Tsukumo Maru-kyuu Chiizu Ramen (Cheezy Goodness!)

After hearing so much about the weird and wonderful cheese ramen, I finally screwed up the courage to try it. The venue for this little piece of ramen exotica was 九十九ラーメン (tsukumo ramen) in Hiroo, about 5-10 minutes walk from Ebisu station.

What can I say? Despite my initial skepticism, I've definitely been converted into one of the cheezy ramen believers. The noodle itself isn't really that great ... I ordered the noodles to be done katame (basically the Japanese equivalent of 'al dente'), but it was nothing but adequate, nothing you couldn't get out of a good packet of instant noodles. But* the cheese, oh my god, the cheese! They grind a massive amount of cheese into a bowl of miso ramen, and it is delicious!

I loved it. Only problem was it was so filling that I was really struggling to finish it towards the end. First two thirds of it, I was happy as a pig in a poke, and the last third? Let's just say that it was a hot day, I was drenched in sweat, and I was praying for the end of the bowl so I could say ご馳走様です (gochisousamadesu)! (Literally, ご馳走様です means "it was an honourable feast", which is what the Japanese say to thank people after they have been fed a good meal.)

By the way, they have instructions in Japanese for how to eat the cheese ramen. Apparently, you're suppose to let the hot soup melt the cheese, and then eat the cheesy soupy mess altogether.

* yes, I know I'm not supposed to use 'but' at the start of the sentence, but in this case, I feel totally justified because it is a deliberate juxtaposition that clearly needs to be emphasized.

My Pig-out list when I get to Singapore

As you may or may not know, I was a Sporean before I became an Aussie citizen, and there's a very good chance that I will be back in Singapore for a few weeks at the end of the year. It shall be my mission in life to consume all, or as many as I possibly can, of the following things when I get there.



Food

1) Braised goose (teochew style)
2) Bah Ku Teh
3) Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice
4) Bah chor mee
5) Or luak
6) Tulang
7) Lor mee
8) Kua chap
9) Satay
10) Prata
11) Stingray
12) Iggy's
13) Wan ton mee
14) Nasi goreng and mee goreng
15) Char kuay teow
16) Chau Hor Fun
17) Chai Tau Guay
18) Chwee Guay
19) Sum Pan (the hakka thing)
20) Swan Pan Zi
21) Ngor Hiang
22) Hainan Hawker Style Pork Cutlet
23) Chicken Curry
24) Nasi Bryani
25) Gar sou's Fish Head noodle soup
26) Har jeong chicken


Drinks

1) Milo peng
2) teh peng

Desserts

1) Cheng Tng + pulau hitam
2) Ice Kachang
3) orange indian noodle thingy
4) Horlicks ice-cream at Island Creamery
5) Durian
6) The really fucken nice tau huay near Selegie
7) Ah bo leng with peanut soup

Ramen Jiro (Meguro)

Continuing on my ramen kick, I went to the ramen jiro (ラーメン二郎) in Meguro today. Ramen Jiro is one of the most famous ramen chains in Tokyo (there's somewhere slightly in excess of twenty of them, and this particular one (located here) is one of the most famous.

That there was still a pretty long queue when I got there at around 2.50 p.m. on a Saturday is a testament to its popularity. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I finally got a seat and tried the yama ramen buta iri (山ラーメン　豚入り), or in English, mountain ramen with extra pork.

My advice to any first timer is not to even bother with the extra pork, and just eat the smallest portion. The pork itself is nice, very soft and fatty, which is how I like it, but unfortunately, incredibly salty. I could've done without the extra pork. The ramen itself comes with three possible toppings you can ask for: extra vegies (yasai; 野菜), garlic(ninniku; にんにく), and abura (extra fat; あぶら).

I went for the garlic and less than five minutes later, I was presented with a huge bowl of ramen. This is definitely not a ramen for the faint hearted, and I think any pork averse gaijin better stay well away from Jiro-style ramen. The soup is an incredibly rich and oily pork based soup. So rich and oily that it's just about impossible to drink it down. I myself--no stranger to porkiness and richness of soup--left about half a bowl of soup in the bowl; I had reached my limit and couldn't drink it down. The noodles are very thick and remind me a little bit of Chinese style hand made noodles in consistency.

Did I like it? Yes I did. But I must say, I think it seriously pushes the limits of richness, fattiness, porkiness and saltiness, all to the border of acceptability.

To sum up, this is definitely not a girly ramen. To the contrary, it's kinda like the Arnie of ramen. For the ramen jaded, this may be quite welcome and refreshing. Just don't come crying to me if you find it too overpowering for your liking.