich taste that we so desire.  I haven't quite mastered that method of cooking noodles, so I sliced up some pork instead.  I used the hind leg meat of the pork, and marinated it with just a bit of soy, ponzu, sesame oil, and rice wine.

While stir-frying all the ingredients together, I made sure to season the dish every step of the way.  First, the vegetables... next, the meat... and finally, the noodles.  I topped it off with sesame seeds and the freshly sliced spring onion (green onion).  I can't say it was the most traditional of Japanese noodle dishes, but I definitely did my best with it.  Thank you Ken and Mr. Lee for allowing me to do some justice to those fresh Japanese noodles.  Itadakimasu!

And just for fun I made a kimchi fried rice with soft boiled egg on top.  More details on that to come another day.  But for now... happy eating! Did I mention that there were two packages of fresh udon? Heh, heh, heh... more udon on the way! Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

This post features photography by Ken Lee.

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