Steaming Bowls of

Japanese Inspired Food and Lifestyle Magazine
Steaming Bowls of
RAMEN
TRAVEL: Osaka
MUSIC: D’espairsRay
UMAI LABS: Yatai Dining
RECIPE: Seafood Yakisoba
July & August 2010 Vol. 06 Seattle / Bellevue / Portland
2nd feature
FASHION
from the Streets
of Tokyo
FREE
CONTENTS
FEATURE
4
Steaming Bowls of Ramen
Seattle has finally reached critical mass when it
comes to ramen shops. From Greenwood to University District to Capitol Hill to the ID, steaming,
inexpensive and delicious bowls of ramen await.
22 Fashion from the Streets of Tokyo
The Tokyo Girls Collection is a colorful, innovative
and high-tech celebration of Japan’s street fashion.
EAT & DRINK
16 Recipes
10
18
Restaurant Directory
Umai Lab
Seafood yakisoba (fried soba noodles) with soy sauce & vinegar dressing
Fried eggplant served with dashi soup
The yatai, an outdoor cart that food purveyors use in Japan, is the place to start your summer dining.
4
LIFESTYLE
13 14
20
i fart rainbow
Store & School Directory
26 The country’s second city and culinary capital is the right place to have seconds.
Music: D’espairsRay
Place: ageHa earns the title of a ‘Super Club’
Momo: A unique boutique in Seattle’s Japantown
Travel — Osaka
Food: New Zojirushi All-Stainless Food Jar
27
The Sun Shines on Ecore Global
28 Local News and Events
One Seattle business sees massive opportunity in environmental sustainability.
22
© TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION 2010 S/S
IBUKI Magazine Vol.06 July & August 2010
Publisher
Misa Murohashi
English Cartier
Editor-in-Chief
Bruce Rutledge
Editor and Translator
Yuko Enomoto
Cover Photograph
Provided by
Fukuoka City
Contributing Writers & Artists
Enfu (Ken Taya)
Julian Waters
Jessica Sattell
Rose
Special Thanks
Chin Music Press
Published by
Axia Media Group, Inc.
Bellevue, WA 98005
Comments and general inquiries
[email protected]
Advertising Info
[email protected]
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息吹 IBUKI_FEATURE ARTICLE
Steaming Bowls of
Ramen
By Bruce Rutledge
B
y one estimate, Japan has 45,000 ramen
shops. We’re not talking restaurants with
ramen on the menu — that’s 45,000
shops that serve nothing but ramen ... and
perhaps a side of potstickers. In contrast, you can
count the number of ramen-only shops in Seattle
on one hand.
Yet after several weeks of sampling ramen
everywhere from Greenwood to Capitol Hill to
the International District, I must respectfully
disagree with the foodies who write on Yelp and
other restaurant review sites that you have to go
to Vancouver for a good bowl of ramen. Not true.
What I witnessed in the last few weeks of slurping
ramen noodles, besides an expanding waistline,
was plenty of innovation and dedication to
getting ramen right in Seattle. I also witnessed
chefs that were more than willing to go out of
their way to accommodate vegetarians, vegans
and others with dietary restrictions — I’m betting
not a lot of those 45,000 shops in Japan do that.
While ramen is still relatively rare in Seattle,
it has reached a critical mass. Expect more
innovation, more choices, more competition.
As one restaurant owner who asked to remain
anonymous put it: “Ramen is like pizza. It could
be everywhere. It could be bigger than sushi.”
A sign of this critical mass is that ramen shops
are looking for ways to stand out. Chef Lorenzo
Rangel of Aloha Ramen in Greenwood tops his
steaming bowls of noodles with delicious fresh
bamboo grown in his garden. Chef Jonathan
Hunt of Boom Noodle eyes trends in Japan and
4 息吹 ibuki • July / august 2010
riffs off them. When he heard that Tokyo shops
were starting to serve salt and yuzu ramen, he
came up with a delicious egg-drop yuzu ramen
for Boom. Kushibar in Belltown serves up a
tasty vegetarian bowl with shiitake and enoki
mushrooms, asparagus, corn and green onions.
