Going organic in a ramen house, anyone? For a number of people when the word ramen is mentioned, the image of steaming bowls of noodles filled with a fat-laden meat soup base comes into mind. This doesn’t have to be the case all the time. One such ramen place along Denman Street breaks the tradition. It’s a place health-conscious food junkies would want to sit down to have a bite to eat. It’s a place where healthy eating can be a delectable alternative.

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 6– Pièce de résistance

Image cutline: The Spicy Miso Ramen at MotomachiShokudo starts off with an innocuous chicken soup base and is built to perfection with two distinct miso pastes, loads of vegetables and a more delicate noodle than what you’d expect at other ramen shops.

A hand-scrawled note recently landed on my desk indicating that I was to then meet an unnamed informant at a relatively new ramen shop on Denman Street. A new Ramen Quest feature, I thought, and I was up to the challenge!

I started to do my research and my stomach dropped – queries that came to mind included, “what type of madman opens up a restaurant in direct competition half a block away from his original restaurant?” I’m sure that there were answers if the questions were to be phrased correctly, but then if I failed to be unentertaining, perhaps in this situation, it would be curtains for me. I decided to get my affairs in order and inform friends and family of my plans.

Fast forward to entering the place, I was greeted by two relatively sharp looking secret agent types dressed completely in black including black berets. I’m thinking to myself, uh oh – MI6 or Mossad or hired assassins?! Thankfully, they were brandishing gyoza, not guns and I was immediately put at ease when they showed me to a well-lit table in the center of the restaurant. Seated there was a man known only as Taku-san and it became immediately clear that he was willing to answer any question I put forth.

As we chatted, I learned that although Motomachi Shokudo and sister restaurant Kintaro share some ingredients from time to time, Taku-san’s people pride themselves on serving up ramen with a smooth chicken soup base composed of mostly organic ingredients. The original Tokyo-style ramen, he proclaimed. It’s lighter than and not as rich as the popular pork soup based ramen that are de rigeur at other shops.

Upon concluding our discussion, the meal they served to me was something else – Butchigiri Gyoza which was a winner by a long shot and the Spicy (Kara) Miso Ramen served with a ton of vegetables for good health which proved to be the pièce de résistance. With fond memories of this meal and other previous quests, I thought to myself, “another meal enjoyed – another quest done, and so far no price on my head. A good day indeed.”

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

Research coupled with traditional cooking and voila! – you have a dish that’s worth a try. Exploring age-old techniques and methods used to create the most delectable Asian cuisine is not an easy thing to do. From the Land of the Rising Sun to the Sleeping Dragon of the East all the way to the Pearl of the Orient, the diversity of the flavors in the world’s biggest continent is as wide as the ocean that separates Vancouver from it. This is one stop that leaves one’s palate craving for more.

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 5 – Sit Down and Take Notice

Image cutline: When it comes to Ramen, Oru doesn’t mess around – from noodle to broth, their Ramen is just the tip of the iceberg.

If there’s ever a place that will make you sit up and notice the food, it’s Oru. The restaurant’s concept is simple – serve home cooking from various Asian countries in an attempt to one-up Grandma. Located in the recently-opened and beautifully designed Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, Chef David Wong has extraordinarily big shoes to step into. During the development of his menu, Wong made it clear that his staff need to impart their traditional generations’ past recipes and that his research would be carried out over home-cooked meals. The result is food that most anyone will have an opinion about – whether it’s two chefs under Wong’s command having to meet in the middle as to the consistency of their Adobo or visitors enjoying freshly made Naan bread, cooked in Oru’s very own Tandoor oven, that blows away variations available on Main Street’s Punjabi Market.

On one hand, the Chef’s lack of compromise on the quality may have something to do with the immense popularity of this restaurant, but on the other hand maybe he’s just that loveable of a guy and the various Grandmas who have helped Wong develop the menu may have just spilled their secrets. Either way, messing with grandma is a daunting task. I recall once challenging my mom in making an Indian meal. The resultant bruises on my psyche quickly taught that I can’t beat momma’s cooking so to Chef Wong, I wish him all the luck.

As for the Ramen, as in everything they serve at Oru, they did a ton of research to come up with the recipe. It’s a Shoyu Ramen which is much lighter than all the others I’ve reviewed thus far and they’ve gone all the way by making their own noodles – somewhat of an anomaly in the ramen business. Perhaps it’s not too lofty of a vision considering they’re selling dozens, not hundreds of bowls during the course of the day and given the quality that’s built in, it’s a worthwhile stop on the trip to ramen-discovery in Vancouver.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

“There’s no limit possible to the expansion of each one of us. ” – Charles M. Schwab

In the business world, nothing beats expanding a business with franchising and in franchising, the name of the game is how good the product is. In the case of the Suntouka Japanese Ramen, the product is something to rave about. Billed as having the most authentic Japanese ramen in Vancouver, this is definitely a franchise you would want to invest your hard-earned moolah on.

