Currently trying to work this out…This is first blog I have made besides any tumblr ones. Honestly I am not much of a tech person so this website is pretty basic. I just needed a platform where I can talk about one of the things I loveee eating from Japanese cuisine which is ramen!
Even though I am part Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean and I should be eating other things often, I grew up with ramen. Specifically with Japanese ramen! There is Korean ramen too but there is a difference between the two. Korean ramen has thicker noodles and more spicy as Japanese ramen is thinner and uses chicken/pork broth.

Ramen originated in China but was introduced in Japan during the 17th-20th century. How was it first introduced in Japan? It is not clear how it was introduced in Japan but there were many records that claimed a Chinese scholar by the name Shu Shunsui that brought the recipe of ramen with him when escaping China. Although there were records of him bringing the recipe to the country, there were no records of him actually cooking ramen.
Creds + More info on history

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Although traditional ramen wasn’t originated in Japan, instant ramen was. It was born in 1985, 10 years after World War II. There were major food shortages in Japan after their defeat so the US provided them with wheat flour to make bread. Momofuku Ando, the man who created instant ramen had an idea to make noodles out of the wheat flour. His idea was to create noodles that can last long. It took him a year to finally be able to create what he imagined after putting noodles into hot tempura oil. It dehydrated the noodles but can easily be recooked when needed. He then mass produced the product, labeling it Top Ramen and it became a huge success. It was cost effective and can easily be made. In 1971 cup noodles were introduced. Today, instant ramen is a common food in Japan and is usually shown in shows/cartoons.

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Even though it’s affordable and can be cooked in less than 10 minutes, it’s unhealthy with the soup base. The soup base comes in a powder form which is later mixed with hot water. I don’t often eat instant ramen with the soup base provided, I usually make my own chicken broth and use the noodles to make mine. Lately, I have been eating cup noodles since I don’t have much time to make my own broth anymore. What can I possibly be busy with? I currently work as a secretary in a doctors office and I work until later hours so it’s hard to cook my own meals now.

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With this blog, I am mainly focusing on Japanese ramen but on the side I’ll give reviews of places near me (Ottawa, ON Canada) that involves with Japanese cuisine. I’ll be posting more soon within this blog along with giving information about the Ramen Roadshow in Tokyo.

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Although my background isn’t Japanese. I eat ramen quite often when I was younger. I also had ramen on my rough years too. My parents live separately but I live with my dad. He had to get multiple jobs to pay for rent so it was rare for him to make food for me and my sister. I didn’t have much experience when it came for cooking and my sister only knew how to make chicken broth. We didn’t want to just drink chicken broth so we bought a bunch of instant ramen packs and used the noodles + spice pack from those. So technically I grew up with instant ramen with some chicken broth but for actual ramen, I often ate it when I was going through tough times. For example I had many struggles with social anxiety(always had it) and depression over the past few years. I often had really deep thoughts questioning my own existence. There is a lot I am unsure about. I don’t even know myself, like I have and idea of what I like and what I dislike. I know how some people view me whether it is good or bad but I don’t really know well…myself. I often just have voices in my mind and some of them consists of “Am I who you think I am?”, “Am I only doing this because I am a good person or that I am doing this to be praised?” and “Who are you outside of what you do?” I’m not sad, I’m just tired.

 

I think roughly a year ago when I was eating ramen, I answered the last question in my mind. I was just someone who was tired of being put to the side, to be forced to wear masks, people I’m forced to be. Creating versions of myself to appease everyone around me. I was just tired, I was just blank. I continued thinking while eating my ramen. My thoughts then exploded. There is always a reason why its easier to sing in the shower, goof around in your house alone…It’s easier to be you when no one else is watching. Once people come in to watch you, judgement comes too. There is always a fear to be judge to the point you start judging yourself too. I am speaking for myself too. I want to find the same comfort as when I am with myself as I am with others. I want to know more about self acceptance, self love, self everything. Which is why I started going out more especially to ramen restaurants. To try to figure out myself, trying to figure out how to be “me” when I go out. I surround myself with people I trust and believe that will be good for me in the future. I need to learn how to let go of others and move on. I need to learn how to not neglect myself for most of the time. I need to observe others too along with not comparing myself with them. I am never behind or ahead of anyone, I am just where I need to be. I will continue growing and developing an open mind. Wow this is so deep but ramen just played a huge role in my life since it was there when I was having all of these intense thoughts.

