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Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint
The end-all-be-all guide to ramen from Ivan Orkin, the iconoclastic New York-born owner of Tokyo's top ramen shop.
In 2007, Orkin, a middle-aged Jewish guy from Long Island, did something crazy. In the food-zealous, insular megalopolis of Tokyo, Ivan opened a ramen shop. He was a gaijin (foreigner), trying to make his name in a place that is fiercely opinionated about ramen. At first, customers came because they were curious, but word spread quickly about Ivan’s handmade noodles, clean and complex broth, and thoughtfully prepared toppings. Soon enough, Ivan became a celebrity—a fixture of Japanese TV programs and the face of his own best-selling brand of instant ramen. Ivan opened a second location in Tokyo, and has now returned to New York City to open his first US branch.
Ivan Ramen is essentially two books in one: a memoir and a cookbook. In these pages, Ivan tells the story of his ascent from wayward youth to a star of the Tokyo restaurant scene. He also shares more than forty recipes, including the complete, detailed recipe for his signature Shio Ramen; creative ways to use extra ramen components; and some of his most popular ramen variations. Written with equal parts candor, humor, gratitude, and irreverence, Ivan Ramen is the only English-language book that offers a look inside the cultish world of ramen making in Japan. It will inspire you to forge your own path, give you insight into Japanese culture, and leave you with a deep appreciation for what goes into a seemingly simple bowl of noodles.
In 2007, Orkin, a middle-aged Jewish guy from Long Island, did something crazy. In the food-zealous, insular megalopolis of Tokyo, Ivan opened a ramen shop. He was a gaijin (foreigner), trying to make his name in a place that is fiercely opinionated about ramen. At first, customers came because they were curious, but word spread quickly about Ivan’s handmade noodles, clean and complex broth, and thoughtfully prepared toppings. Soon enough, Ivan became a celebrity—a fixture of Japanese TV programs and the face of his own best-selling brand of instant ramen. Ivan opened a second location in Tokyo, and has now returned to New York City to open his first US branch.
Ivan Ramen is essentially two books in one: a memoir and a cookbook. In these pages, Ivan tells the story of his ascent from wayward youth to a star of the Tokyo restaurant scene. He also shares more than forty recipes, including the complete, detailed recipe for his signature Shio Ramen; creative ways to use extra ramen components; and some of his most popular ramen variations. Written with equal parts candor, humor, gratitude, and irreverence, Ivan Ramen is the only English-language book that offers a look inside the cultish world of ramen making in Japan. It will inspire you to forge your own path, give you insight into Japanese culture, and leave you with a deep appreciation for what goes into a seemingly simple bowl of noodles.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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1797 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
July 21, 2019
So now I know - theoretically - how to prepare ramen from scratch. But I have to admit it still scares me and I will have to summon courage before trying it out.
Ivan Orkin describes in the first half of this book how he ended up as a ramen restaurant owner, first in Japan and later in the US. He describes in painful detail how much it takes to produce a high quality ramen.
The second part of the book are the recipes. The first recipe is how to assemble a bowl of ramen, the follow up recipes are the instructions for the individual ramen modules.
The third recipe part describes usages/recipes for the leftover ramen ingredients.
The book contains a lot of delicious and descriptive pictures which make it a joy to browse through.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves ramen and even more to people who are courageous and diligent enough to give it try to prepare their own ramen.
Ivan Orkin describes in the first half of this book how he ended up as a ramen restaurant owner, first in Japan and later in the US. He describes in painful detail how much it takes to produce a high quality ramen.
The second part of the book are the recipes. The first recipe is how to assemble a bowl of ramen, the follow up recipes are the instructions for the individual ramen modules.
The third recipe part describes usages/recipes for the leftover ramen ingredients.
The book contains a lot of delicious and descriptive pictures which make it a joy to browse through.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves ramen and even more to people who are courageous and diligent enough to give it try to prepare their own ramen.
October 29, 2013
Ramen, so delicious with so many variations. Yes, I am a committed fan of ramen. I search for restaurants serving ramen when I travel. I make my own noodles at home. I work on perfecting the right balance for my broth and seasoning. I am a raman addict. So when I saw this book I did my happy dance and clicked the keys to have it in my hands. I got more than I hoped for when I finished it.
Ivan, is a Jewish White guy from New York. He studied Japanese lit and when graduated thought he should use it so he moved to Japan. Where he met his first wife and started to discover his destiny. He feel in love with Japan, the people, and the food. They moved back to NY for a while where they had a child. Tragedy struck and his life went into a
spin. He ended up picking up and moving back to Japan where he floundered and slowly rebuilt his life. He also ate a lot of ramen. This quest for the perfect bowl was fascinating to read. His story is important to the bowl he places in front of his customer.
