In Search of the Holy Ramen

One of the benefits of being a teacher in Japan is that you meet new students all the time and from that you often get recommended new places to visit. At the start of each school year, I do a self-introduction, giving basic info about myself – facts about country of origin, life in japan, likes and dislikes, that kind of thing. The things I most enjoy talking about is my favourite and least favourite foods – an easy attention getter in any language. 

One of my favourite foods in Japan is miso ramen (Chinese noodle dish adopted by the Japanese in a similar way that curry was by the British). There are many different types of ramen, and I like most of them, but miso flavour has always been the dish of choice.

Scenario: Classroom full of 30 new students.

“I like ramen”, I say.

Students: “heeeeeeeeeh” (Many connotations, but basically "Oh, wow.") the standard response.

“I love miso ramen”, I continue. “Do you like miso ramen?" (leading question).

Either silence or excited muttering to each other in Japanese. “So, if you know any good ramen shops, please let me know!” It's a sure bet saying this to a room of 30 people that someone has the information I'm after.

“Hands up who likes miso ramen”, I urge. 

Maybe one or two hands, even though a lot more probably do. Anyway, I get names and places. This year I had a student approach me after the lesson especially to tell me that she knew of a good miso place in Motoyawata (10 minutes from my apartment). Great! After getting a bit excited about a new place to explore, I realised that I had been there once already (often the case with ramen restaurants). But since I've started writing this blog, I thought I'd give it another go. Any excuse.

The weather was awful but I persevered. Nothing that a warm ramen can't sort out! The shop is around two minutes walk from Motoyawata JR station. Name: Gaten. Apparently this place gets so busy sometimes that you have to make reservations. Not so today though, as the weather and the timing (about 5pm) put paid to that.

As with a lot of ramen restaurants in Japan there is a system where you buy tickets from a machine as you walk in (good for getting people in and out quickly). The machine, all in Japanese, took a bit of working out as my kanji reading skills are not all that good. However, I found the miso + char siu (Chinese barbecued pork) without much bother. 

So, one of those, a small bowl of rice, and a large bottle of Kirin beer (heh, go large, why not?). ¥1500 in total. A gentlemen came to collect my tickets and showed me to my seat at the back. The place was pretty empty and I could have chosen to sit in a slightly bigger area that is raised and seats around six but I went for a table for two. 

The waiter brought me my oshibori (hand towel), water, and beer and I sat back and perused the joint. Nice place, quite spacious, with plenty of light and some not too intrusive J-Pop playing in the background. Also there were some pictures colored in by local kids on the walls. It gave the place a nice feeling, which is unlike some ramen restaurants that are akin to run-down greasy cafes and have little in the way of atmosphere.

The food arrived. This was a standard miso ramen with char siu pork, with egg, menma (bamboo shoots) and sweetcorn topping. I used some of the condiments – spoonful of garlic, dabble of red-hot chill sauce, and black pepper. These are perfect for some extra tang. There are other things such as shouyu (soy sauce), shijimi (dry red pepper), and white vinegar, but these are mainly used for other dishes which are plentiful on the menu here. 

I requested the soup abura (fattiness) be futsu (regular). The dish came with the usual sprinkling of pork fat on the top (doesn't sound too appetizing but it really does complement it). The meat was cut thin and was a little fatty, but melted in the mouth perfectly. Combined with the rice and the beer, it went down very well. I'll definitely come here again and will bring people with me. I have been to other places in Motoyawata that have different combinations of toppings that I prefer and a slightly thicker soup and thicker meat, but this was by no means a disappointing dish. 

You can pick up dedicated ramen magazines at convenience stores that review most places in your local area and I will be checking the closest one to me in search of the perfect ramen feast. In the meantime though, I'd come here again and definitely with friends so we can enjoy the experience together.

I'm seeing the student tomorrow that gave me the information about Gaten. She'll be very pleased that I give it a enthusiastic “oishiiii!” when she asks how it was.

Directions: http://tinyurl.com/7qkk3gq