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Japanese milk bread is different than the regular breads. It is much airy, fluffier and tender unlike regular breads. It doesn’t have a thick crust nor is it crunchy. It is common for it to be served as a starter! I always make Japanese milk bread at home so here’s my recipe for it!

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Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of yeast
3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 cups of all purpose flour

Directions:
1. Add milk and cream into a measuring cup and put into a microwave until the mixture is slightly above 110°F
2. Add sugar into the hot milk mixture and mix slowly. Let it cool down to 100°F
3. Add yeast into the mixture and let it bloom for 10-15 minutes. There should be foaming on the surface
4. A different bowl, add the flour and salt and mix thoroughly with a whisk.
5. Add the liquid mixture into the stand mixer with a paddle and slowly add the flour until it becomes a shaggy dough.
6. Use a dough hook until the dough is smooth yet still a bit tacky. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour.
8. Knead the bread slightly until no bumps.
7. Grease a large bowl with cooking spray, add the bread into the pan and grease with cooking spray. Wrap the bowl in saran wrap and let it proof overnight.
8. Dump the dough out and knead it slightly. Then form it into 8 small balls and place them in a baking pan. Let it proof for 20-30 minutes
9. Preheat the oven to 350°F
10. Add a light wash of the egg wash on the bread using a brush.
12. Put it into the oven for 20 minutes

Seaweed Salad Recipe:
Seaweed salad is often a side dish with ramen. Seaweed salad is very healthy and includes many nutrients that we need in such a small dish. I really enjoy having seaweed salad and it’s one of my favourite salads by far!

Ingredients: (4 serviRecipe Creditss)
30 grams (1 ounce) dry mixed seaweed
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Dressing:
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar (you can substitute a 1/2 tablespoon agave)
1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ginger juice
Garnish:
1 scallion, finely chopped

Instructions:
Put dry seaweed in COLD water and let it soak for roughly 10-12 minutes(for tenderness). If you prefer it to be on the crunchier side, soak it for roughly 5-7 minutes
For the dressing, combine rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt and ginger juice in a small bowl and lightly whisk.
Drain the seaweed and squeeze out any excess water using your hands. Clean the bowl using a dry towel and put the seaweed back in. Add the dressing and sesame seeds and lightly toss to combine. Garnish with scallions

I currently have culinary as one of my courses for this semester and one of the marked labs we had is to create a cake about one of the world food issues we are facing. We were in groups of four(I was in a group of 5)  and my group decided to make a cake about over-fishing. We were also told to write about our world food issue and why is it impacting our environment. My group decided to create a basic white cake using the creaming method (beating fat and sugar together before adding wet/dry ingredients). I then created the design of the cake, we decided it would be three layers and would have an ombre effect from dark blue at the bottom to light blue at the top.

 

I am going to be really honest, I should’ve said\went through my own plan than being passive when it came to the design. Thing is that I didn’t want to smear icing on the cake, I wanted to frost the cake using the petal technique but my group didn’t understand until last minute. I also wanted to use three different shades of blue by going a bit more of a ultramarine blue to a sea-foam possibly? Again my group didn’t understand when I was explaining..more like they ignored my idea. I also said we should make fondant fishes instead of icing them and one of them was kinda arguing with me saying icing fish would be tastier (it would be but man piping out fish is hard). Everyone else agreed with her so I kinda just shut my mouth and waited until she started piping out the fish last minute and then said I was right aha..wow. At least they listened to my boat idea by making it out of fondant along with the fisherman. Problem is I also mentioned a pile of fish in the boats but they didn’t like the idea oh well. I also thought at the end of the challenge to create seaweed on the sides of the cake but we didn’t have enough time so er…Anyways enough of me being salty about this onto the cake! We decided to a basic white cake along with a buttercream frosting.