The history of every ingredient, every step has value. His interaction with other great chefs and retailers, it all builds the flavor. This is a book where the history of the soup is impotent to understand to respect the final product. I loved it, his story was never uninteresting.
The recipes while time consuming have been directed in a way to simplify the process with timing. I have included many of his steps into my homestyle bowl and plan of using them all soon. What I love about his recipes is that he pushes you to be creative, make it yours. There is one to die for dessert, Lemon Sorbet. Totally drool worthy according to everyone in my home that has eaten it.
Ivan, is a Jewish White guy from New York. He studied Japanese lit and when graduated thought he should use it so he moved to Japan. Where he met his first wife and started to discover his destiny. He feel in love with Japan, the people, and the food. They moved back to NY for a while where they had a child. Tragedy struck and his life went into a
spin. He ended up picking up and moving back to Japan where he floundered and slowly rebuilt his life. He also ate a lot of ramen. This quest for the perfect bowl was fascinating to read. His story is important to the bowl he places in front of his customer.
The history of every ingredient, every step has value. His interaction with other great chefs and retailers, it all builds the flavor. This is a book where the history of the soup is impotent to understand to respect the final product. I loved it, his story was never uninteresting.
The recipes while time consuming have been directed in a way to simplify the process with timing. I have included many of his steps into my homestyle bowl and plan of using them all soon. What I love about his recipes is that he pushes you to be creative, make it yours. There is one to die for dessert, Lemon Sorbet. Totally drool worthy according to everyone in my home that has eaten it.
January 29, 2014
First half of the book tells the interesting story of Orkin, a kid from Long Island who took his degree in Japanese Lit and moved to Japan with no real plans. He eventually got married, moved back to the States, went to cooking school (the CIA), lost his wife, moved back to Japan, got remarried, and eventually decided to open a Ramen shop despite not really knowing what he was doing. Needless to say it worked out well. Too well as now I really want some good, real ramen and I don't live anywhere near any. Stupid book.
The second half is, of course, a cookbook. While I'm sure the recipes are brilliant, they're not that practical (time and ingredients-wise) which is usually the big drawback with these things.
The second half is, of course, a cookbook. While I'm sure the recipes are brilliant, they're not that practical (time and ingredients-wise) which is usually the big drawback with these things.
January 22, 2014
Orkin's book is part memoir part complex detailed recipes geared toward foodies and ramen aficionados looking to replicate his ramen bowls.
I appreciated the tone Orkin established in the memoir portion of the book. He recognizes and freely admits that his success is not all toil and trouble and hard work. Most chefs can't afford to take the chance of losing 100K opening a shop to serve something they've never made before, but his wife's job security made it possible for him to open a ramen spot without worrying about supporting/bankrupting his family if it failed.
The recipes look/sound incredible and I enjoyed reading through them immensely. That said, even though I consider myself a relatively competent home cook, this an undertaking I'm not embarking upon.
I appreciated the tone Orkin established in the memoir portion of the book. He recognizes and freely admits that his success is not all toil and trouble and hard work. Most chefs can't afford to take the chance of losing 100K opening a shop to serve something they've never made before, but his wife's job security made it possible for him to open a ramen spot without worrying about supporting/bankrupting his family if it failed.
The recipes look/sound incredible and I enjoyed reading through them immensely. That said, even though I consider myself a relatively competent home cook, this an undertaking I'm not embarking upon.
January 1, 2014
Ivan Orkin wrote a cookbook as much as he penned a piece on motivation. He wrote about the nuance of subtle, nearly unperceivable flavor as much as he composed a book on survival. He wrote a lesson for cooks as much as he scribed a lesson for living. Ivan Ramen is a timely prescription for bringing refreshing energy into the kitchen; learning about patience; grabbing the cojones of adversity and creating opportunity. From Long Island to the audaciousness of opening a Ramen noodle shop in Tokyo, Orkin recounts his odyssey with colorful acumen, droll narratives and cunning detail.
The first near-hundred pages are autobiographical. And Orkin has something to say. How could he not? He was on the other side of the world with a vision, a proverbial hole in his heart and a mission… no… a dream (yes, I said it!) to get his obsession successfully launched into the material world. Orkin forays into his early relationships with family and food, his meandering kitchen creativity through and outside of Japan, as well as culinary school. Appreciatively, he gives due page space to his creative process and approach to mastering ramen. And if Orkin’s diatribe on consumption doesn’t suffice, David Chang’s foreword offers his, albeit aggressive and colorful, take on what to expect when feeding ramen to Americans, on the eve of Orkin’s opening a New York installation of Ivan Ramen.
