Lunch at David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar, East Village, NYC (171 1st Ave btwn 10th & 11th)

 

Photo Credit: Momofuku Facebook Page

David Chang’s Momofuku has been credited with having led the advent of the ramen movement in the U.S.  He, arguably, put the delicious soup on the proverbial map on this continent for many of people.

It is always interesting to me how many people looked at me with puzzled faces whenever I mentioned my 45+ day love affair with the classic Japanese soup, which to be clear and historically correct, ramen was introduced to Japan by Chinese immigrants and traders over a century ago.  Immediately, their first thoughts were of the packaged dried noodle, spices, and vegetables we all survived on in college or even, for some, as job-hunting adults. 

Nissin Foods founder Momofuku Ando is credited with the instant noodle’s introduction (1958 and in stores 1971), but the dish as a whole far surpasses the reconstitution of Cup Noodles and Top Ramen in the U.S.

The narrow perception of some Americans where international cuisine is concerned-especially those that are not-so-well-traveled or, even worse, those not willing to "eat outside the box" or outside of their comfort zone-is devastatingly and overwhelmingly sad to me.

As the RamenRater, a legally blind man out of Washington who has changed the bloggersphere by tasting instant noodles from multiple countries all over Asia and becoming famous for it, stated during recent interview with Lucas Peterson on www.luckypeach.com: 
"I’m not a rich man, by any means—my whole philosophy is that I do all of my traveling through my palate. Every time I try one, it’s something new. I very, very rarely eat a variety twice. It would be a waste, since it’s a chance to add to my list of conquered instant noodles."

In fact, it has been established that the instant noodles we look upon as the food of the poor and struggling are part of the diet for lower to upper class people in Asia.

Ramen is a style/type of Asian noodle like soba, udon, vermicelli, mein, etc. 
My home state of New Jersey is also the home (Hawaii being the first) of a famous ramen noodle production company where the noodles have been produced for restaurants all over the United States since 1981!  
Sun Noodle provides noodles to Momofuku Noodle Bar (NYC), Union Republic (NJ) and many others. 
They also intermittently open for classes and tastings at their Edgewater, NJ location.

Eating at Momofuku Noodle Bar is a dream for many a ramen-lover.  
I recently (years after the ramen boom) have fallen deeply in love with steaming bowls of beautiful broth filled with perfect noodles, veg, and meats from Paris to Boston, to NYC and there’s no real foreseeable end to my madness.  And that suits me just fine.

Ramen is immensely diverse from the style of tare (the base of the broth)- shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), or miso (fermented beanpaste); tonkotsu style broth; and a variety of toppings including pork (minced, sliced, belly, offal), chicken, seafood, tofu, a variety of vegetables, lard, spices, and herbs. 
Often times there's also a boiled, soft/runny or raw egg and occasionally a tea or soy egg.  
The show stoppers are always the broth and the noodle.

Then there's Tsukemen style where noodles and broth are served separate and you enthusiastically dunk the noodles into the broth before slurping them.  

Mazemen is a brothless version where all ingredients are in the same bowl and mixed together upon eating, like a Korean Bibim Guksu (Bibimbop with noodles versus rice).

Momofuku's Mazemen: Ginger Scallion Noodles with pickled shiitake, cucumber, cabbage, and pork shoulder with kombu

Other delicious, popular noodle soups include , Beef Noodle Soup and Ka Tieu (Taiwan), Pho and Banh Canh (Vietnam), Banmian (China), Laksa (Malaysia), and many more!

Check out my ramen runs in Paris, here.

 Before dousing with sriracha, gochujant, or any other sauces, savor the broth, chew the noodle, take in the steam, then slurp like there’s no tomorrow…it’s absolutely, culturally acceptable.

As we awaited the text message declairing that our table was available, we visited a shop up the street for a few gyoza to whet our appetite.

At Momofuku Noodle Bar, before ordering our individual ramen and mazeman choices, we enjoyed a few other stapled small plates.
 
Momofuku's umami-forward, garlicky kimchi was excellent!  Bright, funky, tangy, crisp, brined then fermented napa cabbage with carrots, Korean chili, fish sauce, herbs and spices.  We ordered it to taste alone and with the dishes we planned to sample-especially the bao. 

Shrimp & Grits with Benton's bacon, a poached egg, and scallions

We loved the Shrimp & Grits.  
The tender, plump shrimp rested in the center of Ansel Mills coarse, yellow grits cooking in dashi broth (I believe) to the consistency of congee.  
Chewy bits of Benton's hickory smoked, brown sugar/salt/pepper-cured bacon out of Tennessee, a perfectly poached egg, and chopped scallions.
We politely avoided licking the bowl...because our mamas raised us better than that!

An even more amazing dish was the caramelized Brussels sprouts roasted and served in a light, sweet dashi broth and tossed with crunchy, halved, toasted hazelnuts, and diced bitter-sweet green apples.  
Like icing on a cake, the dish was topped with dancing shavings of katsuobushi (dried, fermented, aged, petrified tuna) also called bonito flakes, imparting umami flavor to an already earthy, sweet, and sour dish.

Katsuobushi Block.  The block is shaved over dishes.    Photo Credit: "Katsuobushi block" by Andy king50

  
We seriously could not get enough!  
It was the one dish we ordered that we would not allow to leave the table until we finished every last morsel...
"make room for the Brussels!"

Brussels Sprouts, Dashi broth, Green Apples, Toasted Hazelnuts, Katsuobushi

Brussels Sprouts, Dashi broth, Green Apples, Toasted Hazelnuts, Katsuobushi

The wings were perfectly smoked and sticky with a bit of heat with garlic, pickled chili, and scallions.
 

Smoked Chicken Wings- garlic, pickled chili, scallions

Of course we sampled the bao (steamed buns).  We ordered the brisket buns- thick, juicy, tender cuts of brisket rested on horseradish, pickled red onion, and cucumber sandwiched between soft, moist steamed buns.
  I added a bit of the kimchi for extra kick and texture.

Brisket bao

Brisket bao topped with housemade kimchi

NOW FOR THE RAMEN BOWLS!!!

The ramen, procured from Sun Noodle (Edgewater, NJ) provided toothsome, springy bites with the kinks picking up the perfect amount of broth and fresh ingredients.

The Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowl
A mazemen (brothless) bowl.  Atop perfect noodles sat slivers of pickled shiitake mushrooms, cucumber, scallions, and cabbage with tender, shredded pork shoulder.

Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowl

Spicy Miso Ramen
Smoked chicken, poached egg, and spinach.
The rich broth packed nice heat with tender slices of chicken afloat.

Spicy Miso Ramen

Spicy Miso Ramen

Classic Momofuku Ramen 
Pork belly, Pork Shoulder, Poached Egg, Scallions, and Narutomaki (traditional fish cake role with pink spiral)
The Momofuku classic ramen was beautifully balanced. A flavorful bowl of rich broth, tender shreds of pork shoulder and thick cut, perfectly fatty pork belly.  Simply delicious!

Momofuku Ramen

Momofuku Ramen

We had a blast!

Cheers to David Chang and team for a beautiful experience.  My two girlfriends are now new ramen lovers!  Can't wait to visit other restaurants in the group!  
See ya in March!