ramen in portland

Whenever I go to Japan I never miss the chance to explore good bowls of ramen. For a long time I have followed a few notable ramen blogs. Most of these bloggers are American expats living in Japan and have thousands of bowls under their belt (pun intended).

Sorry for the deceptive title as it is a spin of the title of my post on ramen in Japan. This post is actually about my home made ramen, not great ramen you can find in Portland.

When I am back home I seldom go eat ramen in a restaurant. Why? Of all that I had ever tried, they are miserably prepared, and cut a lot of corners. While there may be some exceptions in big cities like New York City. Even in San Francisco finding an acceptable bowl is next to impossible.

While there are many things that are wrong with the run of the mill ramen joints, the most obvious element is the soup base. Few bother to make the broth from scratch. Instead ready made soup powder is used. Even when a real chicken or pork bone broth is made ready made soup powder or MSG are added to the very weak broth to add flavor that is otherwise lacking. I can go on and on breaking down the other ingredients, especially the flavorless and tough slices of pork.
this is the most popular and regarded ramen joint in San Francisco's Japantown

while there are many much worst ramen places, the broth here is weak and the pork is tough and lack flavor; ok, i do give them the benefit they have a relatively low price point to maintain

Preparing ramen at home from scratch can take a lot of work and involve a lot of ingredients. To prepare bowls of ramen properly, you never prepare the basic ingredients for a few bowl. For instance you want to render a big batch of pork bone broth. Similarly you would want to braise a big piece of pork shoulder, belly, or butt. Fortunately I have manage to improvise and use the basic ingredients to prepare other dishes and avoiding eating ramen meal after meal.

Like any soup noodles the central cast of the whole show is the quality of the soup broth. There is only one way to achieve a meaty and tasty broth - make it from scratch with honest ingredients.

here in Portland I have access to very good and pork bone; it is also very economical

I prefer pork bone broth over chicken but it is just a personal preference. When I make a batch of meat broth I used it for many different dishes. Very often I keep a pot in my refrigerator. For instance the same broth can easily turned into a leek soup.

I for the meat topping I bought a piece of pork shoulder and a piece of pork belly. Normally the most expedient way to prepare them is to braise in a soy sauce, water, seasoning and modest amount of spices or garlic/ginger. I decided to be experimental so I chose to smoke both in my hillbilly BBQ pit.
this is about one and a half pound

 this is pretty lean piece of pork belly with nice layers fat interlace with layers of lean meat

just salt and pepper - i use a knife tip to poke a lot of holes on the skin to allow the salt to work into the skin side of the pork belly

the smoked pork shoulder

 to demonstrate how I use the prepared ingredients for other dish, here I prepare a bánh mì sandwich

 i even made some pickled cucumber and carrot from scratch (in the bowl)

 a slightly overstuffed bánh mì

 yesterday I prepared this relatively simple bowl of ramen using spaghetti standing in for real ramen noodle

 i also added a bit of watercress which is rather unconventional

Today I wanted to make a more authentic bowl of ramen so I went to the store and bought some Japanese bamboo shoot, as well as some ramen noodles. It turned out the bamboo shoot is just preserved in a tasteless liquid so I seasoned a small match enough for a few bowls of ramen.

I always check the country of origin; this is from Japan; I all but stop buying all food stuff from China with very few exceptions

 I happen to prepared lobster Thermidor last night so I want to use some lobster meat in the ramen

 lobster thremidor

 i toasted a sheet of nori

 how i keep the nori from curing while toasting it over the gas flame

 a few slices of pork belly and shoulder

 the lobster meat

 spring onion from my garden

For the soup broth I added a bit of miso and lobster juice to enrich the pork bone broth.
a bowl of ramen fit for shogun Tokugawa - i didn't bother to make some half-boiled egg

 the appearance of a very rich and flavorful broth

Recently I pay a visit to San Francisco. No visit to the city is complete without dropping into Soko Hardware in the Japantown. Soko is my favorite Japanese store in the North America for years. I was in such a hurry I failed to take some photographs of the store.
i could not resist buying this exquisite basket made of bamboo - it is from Burma (Myanmar)

I saw this traditional hook used by laborers (like longshoremen often in a market or harbor) to handle heavy basket or sacks but not feasible to bring back with me in my flights. I have no idea what I would do with it but I just think it is so beautiful in the form follows function way.

Chinese has a similar tool but the handle is arrange in a T-shape, giving a more secure grip. I joked with the store clerk that I want it as a weapon and he smiled.

I also bought another one of this pine stool for used in the bathroom which I plan to renovate into a traditional Japanese bath

Here are a few noteworthy ramen blogs that I used to follow:
ramen adventures
go ramen!
rameniac

On my way back from San Francisco I took a detour through central Oregon. There is this classic beauty and I could not believe my eyes.

it is a Citroën H Van the owner brought over from Paris and then did a labor of love restoration

i would do anything to just to drive it around the block...

 the owner couple were very graceful and showed me the inside

it is front wheel drive with a 3-speed manual transmission; the shift pattern is arranged in a H pattern but with the second and third on the left hand side of the H! Yep, just what you can expect from the defiant French - love it! also the suicide door arrangement is a logical design choice

No one should ever add a car audio to this vehicle. Doing so commits a crime against humanity - well at least against that of French culture.

this is another classic Citroën I came across while in New Orleans

No so spectacular but still one of the more interesting vehicle is this pint size motorhome from Europe. I cannot recognize what it is but it seems to be built on a French or British chassis.

Recognize Brunnhilde (being a James Cook from Westfalia thus the common European fellowship) the owner couple waved at me. I have been seeing an ever increase of Europeans bringing their own vehicle to tour the United States and Canada. I've seen many VW vans including Eurovans, as well as A few Westfalia motorhomes and campers.