The depth and breadth of his signature ramen recipe is a mind-scrambling, facet-sickening, anal-retentive, absurdly grotesque conflagration of beautiful attention to detail that you will probably never unearth. Hefting in at over 30 pages (including pictures) with visual primer, the prescription for his Shio Ramen is, by Orkin’s admission, nearly impossible to replicate for most of us. Orkin masterfully lays out the recipe for modestly novice cooks with patience. He does a great job of ordering the mise en place and then layering the recipe into components to build the final dish. Why impossible? The availability of ingredients is not quite what it needs to be unless you are in, say, Japan. There are myriad recipes for other options and variations on ramen, as well as yakisoba and a smattering of sides and desserts.
If you pick up Ivan Ramen and never venture into the recipe portion, you will be satiated with a worthy dose of good writing, life-lessons and witty tales of adventure, leaving you full of ramen in both psychology and good feelings.
The first near-hundred pages are autobiographical. And Orkin has something to say. How could he not? He was on the other side of the world with a vision, a proverbial hole in his heart and a mission… no… a dream (yes, I said it!) to get his obsession successfully launched into the material world. Orkin forays into his early relationships with family and food, his meandering kitchen creativity through and outside of Japan, as well as culinary school. Appreciatively, he gives due page space to his creative process and approach to mastering ramen. And if Orkin’s diatribe on consumption doesn’t suffice, David Chang’s foreword offers his, albeit aggressive and colorful, take on what to expect when feeding ramen to Americans, on the eve of Orkin’s opening a New York installation of Ivan Ramen.
The depth and breadth of his signature ramen recipe is a mind-scrambling, facet-sickening, anal-retentive, absurdly grotesque conflagration of beautiful attention to detail that you will probably never unearth. Hefting in at over 30 pages (including pictures) with visual primer, the prescription for his Shio Ramen is, by Orkin’s admission, nearly impossible to replicate for most of us. Orkin masterfully lays out the recipe for modestly novice cooks with patience. He does a great job of ordering the mise en place and then layering the recipe into components to build the final dish. Why impossible? The availability of ingredients is not quite what it needs to be unless you are in, say, Japan. There are myriad recipes for other options and variations on ramen, as well as yakisoba and a smattering of sides and desserts.
If you pick up Ivan Ramen and never venture into the recipe portion, you will be satiated with a worthy dose of good writing, life-lessons and witty tales of adventure, leaving you full of ramen in both psychology and good feelings.
September 12, 2024
ramen is good, Ivan seems like a jerk
September 8, 2013
From my book review blog at:
http://kickinbooks.wordpress.com/2013...
Ten Speed Press was kind enough to make this eGalley available, through NetGalley, for the purposes of having it read and reviewed. Although it was provided to me at no cost, I am under no obligation to give it a positive review.
Me: “Hi, my name is Bert, and I’m a ramen addict.”
Group: “Hi, Bert!”
OK, I have to admit it’s really all noodles, especially Asian ones. I do regularly have a lunch comprised primarily of the 20 cent packs from Wal-Mart, although I only use a minuscule amount of the seasoning and invariably add vegetables, meat and different seasonings. No, it’s not the same as homemade noodles, but it’s the concept and versatility of the dish that I love.
So here I have a book about a Long Island Jew who is similarly addicted to good ramen, who went through culinary school, and, after some bouncing around between jobs and the death of his first wife, eventually remarried, moved to Japan and opened up a ramen shop. But he is doing ramen his way, infusing a little bit of his culture and creativity while still being true to the concept of ramen. Yeah, I’m probably pre-disposed to liking this book, I’ll admit it.
The first part of the book is comprised primarily of Orkin telling his story. It’s fascinating and heart-breaking and even funny. The foreward, contributed by Momofuku owner David Chang, is absolutely hilarious too. The book also lays the necessary foundation for understanding why Orkin started his own ramen shop and, ultimately, why he has been so successful. The bottom line is, he makes a bowl of ramen that he likes, above all else, believing others will too.
And he’s been wildly successful. So much so that following the success of his first shop, Ivan Ramen, he opened a second location in Tokyo, Ivan Ramen Plus. Orkin is also, as of the time he wrote this, in the process of opening a new location in New York City, where his family moved following the devastating earthquakes in Japan in 2011.
After that backstory, Orkin goes and does something completely against the grain: he gives detailed instructions on how he makes his signature dish, shio ramen. He discusses exactly how he makes it, what all the ingredients are, how to make those at home, and how to put it all together. Of course, you will probably have to tweak it some for a home kitchen, but it’s there in its totality. After that, Orkin gives you other recipes you can use the base ingredients for, just in case you don’t want ramen all the time (although I can’t understand why not :) ).