Traditionalists can find their fix too. Whether it’s
a bowl of shoyu-butter ramen served up by Mr.
Kuroda at Maekawa Bar in the International
District, the perfectly grilled potstickers at Fulin
across the street, the tasty bowls of shoyu ramen
served up from 12 to 2 on Fridays at Tsukushinbo
or the creamy-white tonkotsu ramen at Samurai
Noodle and Kaname, the staple ramens of Japan
can be enjoyed in Seattle.
The east side is getting into the act too. Dozo Cafe
serves steaming bowls of ramen without a hint
of MSG. New Zen Japanese Restaurant serves
tonkotsu ramen, and Kiku Sushi of Bellevue
delivers the hearty Nagasaki chanpon ramen.
In short, ramen has arrived in Seattle. And it’s
going to get better and better. Boom Noodle is
planning Boom Express, a smaller outlet more
like a Japanese ramen shop that serves only noodle
dishes. Samurai plans a new Seattle store, but can’t
say which neighborhood will be the beneficiary
just yet. As the competition heats up, chefs will
look for that competitive edge that keeps ramen
lovers coming back. Seattle, the ramen slurping
has only just begun.
On the next few pages, we highlight some of the
restaurants serving ramen in the greater Seattle area.
Sapporo Miso Ramen
Hakata Tonkotsu (pork-bone broth)
Sapporo
Fukuoka City is famous for its rich, milky pork-bone tonkotsu
ramen, typically with thin, non-curly and resilient noodles.
Photo: Provided by Fukuoka City.
The regionalty and variety of ramen
Nagasaki Chanpon
Chanpon is a unique style of ramen that
includes seafood, vegetables, pork and
pan-fried noodles that are boiled toFukuoka
gether with the other ingredients. The
soup is typically shio (salt) flavor with
pork-bone and chicken broth.
Nagasaki
Photo: Chanpon at Kiku Sushi
Sapporo ramen has a rich miso flavor and is typically topped with sweet corn, butter and bean sprouts.
Photo: Miso ramen at Samurai Noodle.
Tokyo
Almost every locality in Japan has its
own style of ramen. Here are the most
popular and typical kinds of ramen
from four cities in Japan.
Tokyo Shoyu Ramen
Tokyo style ramen is clear shoyu (soy sauce)
flavored soup with chicken broth.
Photo: Tampopo ramen at Samurai Noodle.
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息吹 IBUKI_FEATURE ARTICLE
Kushibar
2319 2nd Ave., Seattle
206-448-2488
BELLTOWN
BELLTOWN
Samurai Noodle
UNIVERSITY DISTRICT
4138 University Way NE, Seattle
206-547-1774
INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT
606 5th Ave. S, Seattle
206-624-9321
Looking for a big, hearty meal on the fly? Swing by Kushibar in
Belltown for a bowl of ramen at a picnic table. Kushibar specializes in Japanese street food, and there’s nothing quite as “street”
as a bowl of ramen. Unlike Japan’s ramen shops, however, Kushibar takes special care to offer a tasty vegetarian option: Its enoki
ramen is egg noodles in a vegetarian broth with enoki and shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, bean sprouts, corn and green onions.
A bowl of ramen at lunchtime is just $8. Kushibar also offers soy
sauce, miso, tonkotsu and shio, or salt, ramen. While most ramen
in Japan is served in a soup that’s half to two-thirds pork-based,
Kushibar’s house ramen uses a two parts chicken, one part pork
soup that creates a lighter taste. Traditionalists will find plenty
to like here, too, whether for lunch or at the end of a night of
drinking in Belltown.
Samurai Noodle is probably the best-known ramen shop in Seattle because it has been serving bowls of noodles in its International Distrct shop since 2006. As of this year, it has expanded
to the University District, and the owners say they have plans
for a third shop, although they wouldn’t divulge the location.