 

On the first day, two of my group-mates made the cake as I did both the icing and the fondant. The other two also did help make the fondant boats but cleaned majority of our dishes. When making the cake it is important to mix both dry and wet ingredients in a 4:3 ratio (starting with flour and ending with flour) for the batter to be much smoother and to prevent over-mixing. Same rule goes for the buttercream frosting with the milk and icing sugar. Also sugar is not a dry ingredient! It is supposed to be beat with the vegetable oil then add the eggs! After the cake was baked, we made the crumb layer. What we forgot to make was a simple syrup to keep the cake moist. We then iced the cake, put the fondant boats+fish on the cake and created waves with white frosting.

What was expected with evaluation was how the cake tasted, if we measured the ingredients properly, if we baked the cake properly etc. Also if we enhanced the flavour the cake in any way. Does the cake easily represent our issue? What techniques we used, etc. Finally if our written portion had enough information. Overall I got a -4 on this project and this is what my cake looks like:

Recently I have went to two different ramen restaurants. One called Kuidaore and the other Sansotei Ramen. I’ll be doing a compare and contrast review for my time eating there.

Sansotei Ramen: Their Official Website

Address: 153 Bank St. Ottawa ON CA.

Hours: Mon-Sat: 11AM-10PM

Sunday: CLOSED

Phone Number: 613-695-1718

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Oh my this place was a dream. This is a very popular ramen place in Ottawa at the moment so it took awhile for me and my friends to be seated…more like it took almost an hour to be seated since there were so many people there plus some lined up. I would be complaining but I was with my friends so I just spent my time talking to them so it wasn’t bad. We were then seated and given menus.

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I ordered Shoyu Ramen($9.50) along with Zangi($4.50) and Ramune($3.50). It didn’t take too long for them to come, more like it came fairly quickly. The ramen was very good! So flavourful and the portion is big compared to the price! It quickly filled up my stomach.

The zangi was amazing like I wish I can swear on this but it was so delicious I cried inside. The ramune was just regular ramune, it was really good though! I really like ramune and the price was good compared to what they sells in stores (T&T sells them for $5 rip). The staff were very nice, checking up on us every once in a while to refill water, etc. One of my friends couldn’t have pork in her ramen and since they only had pork broth, she had to eat it either way but asked the server to switch out the pork toppings for something else. They were really nice about it and reassured her. Overall I would definitely go to this place again! More like go to this place more often since you get so much for roughly $12-$16! My only critique is that it was a bit crowded since it was a small place, so maybe they should expand their store (or open more) so it might be a bit roomy?
Kuidaore: Their Official Website

Address: 420 Preston St, Ottawa, ON CA.

Hours:

Monday: CLOSED                                                                                                                                  Tuesday: 5-11PM                                                                                                                                    Wednesday-Thursday: 12-11PM                                                                                                        Friday-Saturday: 12PM-12AM

Phone Number: 613-422-7537

I arrived there at roughly 5-6pm along with 3 other people (2 are friends and the other is my sister) and it was empty. There wasn’t any other customers until an hour later and what I mean other customers, I mean 2 people. I was there until nearly closing time. The place looked quite small on the outside but the inside was amazing. I loved the decor and the paintings on the wall!
The waitress was very nice, showing us our table almost immediately after we arrived to the place. She later served water and gave us our menus after we sat.
Their Menu

