a different kind of ramen

Man, I've never had anything like this before.  A ramen place near Tokyo Dome has this tonkotsu (pork bone based broth) ramen that is more like a stew, it's so thick.  The place is called Hyouri Ramen.  To get there, take the train to Suidobashi Station (JR Sobu line), take the East exit, turn right after coming out the turnstiles, and then turn right again when you reach the first corner/crosswalk.  (Don't cross the street.)  Walk straight for a few seconds and you'll see this on your right-hand side:

We had the "Ninkimono No.1," or the most popular dish.  Not because it's the most popular, but because my brother has been to this place many, many times--his Japanese school is close by--and this is his favorite choice.  It was my first time, so I followed his lead.
 

 As you can see, it's topped off with tonkatsu (pork cutlet, not to be confused with the earlier mentioned tonkotsu) a bit of cabbage, and bean sprouts.  If you look closely at the broth you might be able to see the grated garlic.

Rarely am I unable to finish a bowl or plate of something in Japan, its portion sizes being so much smaller than typical American portions.  But something about this one filled me up, and I left a few noodles behind.  If I had to pick one work to describe this bowl of noodles, it would be hearty.  It was also spicy, to a degree to which most ramen generally isn't.  

The manager seemed like a nice guy.  I think his name is Jun.  The guy below isn't him, but another customer.  In the framed pictures is the former manager, a guy who also ran another quite popular ramen chain called Taishoken.  

"Ninkimono No.1" cost 980 yen, or about $10.  

fugu (河豚 or 鰒; フグ)

According to Wikipedia, the literal translation is "river pig," but we'd normally call it "pufferfish"  or "blowfish" in English.

Its notoriety is based on the chance of death from consuming it.  The fish has poisons running through it, and fugu chefs need to be licensed to prepare fugu dishes, their expertise being in removing the poisonous parts.  It's also known for being quite expensive, but these days a lot of the restaurants raise their own blowfish in fish tanks / aquariums, which helps to keep costs down (as opposed to buying the fish from specialized fugu farms).  At such establishments, a person can have a multi-course fugu meal for about 5000 yen (approx. $50).

I just took my brother out for his first fugu experience.  They say that eating it induces a moderate buzz, and my bro felt it, a kind of light-headedness.  I've eaten fugu four or five times and have never experienced this buzz--although granted, I'm already drinking by the time the fish comes, so maybe the alcohol just drowned out the fugu buzz.

Tonight's meal consisted of:

• fugu skin
• fugu sashimi
• fugu boiled in nabe (a pot)
• rice porridge 
• dessert (ice cream with mochi and azuki beans)

We also had fugu sake (rice wine).  Basically, it's warm sake with fugu fins.  They light it on fire before serving it to you.  It wasn't part of the set course, but we wanted to try it.  To tell the truth, it didn't taste that great, but the sake felt nice going down.


These pictures are from tonight.  The first dish was the appetizer, fugu skin.  

This was followed by fugu sashimi.  You eat it with the greenery, dipping it in the sauce in the small dish.

followed by fugu boiled in a pot.  Amazingly, the pot was made of paper and didn't leak a drop.
If you watch carefully, you'll notice the flesh twitching, as the chefs have just sliced up the fish.  To me, it was a horrific but sort of fascinating part of the experience.  I felt genuinely sorry for those fish. . .

above is the dipping sauce.


And finally, deep-friend fugu:

At the end of the night, we had the fugu sake:

All in all, a pretty nice time, and an experience to remember.  Most people that I've talked to seem to feel that fugu itself doesn't have much a distinctive taste, but I think that's what makes it so versatile.  All these different ways of preparing it worked out well, and the texture was quite delectable. 

Taiko no Tatsujin (太鼓の達人, an arcade game)

This is a video game mainstay in Japan.  Any respectable arcade should have it.  I don't personal love playing it, but I love that it's been around for over a decade and can still draw a crowd.  There's something wonderfully symbolic about it.  I don't have any statistics on this (so if anyone out there does, please let me know and fill me in) but it doesn't seem to me like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc. has caught on in Japan to the extent that it did in the U.S.  I'm only basing this presumption on my experience--I know a bunch of people in the U.S. who have those games at home, but no one in Japan.  But then, my old professor once told me that you need at least a thousand samples to make a statistic, and I definitely don't have that.

Anyway, what I like about the symbolism of Taiko no Tatsujin is that even though (I think) Guitar Hero, Rock Band etc. hasn't caught on here as much as it once did in the U.S., this game of traditional Japanese drums is not just in every decent arcade, it garners respect.  I personally don't find it that interesting, but the guy who was playing it in Ikebukuro, Sunshine Doori, must have had some game for all these people to hang and watch.  I also love the juxtaposition of traditional elements manifesting in modern entertainment.  Keep it alive man!

 

And this is what it looks like from the perspective of the player: