Takesue's (竹末東京) chicken and scallop paitan (translated as 'white soup', made with vigorously boiled chicken bones) ramen near the Skytree / Oshiage area in Tokyo. The shop is tiny and only has about 8 counter seats and a small table for waiting customers. It's currently ranked in the top 50 for Tokyo Ramen shops on Tabelog, the biggest food review site in Japan. I got a chance to try this for the first time before moving back to SF from Tokyo and was blown away by the complex and rich flavors, but the biggest surprise was the unique way each bowl of ramen was made for each customer.
 | Every bowl of ramen ordered at Takesue is "built" in front of the customer by the lone ramen chef working there. There's almost a sushi-esque feel to it even though you're just eating a bowl of ramen. Here's a link to an awesome pic that shows how extensive the process is. When you sit down at the counter and pass him your order ticket, the first thing he does is place a metal tray on the beautifully polished wooden counter in front of you. Next is the noodle and the soup prep. He takes a handful of fresh noodles and places them in noodle baskets sitting in boiling water. For the soup, he ladles out 3 or 4 large spoons from a stock pot that is filled with the chicken paitan soup base into a smaller soup pan and places it over high heat. In another saucepan he ladles 1 spoon of what appears to be another soup base and start heating that too too. This one appears to be much more viscous and thick, almost gravy-like. At that point, my mind begins darting and trying to imagine what the thicker soup is for. My first assumption was that he could be preparing this for another customer's order (oh, how wrong I was). |
A shot of the tiny eating space inside. After finishing the prep of the basic components, he readies my ramen bowl. I notice he's been ladling and pouring out boiling water over and over again, almost rhythmically, as he patiently and carefully watches the other ingredients. A few minutes before the noodle timer goes off, he comes over to my corner and places the warmed bowl on top of my metal tray. At this point my anticipation reaches a fever pitch; I'm starving and haven't eaten anything all day and I have no idea what is going to happen. The show begins and I finally get to see where everything goes as he starts to build my ramen right in front of me.
The next steps go by quickly, so much so, I find it hard to imagine it's being done by a single person. He brings each ingredient over to my bowl methodically and in a rapid succession, brick-by-edible-brick, laying a foundation on what began as a lonely metal tray. He explains briefly what each ingredient is as he meticulously places it in my bowl. A few tablespoons of tare (a concentrated ramen base), a spoonful of pulverized bonito flakes, a few cracks of fresh pepper, some chicken fat, then comes the boiling chicken paitan soup, and the medium thickness chewy noodles shortly after. He gives the noodles a quick turn to coat them carefully in the broth. The foundation was set. Next the toppings. Each one is placed ever so carefully: a trifecta of onions (negi, a Japanese leek, scallions, diced onions), menma (pickled bambo shoots), a soy cured egg with a perfectly creamy yolk, wasabi sprouts, and lastly three different slices of meat (roast beef, pork chashu, and a type of braised beef that looks sort of like brisket).
I exhale deeply after feeling like I've just run a marathon trying to keep up with him and when I finally think he's finished, what comes last completely blows me away. Remember that second small saucepan I mentioned earlier, the one he used to heat something a bit more gravy-like up? He brings that over to my bowl and pours it directly over my ramen eclipsing half of the bowl!?! As the thick gravy like soup begins to mingle with the boiling paitan broth in the bowl, an explosion of unctuous and savory aromas blanket the air with umami laced vapor - I can make out the smell of dried scallops, almost XO like and lovely chicken fat. I know at this point that it's going to be amazing because the wafting aromas have already etched expectations of flavors into my brain and all that's left to do is wipe the drool from my lips and start slurping.
Truly an amazing experience, Takesue takes the meaning of open-kitchen to a completely different level. There was something almost meditative about being able to watch this bowl of ramen being made right under my nose, slowly being allowed to take in pieces of information and gradually savor them all with all of my senses. If you're in the Tokyo area, I highly recommend Takesue! After 6 years and hundreds of bowls of ramen, eating something like this unnervingly makes me feel like I've only grazed the surface of what's out there.
The next steps go by quickly, so much so, I find it hard to imagine it's being done by a single person. He brings each ingredient over to my bowl methodically and in a rapid succession, brick-by-edible-brick, laying a foundation on what began as a lonely metal tray. He explains briefly what each ingredient is as he meticulously places it in my bowl. A few tablespoons of tare (a concentrated ramen base), a spoonful of pulverized bonito flakes, a few cracks of fresh pepper, some chicken fat, then comes the boiling chicken paitan soup, and the medium thickness chewy noodles shortly after. He gives the noodles a quick turn to coat them carefully in the broth. The foundation was set. Next the toppings. Each one is placed ever so carefully: a trifecta of onions (negi, a Japanese leek, scallions, diced onions), menma (pickled bambo shoots), a soy cured egg with a perfectly creamy yolk, wasabi sprouts, and lastly three different slices of meat (roast beef, pork chashu, and a type of braised beef that looks sort of like brisket).
I exhale deeply after feeling like I've just run a marathon trying to keep up with him and when I finally think he's finished, what comes last completely blows me away. Remember that second small saucepan I mentioned earlier, the one he used to heat something a bit more gravy-like up? He brings that over to my bowl and pours it directly over my ramen eclipsing half of the bowl!?! As the thick gravy like soup begins to mingle with the boiling paitan broth in the bowl, an explosion of unctuous and savory aromas blanket the air with umami laced vapor - I can make out the smell of dried scallops, almost XO like and lovely chicken fat. I know at this point that it's going to be amazing because the wafting aromas have already etched expectations of flavors into my brain and all that's left to do is wipe the drool from my lips and start slurping.
Truly an amazing experience, Takesue takes the meaning of open-kitchen to a completely different level. There was something almost meditative about being able to watch this bowl of ramen being made right under my nose, slowly being allowed to take in pieces of information and gradually savor them all with all of my senses. If you're in the Tokyo area, I highly recommend Takesue! After 6 years and hundreds of bowls of ramen, eating something like this unnervingly makes me feel like I've only grazed the surface of what's out there.