The tonkotsu ramen is creamy and rich, the miso ramen has flavorful depth and the tampopo ramen is a tasty soy-sauce ramen
with a luxurious array of toppings. When the owners opened
their University District shop earlier in 2010, they admitted to
being overwhelmed by the demand. Lines formed out the door
and down the block. Which just goes to show that the demand
for ramen in Seattle is stronger than ever. Samurai has been the
trendsetter, but it enjoys the competition. “We need more ramen
shops to help educate people about what ramen is,” says one of
the owners. We agree.
Tonkotsu ramen takes extra time to make the creamy, rich soup
taste just right. Samurai serves one of the best versions in the city.
Kushibar’s picnic-style dining room is reminiscent of those cozy
little eateries under the train tracks in Japan. The house ramen,
pictured above, features noodles in a chicken and pork broth,
braised chashu pork, sweet corn, egg, sprouts, roasted seaweed
and scallions.
6 息吹 ibuki • July / august 2010
The tampopo ramen at Samurai Noodle comes in a clear soysauce broth, Tokyo style.
Maekawa Bar
Aloha Ramen
601 S. King St., Seattle
206-622-0634
8102-B Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle
206-838-3837
After spending two decades as a chef at the Halekulani Hotel in
Hawaii, Lorenzo Rangel moved to Seattle with his wife Reiko to
be closer to their son. Rangel is an expert in French and Pacific
Rim cuisine, but as an Okinawa native, he knows his ramen. The
menu at Aloha Ramen speaks to both his Japanese roots and his
long career as a chef. The staples — shoyu and miso ramen — are
delicious, topped with fresh bamboo from the Rangels’ garden
and homemade chashu pork. The difference fresh bamboo makes
is surprising. Suddenly an oft-overlooked ingredient becomes a
highlight of the meal. Rangel also shows off his culinary chops
with his black sesame ramen, the spicy tantan ramen and the
tofu-based tonyo ramen. The bowls are all about $8. Try a side of
homemade potstickers too. Reiko, an Osaka native, presides over
the cozy dining room. She says she’s influenced her husband over
the years to make ramen in the Kansai style, which uses less salt
than Tokyo ramen shops.
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONALDISTRICT
DISTRICT
On Mondays through Thursdays, Chef Kuroda of Maekawa Bar
in Seattle’s International District spends seven hours slaving over
a chicken stock with onions, garlic and carrots that ends up as
the soup for his shoyu ramen. Maekawa Bar is an izakaya, or a
Japanese tapas bar, with an extensive menu, but Kuroda-san’s ramen is one of the highlights. Try the shoyu-butter ramen -- the
tab of butter mellows the soup and changes the flavor profile a
bit. Kuroda says it’s popular with the bar’s American guests. And
if you’re really hungry, go for the ramen with everything, which
includes a whole host of ingredients including hardboiled egg,
seaweed, green onions, bamboo and braised pork slices. Kuroda
doesn’t serve the ramen on Friday and Saturday because the bar
gets so busy, he can’t spend enough time on the soup, so make
sure you drop by on a weekday to try a bowl.
GREENWOOD
Kaname
INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT
610 S. Jackson St., Seattle
206-682-1828
The house specialty in this izakaya is a tonkotsu ramen that takes
two days to prepare so that the marrow of the pork bones turns
the soup a creamy white. Owner and Chef Todd Kuniyuki hired
an expert in this style of ramen from Japan and worked with
him for two months to perfect the soup. Tonkotsu, one of the
most demanding ramen types, is a favorite on the isle of Kyushu.
Kaname offers its tonkotsu with miso or shio (salt) flavoring.
There are limited quantities each night, so if you’re heading here
with tonkotsu in mind, arrive as early as you can.
The black sesame ramen from Aloha is a good example of the
innovative approach of Chef Rangel.
Aloha’s tonyo ramen has a rich, white soup similar to the porkbased tonkotsu ramen, but it is made with tofu.
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息吹 IBUKI_FEATURE ARTICLE
Dozo Cafe
New Zen Japanese Restaurant
3720 Factoria Blvd SE, Bellevue
(425) 644-8899
10720 SE Carr Rd., Renton
425-254-1599
BELLEVUE FACTORIA
Dozo Cafe opened earlier this year. Chef Lin doesn’t use MSG
and makes his soup from scratch, letting it simmer for a long
time to create that elusive blend of flavors and depth. The braised
chashu pork and miso are also prepared right in Dozo’s kitchen.
