Wow there is so much I need to write up! Friends visiting me, adventures had, all sorts of stuff like that. But first, it has been waaaay too long since I put up a food post. And let's be real, I don't know about you guys but that's what interests me the most about this blog (if you're interested in something other than food posts, maybe this just isn't the blog for you to be reading)
So today we're going to talk about Tsukemen. I'm going to feature two different shops that specialize in this type of ramen. This is a relatively new style of ramen, one that has gotten very popular in recent years. Although Tsukemen can be made from any style of broth (miso ramen, which we've previously discussed is usually my favorite style, is very commonly found as tsukemen), because it's at its root a Tokyo phenomenon I chose two different places that specialize in broths from here in Tokyo
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| Mendokoro Musashi Bukotsu has a classic setup, a small, low-ceilinged room with a counter around the kitchen |
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| Fu-unji on the other favors the long and narrow approach, the entire kitchen strung out so that everyone can watch the show |
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| Here's a picture of the *other* side of the restaurant, yeah that back wall is pretty much constantly full. More on that later |
The first is Mendokoro Musashi Bukotsu, one outlet of the Musashi chain of ramen shops (each with a different style, of course). To get technical, they have a pork-bone based broth but, typical to Tokyo ramen, they add in a strong fish broth flavoring to give it depth
The second is called Fu-unji, which rose to prominence behind its rockstar-styled head chef and its slew of awards. No seriously, they got awarded "Best Ramen in Tokyo" three or four times in the last few years--hence the giant crowd in that photo up there. Most tsukemen places stick with a pork broth, but they blend in chicken broth to lighten it up as well as dried fish powder to really give you a punch of flavor
Let's take a look, shall we?
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| Musashi Bukotsu, tsukemen (large size) |
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| Fu-unji, tsukemen (large size) |
Yup, that's what tsukemen is. Rather than mixing the two together, the broth and noodles are served separately. The broth is much, much strong than its more traditional cousins, to compensate for the fact that you don't get as much in each bite. In turn, the noodles are usually a little bit thicker in order to stand up to the presence of strong flavors
So, what do I think of tsukemen? Well, as I mentioned in the title of this blog, the old curmudgeon in me doesn't always approve. A lot of the old guard, both diners and chefs, think of tsukemen as kind of a cop-out. New wave, trying too hard to be cool, a way of avoiding having to do the delicate balancing act of placing noodles in soup while still maintaining the proper texture and strength of broth. So yeah, a lot of me doesn't approve. But on the other hand, I gotta admit . . . having a small amount of very strongly flavored broth to play with and mix with noodles to my own palette? It's not bad
And places like these two do their broth pretty goddamn well, so I'm not gonna complain too hard if they want to go overboard and really punch up the flavor. The pork flavor with Musashi Bukotsu is strong but the broth is not heavy, which is an amazing balancing act of controlling the level of fat. Throw in stewed pork to add richness and raw onions to cut the strong flavors, and this plays very well. Similarly, the fish powder floating on top of Fu-unji's pork and chicken broth mix would be overpoweringly strong in a traditional presentation, but here it works pretty damn deliciously to make for a very smooth and rich experience
I still like my traditional ramen, still respect that as the trickiest and most impressive presentation of broth and noodle. But hey, I won't turn down good tsukemen. Plus, not to be too much of a wimp, but as the weather gets warmer and warmer every day here in Tokyo, I gotta admit the slightly lower temperature consumed with tsukemen can be kind of nice . . .
Noah out
I've decided to start adding an "in this post" section to provide information about all these places that I visit. I realized that I've benefited from others' blog posts in the past, and I think it's only right to pay it forward (plus, bizarrely, a friend discovered that some of my posts actually come up if you Google the English names of some of these places. This is weird). And hey, if I get really ambitious I'll even go back and add this to my old posts
In this post:
Menya Musashi Bukotsu
Tokyo, Taito-Ku, Ueno 6-7-3 (on the Southwest corner of the block)
11:30-22:00 daily (although they occasionally open up a bit earlier)
Funji
Tokyo, Shibuya-ku, Yoyogi 2-14-3
11:00-15:00; 17:00-21:00
Closed Sundays and holidays
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