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 4 – The New Kid in Town

Image cutline: Santouka purports to offer the most authentic ramen this side of Tokyo. Flavours include yummy, super yummy and for those searching for the real deal, oishii!

Imagine if Jimmy Pattison knocked on your door, told you that you should keep what you’re doing and he’d market and franchise your business. Pretty neat to be attached to such a juggernaut, don’t you think? Well, that’s essentially the case with the new Suntouka Japanese Ramen shop that recently opened on Robson Street slightly east of Bidwell.

Headquartered in Hokkaido, Japan, the Suntouka and Kamei companies struck a deal some years ago. Kamei, which derives over 4 billion in annual revenues from other ventures including those in the natural resource industry decided to become the company that oversees the franchising of Suntouka Ramen. The company which has stores in the U.S., Singapore, Hong Kong and now Canada, has ambitious plans to show locals what authentic Japanese Ramen is.

The restaurant has four varieties of the standard ramen – Shio Ramen (salt), Shoyu Ramen (soy-sauce), Miso Ramen (fermented soy bean paste) and Kara Miso Ramen (hot spices and fermented soy bean paste) and a number of specialty items and a single item on the menu that can be turned into a vegetarian dish, which is already head and shoulders ahead of the mere mortal ramen joint.

The Ramen that I chose for the purpose of this occasion was the plain Shio Ramen, served warm, not piping hot like other ramen I’ve tried. It was accompanied by braised pork slices topped with sesame seeds, bamboo shoots, green onions, wood ear mushrooms and a single pickled baby plum that is supposed to be nibbled on, one bite at a time during, the enjoyment of the meal. Although the first thing I devoured was that little pickle, it’s absence during the rest of the meal didn’t have any bearing on my absolute enjoyment of the dish from start to finish. I ate the soup to the last drop and will be coming back for more soon. Very soon.

As for the company known only as Kamei, congrats to them on a solid bet with Santouka.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

Korea has its own version of the ramen called ‘ramyeon’. ‘Ramyeon’ is a popular Korean instant meal and is well-known for its chili pepper goodness. Adding their own style to this traditional noodle dish, Korean ‘ramyeon’ comes in beef, seafood and even kimchi flavor. The quest for this Japanese cultural icon has brought me once again to a man whom I met years ago on a different quest.

Some like it hot but this one’s definitely hotter.

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 3 – The Emperor’s Dish

Image cutline: The Sundubu Ramen at Sura is one of the tastiest ramens you’ll ever taste. Pair it with a Soju cocktail to quell the heat, either that or a fire extinguisher.

Michael Kim, the owner of SURA is certainly well known in the Korean community. I first met Kim a couple of years ago at his previous venture, Chung Dam Anh, a Japanese-Korean Izakaya-style speakeasy on Cardero Street just off Robson. If you weren’t in the ‘know,’ chances are you would have never entered through the doors of Chung Dam. Fast forward to today, Kim has opened an equally-mysterious restaurant on Robson Street slightly East of Cardero. You may have a hard time locating a sign on this block that says ‘SURA’ – the majority of their sign is written in Korean and has a small stamp and the word SURA in small letters on the side. Thankfully we’re not in the French Province which has draconian sign laws – or I’m sure by now they’d have lined up the proprietor and subpoenaed him senseless.

Back to the restaurant, it’s an elegant 70 seater that has a descriptive and informative English menu, serves up tasty Korean cuisine and also sports a nice Sake and Wine list. Very accessible. The Sundubu Ramen they list is a spicy soup endowed with soft tofu, your choice of seafood or beef and of course, ramen noodles. On the occasion of this review, I ordered the beef variety of the dish but have since eaten both. The soup is certainly spicier than any Japanese Ramen I’ve ever had but that’s what I’d say is to be expected with Korean cuisine. The noodles are plentiful and at just under ten bucks, given the ambience, the unlimited refills on the complimentary ‘banchan’ (side-dishes including Kimchee) and the superb quality of the ingredients, there’s as much value built in as there is burn-off-your-face heat.

Next time it will be Ramen first, Korean Bar-be-que next and we’ll wash it all down with their innocuous Soju-cocktails.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’