While the basic shoyu ramen is tasty, try some of the Chinese-influenced offerings such as tantan ramen or fuyohai (braised crab
with egg whites) ramen. While tantan men is a staple of Chinese
restaurant’s menus, the version served at Dozo Cafe is adjusted
to the Japanese palate — the noodles are served al dente and the
soup has an impressive depth. Dozo Cafe offers a unique Japanese twist on some standard Chinese noodle dishes.
RENTON
New Zen has been serving Japanese dishes to the denizens of
Renton since 1997. Just last year, they started serving a tasty
tonkotsu-soy sauce ramen for $9.50. “The combination of tonkotsu and soy sauce makes the most delicious and best balanced
soup,” says Yumiko-san, the owner of New Zen. The soup has
depth without being overbearing. The slightly crinkly noodles
combine perfectly with the soup. The homemade chashu pork is
filling but not greasy. New Zen has a lot of repeat Japanese customers because its ramen is both delicious and filling. On your
next pilgrimmage to the Renton Uwajimaya supermarket, why
not swing by New Zen for a bowl?
Come Experience Japanese street food
kushibar
www.kushibar.com
2319 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121 | (202) 448-2488 | Hours: Weekdays 11:30 am – 1am, Weekends 4 pm – 1am
8 息吹 ibuki • July / august 2010
Boom Noodle
BELLEVUE DOWNTOWN
504 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue
425-453-6094
CAPITOL HILL
1121 E Pike St., Seattle
206-701-9130
NEWLY OPENED!
2675 NE Village Lane, Seattle
206-523-6594
UNIVERSITY VILLAGE
Chef Jonathan Hunt has one eye on the culinary trends of Tokyo
and another on his Seattle clientele, with all their dietary restrictions and requests. It’s a delicate balancing act, and when navigated successfully, it results in such delicious fare as this summer’s
yuzu-eggdrop ramen, a tasty mix of egg-flour broth and yuzu, a
Japanese citrus fruit with a tangy taste. Hunt heard that salt-yuzu
ramen was becoming popular in Japan. “I instantly thought of
the chicken soup my mom used to make when I was sick,” he
says. “She’d drop an egg in it.” Add yuzu lemon, red chili flakes
and shiso for brightness and you have a tasty bowl of noodles to
join the extensive Boom menu. “Ramen is all about peak flavor,”
Hunt says. “It’s about timing, almost like a souffle.” For a tradi-
Kiku Sushi
tional staple, try the miso ramen. “It’s much more complex than
miso soup,” the chef says. “We blend lots of spices, black-bean
paste, garlic, sake, whole butter and sansho pepper.” Or try the
restaurant’s most popular bowl, Tokyo ramen (see photo), a soyseasoned chicken-pork broth with braised pork, sweet egg, bamboo shoots and green onions.
WEST BELLEVUE
15555 NE 24th St, Bellevue
425-644-2358
Kiku Sushi next to the Bellevue Uwajimaya has been quietly serving delicious bowls of Nagasaki chanpon ramen for the last two
years. It may be Bellevue’s biggest culinary secret. The $11.50
bowl of noodles only sounds pricey if you don’t know what’s in it:
jumbo prawns, squid, kamaboko (a mixture of pureed white fish),
cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, mushrooms, corn, green beans,
plus a variety of other vegetables and seafood selected by the chef.
It’s quite a meal. Chef Hara, a Nagasaki native, blends pork and
chicken stock in a fine balance to make a delicious soup. He uses
thick noodles in the classic chanpon style. “When it comes to
chanpon, we’re the best,” Hara says. “There’ve been a lot of new
ramen shops opening in the area, but as far as I know, we’re the
only one serving Nagasaki chanpon. Those familiar with the Nagasaki version come to enjoy my chanpon ramen, but we also see
Americans who have never tried it before enjoying this seafoodand vegetable-rich dish.”
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