Ramen's rising stock: Leave the packet behind

Ever since Momofuku Ando first unleashed instant noodles on the world in the 1950s, ramen has danced the line between comfort food and cult fixation. Put a 10-cent package of Top Ramen next to a $15 bowl of Santa Ramen's tonkotsu with stewed pork, and each bowl will draw a zealous crowd of supporters.

How many of us, after all, were introduced to instant ramen as a kid, subsisted on it through college, then finally graduated to grown-up versions with shoyu and shio broths?

"That's actually my first food memory of something tasting good," says Nick Balla, former executive chef at Nombe and O Izakaya in San Francisco. "I was about 4 or 5 years old and my babysitter made some instant ramen.

"I was hooked."

Balla's taste buds have evolved over the years, of course, and so, too, has the state of ramen in the Bay Area.

Stalwarts like Santa Ramen in San Mateo and Ramen Halu and Santouka in San Jose remain as popular as ever, but a fresh wave of ramen shops - including those of a more mobile nature - have now joined the fray.

There's the new Ramen Dojo in San Mateo, focusing on sutamina - spicy - ramen. There's the farmers' market staple Hapa Ramen, launched by former Nopa sous chef Richie Nakano; and Ken Ken Ramen, which pops up occasionally in San Francisco's Mission District.

Ramen 101

So what's with ramen's resurgence?

"Guys that have been to Japan, been to Tokyo, they have a different idea of what ramen is supposed to be like," Nakano says.

"People are using different broths, different noodles, different toppings. People aren't tied down to rules anymore - you're just trying to make the best bowl of soup possible."

So, a ramen primer: Though it's become one of Japan's defining foods, ramen is rooted in the Chinese hand-pulled noodles called la mien.

At its core, ramen is little more than noodle soup - a kombu- and meat-based broth, flavored with shoyu, miso or shio, a salt; with toppings that can include chashu (braised or roasted pork), fish cake, bamboo shoots and bean sprouts.

And yet, dozens of ramen varieties exist, "probably as many as there are towns in Japan," says Rickmond Wong, who runs the popular, aptly named website Rameniac.

Think of ramen as the hamburger of Japan - cheap, quick and eaten all over the country. Ramen shops called ramenyas are practically on every corner, and with only a dozen or so bar seats at most shops, it's common to see lines out the door during lunch and dinner hours.

Meant to be quickly served and eaten - or better yet, slurped - ramen's preparation is anything but fast. Stocks take the better part of a day to prepare. Noodles need to be fresh and springy, toppings varied to complement the broth.

So-called "rameniacs" can spend a lifetime searching for the perfect bowl. But debate over what's more important - the broth, noodles or toppings - usually comes down to one.

"The broth, definitely," Nakano says. "Noodles are important, but if the broth sucks, it doesn't matter."

In the United States, the Hakata-style ramen from the Japanese city of Fukuoka is one of the most popular, with pork bones cooked for a long time over high heat, causing the marrow to be released. It's what gives tonkotsu its opaque milkiness, not to mention that over-the-top porkiness.

Local favorites

Here in the Bay Area, the principles of local, seasonal and sustainable have naturally come into play. So with ramen's stock rising - and the temperature dropping - we asked local chefs for a trio of streamlined recipes.

These are apropos of ramen's new, no-rule regime; Roasted Duck Ramen from Balla, for instance, and Celery Root-Miso Ramen from Nakano.

The third is a pork-driven collaboration; chefs Tim Luym (The Attic, San Mateo), Kris Toliao (Luce, San Francisco), and Elgin Espiritu (Frances, San Francisco) served their version of tonkotsu at the Eat Real Festival in 2009. We've topped their creation with the chashu from Michael Hung, who recently put on a ramen dinner as part of Jardiniere's Monday night dinner series.