Ramen, the soup that is eaten with a spoon and chopsticks.
Paying more than one euro for a noodle soup may not be among your plans for 2015, but just as you ended up grooming yourself in a barbershop or buttoning up your shirt collar, there are trends that one cannot or does not want to – escape, and less if, in addition, they are delicious.
Years ago ramen shops, the Japanese noodle soup inherited from Chinese cuisine, they invade and contribute to gentrify the most modern neighborhoods in America and Europe. But in Spain, so fond of stew soup and grandma's broth, it seems that we don't consider those soupy 'spaghetti' to be serious food, unless it's a hangover day when we haven't stayed for brunch or the skewer of omelette.
Well, the time has come to change our attitude and understand that an exquisite ramen with noodles and fresh ingredients is not the same as that instant product from the supermarket marketed for the first time in 1958 by the Japanese Momofuku Ando and of which they claim more than 100 billion servings are sold each year.
The contemporary Chuka Ramen Bar.
Here are the essential addresses where to sip and hit the chopstick and the spoon at the same time:
CHUKA RAMEN BAR: they are the newcomers to the 'barrio' in Madrid, but with its high chairs, its contemporary aesthetics and the slow cooking of the ingredients, this restaurant has managed to win over a public thirsty for fresh ideas and traditional flavors. You can choose between a shoyu ramen with fresh noodles, pork belly, egg and Chinese spring onion (in dashi consommé -a type of Japanese broth- and chicken with nori seaweed) or a miso dashi ramen with fresh noodles, vegetable meatballs, egg and Chinese chives over a vegetarian chipotle miso dashi soup with collard greens and shiitake and shimeji mushrooms.
RAMEN-YA HIRO: if you go to Barcelona and want to try ramen 'made in' Hiro Yoshiyuki, get ready to do line, something unavoidable when not accepting reservations and preparing the broth and noodles himself every night. But therein lies the key, in mastery and patience. And, of course, also in the mixture: the technique is simple, you choose the base (chicken and pork broth) soy or miso and you add toppings (from 50 cents to two euros) in the form of eggs, nori seaweed, bamboo , etc.
Ramen next to Madrid's Calle Mayor, at Ramen Kagura.
RAMEN KAGURA: In the center of Madrid, this is a 100% ramen restaurant, and its founders they thoroughly studied different consommé recipes in Japan until they found the most 'suitable' for the Spanish palate. With its pork and vegetable broth ramen (shouyu or miso) you will have enough, but if you wish you can accompany it with different Japanese tapas, such as gyozas (the so-called Japanese dumplings) or karaage (fried meat). Also order a Japanese beer or soft drink.
KOKU KITCHEN: In this Barcelona ramen bar you will find, in addition to the traditional soy ramen – based on Tonkotsu (pork bone) broth, soy, chashu (roasted pork), nitamago (also called liquid egg or ramen egg), nori ( seaweed), pickled daikon (turnip) and vegetables–; and miso ramen –based on Tonkotsu, miso, chashu, nitamago, nori, wakame (seaweed) and vegetables–, a spicy version for the most daring and a vegetarian version for the most committed. Do not leave without accompanying your bowl with some spectacular pork gyozas.
In Yokaloka there is ramen off the menu.
YOCALOKA: In the modern Antón Martín market, this space has made a deep impression in the capital with its freshly prepared sushi and the possibility of buying Japanese products as ideal as SOU SOU clothing. But although it does not appear in the letter, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they serve soy ramen with meat and vegetables. Don't miss their Japanese cooking courses either: keep an eye on their website if you want to learn how to prepare your own ramen like a true specialist.
SUSHIYA BENTOU: This small and sober Barcelona restaurant maintains the essence of family establishments and traditional cuisine, the ramen noodles are handmade and the broth is homemade. They usually surprise with alternatively Korean dishes such as Kimuchi (spicy fermented cabbage) and they complete the menus with desserts as delicious as the matcha tea cakes.
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Traditional recipe in Sushiya Bentou.