I ordered the seafood ramen with thin noodles. I also ordered karaage and a geisha drink. What the weird thing is that they didn’t put the prices for the drinks until later but I’ll talk about that later. Prices are quite reasonable with karaage being $8 for 6pcs as the seafood ramen was $16.00 The thing is that it’s quite small for what you´re getting when it comes to the ramen.The presentation was very well done and made it look pleasing. The portion was very small and wasn’t really that hot (temperature wise). The soup base was pretty good but wasn’t worth the price. To be quite honest, it kinda tasted like instant noodles. The karaage is just as expected, a crispy fried outer layer as the inside is soft and tender when it slides down the throat. I felt like the pieces were quite small but for the price, it’s reasonable. The Geisha was amazing but dupable. It was in a small glass which makes me rage so much because of the price…it was $10. $10 for one itty bitty teeny tiny glass where I can finish that in 2 minutes. Not worth the price since I can make multiple Shirley Temples with that money.Besides the price, the drink was really good! Lots of fizz on the tongue as the taste of sweet berries sweeps to the tastebuds. After eating my ramen and finishing my sides, I ordered dessert. I ordered the Strawberry Lychee Kakigori which (soft shaved ice) for $7. Shaved ice looks great and all but majority is just water in solid form and flavouring. Although the price killed me inside a bit, the dessert was amazing.

The staff was great, they were quick and efficient with our orders (come to think of it we were the only ones there oh well). Anyways my dinner came to $33 and was it worth it? Not really since I am a broke high school student who works hours long, I don’t really have that type of money and it quickly puts a hole through it. I would not go back unless it’s with my friends. The portions are small for the price, not the best either

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The Tokyo Ramen Show starts at late October and ends in early November. The show is split into two parts, the first half runs for 6 days with 18 different ramen vendors as the second half runs for 5 days with 18 different vendors from the first half. The entry fee is free but in order to eat ramen, you need to buy tickets and each ticket costs ¥1000 ($11.80 CAD). I am only able to attend the first half so I booked my flight to Tokyo (Haneda Airport) from Nepean, Ottawa, ON (Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport) using Air Canada. It is a 19 hour flight for one way and costs $1500 for a round trip. After arriving at the airport, I used Japan Taxi to get to the hotel I am staying at.

Photo Creds along with Contact/Booking info!
I am staying at COTO Tokyo Shibuya 3 and it is a three star hotel. It costs $38 USD per person per night. There is free wifi, a kitchenette, private bathroom, washing machine, etc provided per each room. It took me 22 minutes to arrive at the hotel, I later paid the Japan Taxi ¥1000 ($10).

Photo Creds along with Booking/Contact Info!
An alternative hotel to stay at is The B Tokyo Sangenjaya. It costs $137 per night and they provide a private bathroom, flat screen tv, tea/coffee making machines, two beds, heating and air conditioning. After arriving, I slept after changing into my pajamas since the flight made me so exhausted and jetlagged. The next day I ate breakfast at the hotel then left to go to the Ramen Show. From COTO to Komazawa Olympic Park was only a 17 minute walk.

Photo Creds!
When arriving to the Ramen Show, it was jammed packed with so many people from Japanese citizens to foreigners. There was a booth where tickets to exchange for ramen were being sold so I went there first. I didn’t know how many bowls I could finish so I went for one ticket. I later exchanged it for a bowl of seafood ramen. The portion served was quite big for the price and it was really good! My only critique for the Ramen Show was to have more tables though…The lines were very long too. While my time there, I learned some cool facts about ramen. Instant ramen used to be considered a luxury item when it was first introduced in 1985! It was cheaper to buy udon than instant ramen woah! It was also the first type of noodle in space, being invented in 2005 by Momofuku Andu! It is also important to not talk while eating ramen, it shows respect to the person who cooked the meal.
More Facts!
Anyways the rest of my trip consisted of me going to the Ramen Show along with going to many attractions in Tokyo!

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There was the Studio Ghibli Museum where they showed many sceneries plus BTS(behind the scenes)/sketches of their animated movies.
Studio Ghibli Museum Website

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Their Official Youtube Channel
In Akihabara, Tokyo there is a maid cafe named @Home Cafe! It is a cafe with extremely cute foods/desserts as girls in maid uniforms serve you along with taking photos with them! I think that does it with my trip to Tokyo…wow now I miss it oh.