@Elvin Yung <@shikaku.ramen>

Cleaned-up notes from research, translations, experiments, recipe testing, etc.

🍜 Making Truly Great Noodles At Home

Every Single Ramen Shop I Visited In Japan, 2022 Edition

(2022-12-31) Japan finally reopened earlier this year and I’ve been making up for lost time since. This is a raw list of every shop I’ve been to in Japan this year! Just over 60 bowls from just under 60 shops, not bad for 3 months, right?

memento mori

(2022-07-13) Reflections from running my first popup at Yume wo Katare.

Kiriba Bante and Marcato Cutters

Some nerdery on Japanese noodle cuts, and how you might replicate them at home

G-Kei: All You Need Is Feel

A short writeup on my experiences making this ramen style at home, based on lots and lots of research of shops that make this style. Turns out, the iceberg is much deeper than we thought.

Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken-style Morisoba

Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken was the shop where Yamagishi-san introduced the tsukemen to the world. This is my attempt at reproducing a version of the original Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken morisoba based on primary and secondary sources, with a deep dive into soup, tare, vinegar, noodles, toppings, and aji-hen elements.

What Even Is Hydration?

On hydration, how it differs in American and Japanese noodle making, and how it could be a bad idea to rely on hydration percentages

Basic Menma

On fermenting and marinating bamboo shoots

Bushi-dō

On the bushi production process, bushi usage at ramen shops, differences between Japanese stocks and Western stocks