Ramen Archives - Eat Your Broccoli!

April 28, 2014

Sushi Bistro Anzu

Ahh, another restaurant has risen from what was formerly known as Wa’s. Another new restaurant, serving ramen. A must try for me. Well, they are a sushi restaurant, and just happen to have two ramen dishes. And a bunch of udon and soba.

We were quite hungry after a day at the climbing gym. We started with the wakame salad. It was light and refreshing topped with what tasted like toasted burdock root.

The grilled oyster was pretty tasty. It was cooked in a mayonnaise and cheese sauce, topped with tobiko.

I ordered their tonkotsu ramen, which had the white broth which is typical of this style. It was quite good. I inquired about the noodles; they were from frozen. Which is fine with me, as I’ve had frozen ramen that was tasty. My friend had the spicy ramen, appropriately called “Hell Ramen”. I had to agree, it was hot.

The staff were pleasant and friendly. We went early in the dinner hour, so it wasn’t too busy. Return visit? I think so.

August 25, 2013

A Trip to the Chinese Grocery Store

I went to Lambda Supermarket today and found some unusual items that I have been looking a while for. I always thought this store had less selection than T&T and Topps, but today I was pleasantly surprised.

I’m slowly putting together a plan for making ramen noodles. Food grade potassium carbonate, lye water or kansui is used to impart the yellow color and chewiness in the noodles. It’s also used to boil bagels. In stronger concentrations, it’s used in soap making as well as oven and drain cleaner. Sound delicious? Now all I need is a pasta roller attachment for my KitchenAid standmixer.

I’ve been looking for fresh ramen noodles too. The fresh package I bought did not look or taste like ramen. The frozen is pictured below and locally made; I have yet to try it. The most authentic I’ve tried came from a local shop in Toronto.

The third item is frozen pandanus leaves. They are used a lot in south east Asian cooking. I had a use for them at one point; now I have forgotten what it was. Oh well, when I remember, I will have them at hand. I own a copy of Thai Street Food by David Thompson and it has all sorts of dessert recipes that use that ingredient.

Potassium carbonate, pandanus leaves and fresh ramen

November 15, 2012

Kinton Ramen

There are no outstanding ramen places in Calgary. I am so glad that there is a large variety in Toronto. My sister took me to Kinton Ramen, in Baldwin Village. It is small, with everyone sitting at communal tables. The atmosphere is much like a Izakaya with the staff shouting greetings as you leave over the general din. The broth is very good and tasted like it had been stewing for days.

I had the Shiro Ramen with the rich broth and pork belly. The noodles were nice and chewy. The pork was cooked perfectly, and the broth was not too salty.

kintonramen2 — Shiro Ramen
sea salt, kinton pork, beansprout, nori, seasoned egg

I tried my sister’s Spicy Garlic Ramen. Nice kick with the heat and full garlic flavor. We also tried the Gyoza which was hot and flavorful. I would say that this is a very good ramen place and worth another visit.

Sadly, I did not finish my soup otherwise I would have been a Kinton Bowler.