Ramen Expo 2016

Another year, another Ramen Expo! Don't check which year this is or you'll realize how far behind I am writing these.

またラーメンエキスポ！いつかを確認したら、このブログはどんだけ遅れているかわかるので、勘弁してください。

First up was a collaboration shop, presenting their take on Nagoya's Taiwan Ramen.

まずは台湾ラーメンを提供しているコラボの店。

The Bowl
A pickly, light bowl of clear soup, with simple strands of noodles that almost had the substance of clear rice noodles. The bowl was filled with solid chunks of minchi, chives, and the whole thing was just a bit spicy.

ピックルっぽい透き通ったスープで、春雨麺に若干似ていた細麺でした。ミンチ、ニラが乗っていて、全体的にちょっとピリッと辛かったです。

Next up was Menya Jiro, with tonkotsu ramen from Kagoshima.

次は鹿児島の麺屋二郎のとんこつラーメン。

The Bowl

It was a rich tonkotsu, but without the stinkiness, mellowed by shoyu. The noodles were short and medium-thick, but brought with them the perfect amount of flavorful broth with each bite. There were a couple different slices of chashu, but the thicker one stood out as tender and charred in a way that tastes like good American barbecue pork.

濃いとんこつでしたけど、醤油の影響で臭くなかったです。麺は短めで、一口ごとにちょうどいいスープの分が来ました。チャーシューの二枚があって、特に暑いほうがお気に入りでした。柔らかくて焦げたチャーシューはアメリカのバーベキューポークに似ている味がしました。

Until next year, Ramen Expo.

また来年、ラーメンエキスポ。

Information
ラーメンEXPO

Ajisen

Taiwan ramen is mostly a Nagoya thing, most famously known in beloved Misen. However, there is one shop in Osaka that advertises Taiwan ramen, sneakily similarly named Ajisen (the name is the same when written in Japanese). I was in the mood for something spicy on the way home from work one day, so I stopped in the centrally located Shinsaibashi shop. They offered four different spice levels, and I went with the second spiciest.

台湾ラーメンは名古屋にあるイメージがします。特に大好きな味仙が有名です。だが、大阪には台湾ラーメンの店が一つあります。「味仙」という店の漢字が一緒ですけど読み方は「味線」らしいです。仕事から歩いて帰る途中に何か辛いものを食べたかったので心斎橋にある味仙によりました。台湾ラーメンのメニューの中に普通、ピリ辛、ピリピリ辛、激辛があってわたしはぴりぴりからを頼みました。

The Bowl
The style of the broth matched the standard Misen: thin and clear, but oily and not lacking in spice. There were bits of celery sprinkled on the surface, leading to a pickly current running through the soup. There was something missing though; the flavors didn't stand out the way they did in Misen, and it wasn't helped by the thin, bland noodles. Bobbing in and out of the broth was an onsen egg, hard-boiled strangely like you see in Taiwan.

味仙みたいな油っぽくて辛い透明なスープでした。でも、味仙よりちょっと薄めのイメージがして、深い味より油がちょっと多すぎる感じがしました。セロリがスープの上に乗っていたのでその味とスープの味が混ざってちょっと不思議でした。麺は細くてちょっと味が少なかったです。台湾によくある温泉玉子もスープに入っていました。

Would I Go Again?
Nah.

いいえ。

Should You Go?
You can skip this one.

行かなくていいと思います。

Information
味仙

Misen

I've been pretty insistent about traveling on my three day weekends, and recently I'd been to Tokyo and Fukuoka.  The beginning of October offered another three day weekend, and the next city on my list was Nagoya.  I'd passed through Nagoya before and been to the castle, but pretty much nowhere else.  I knew I wanted to walk around the downtown area of Sakae, check out Atsuta Jingu, but most of all, eat the heralded Taiwan ramen.

Taiwan ramen is not a style offered in many places, and it was created in Nagoya by Misen.  During a break from filling myself with other Nagoyan treats like miso katsu and ten-musu, I walked to the Yabacho Misen and ordered the classic Taiwan ramen.

Information
味仙
Aichi-ken Nagoya-shi Naka-ku Ōsu ３丁目６−３

The Bowl
I tout myself as a guy who likes spice.  And I do.  But when I go to a ramen place that offers a spicy dish, it usually, while delicious, is quite tame.  Misen's Taiwan ramen is not.  It has a clear, thin broth, which is quite spicy, filled with the taste of hot peppers.  The noodles were reminiscent of tan-tan men noodles, thin, curly, and very long.  Chives and ground pork littered the bowl, and my lips were tingly by the end.

Would I Go Again?
Absolutely.  I don't get to Nagoya often, but even if I lived there, I would come by whenever I was hankering for some good spice.

Should You Go?
If you're passing through Nagoya, yes.  If you live in Nagoya, why haven't you gone already?