I haven’t had a chance to try any of the recipes, but I certainly can’t accuse him of not being up front with details. He even gives suggestions for substitutions in case you can’t find the exact ingredient stateside.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and it’s given me a new appreciation for what makes a good bowl of ramen. I can’t wait to dig into the recipes and then likewise dig into many bowls of ramen as I work on tweaking the recipe to my tastes.
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
http://kickinbooks.wordpress.com/2013...
Ten Speed Press was kind enough to make this eGalley available, through NetGalley, for the purposes of having it read and reviewed. Although it was provided to me at no cost, I am under no obligation to give it a positive review.
Me: “Hi, my name is Bert, and I’m a ramen addict.”
Group: “Hi, Bert!”
OK, I have to admit it’s really all noodles, especially Asian ones. I do regularly have a lunch comprised primarily of the 20 cent packs from Wal-Mart, although I only use a minuscule amount of the seasoning and invariably add vegetables, meat and different seasonings. No, it’s not the same as homemade noodles, but it’s the concept and versatility of the dish that I love.
So here I have a book about a Long Island Jew who is similarly addicted to good ramen, who went through culinary school, and, after some bouncing around between jobs and the death of his first wife, eventually remarried, moved to Japan and opened up a ramen shop. But he is doing ramen his way, infusing a little bit of his culture and creativity while still being true to the concept of ramen. Yeah, I’m probably pre-disposed to liking this book, I’ll admit it.
The first part of the book is comprised primarily of Orkin telling his story. It’s fascinating and heart-breaking and even funny. The foreward, contributed by Momofuku owner David Chang, is absolutely hilarious too. The book also lays the necessary foundation for understanding why Orkin started his own ramen shop and, ultimately, why he has been so successful. The bottom line is, he makes a bowl of ramen that he likes, above all else, believing others will too.
And he’s been wildly successful. So much so that following the success of his first shop, Ivan Ramen, he opened a second location in Tokyo, Ivan Ramen Plus. Orkin is also, as of the time he wrote this, in the process of opening a new location in New York City, where his family moved following the devastating earthquakes in Japan in 2011.
After that backstory, Orkin goes and does something completely against the grain: he gives detailed instructions on how he makes his signature dish, shio ramen. He discusses exactly how he makes it, what all the ingredients are, how to make those at home, and how to put it all together. Of course, you will probably have to tweak it some for a home kitchen, but it’s there in its totality. After that, Orkin gives you other recipes you can use the base ingredients for, just in case you don’t want ramen all the time (although I can’t understand why not :) ).
I haven’t had a chance to try any of the recipes, but I certainly can’t accuse him of not being up front with details. He even gives suggestions for substitutions in case you can’t find the exact ingredient stateside.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and it’s given me a new appreciation for what makes a good bowl of ramen. I can’t wait to dig into the recipes and then likewise dig into many bowls of ramen as I work on tweaking the recipe to my tastes.
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
October 7, 2013
http://www.examiner.com/review/ivan-r...
Cookbooks with a tale is one of my favorite book genres. Ivan Orkin, known to many - this writer included - as Ivan Ramen. A few years ago, my business school friend, Michael Vito, introduced me to ramen and let's just say it was love at first slurp. Michael has described Ivan to me as the John Lennon of ramen. His book, Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint, lives up to that comparison. His book is to ramen lovers what Let It Be is to music lovers.
It all begins with a child who grows up in a house where food is seen as fuel and not art. Through the wondrous imagination of a child, in this case little Ivan, food becomes a self-made salvation, and eventually a way to make a life. In college, Ivan majored in Japanese studies and as a rather lost 20-something college graduate, he moves to Japan to find out just how much he's learned. He falls in love, has a small family, moves back to the U.S. to attend the Culinary Institute of America (incidentally this is right near my hometown), and then tragedy strikes in much the same way as it strikes the protagonist of the Jimmy Buffett song He Went to Paris. But never fear - Ivan's love of Japan, food, family, and life in general help him hold it together and he finds love again in the romantic sense and in the kitchen.
After a decade in the U.S., Ivan and his family make their way back to Japan where he eventually opens his first ramen shop in a sea of ramen shops. His relentless pursuit of the perfect bowl and the diversity he brings to the scene make him a stand-out shop, and in a short time, he rises to the top of his game - finally whole, finally happy in every way. It's a beautiful story of triumph and delicious broth.
The remainder of the book details the love and care that go into the preparation of each intricate ingredient of ramen. Ivan reveals all his secrets, and then unveils the biggest news - he's opened a New York City-based shop on the Lower East Side's Clinton Street. I practically ran out of my apartment to grab a bowl, and then realized that the shop was probably closed for the evening. It was 1am. Rest assured, I'll slurp my first bowl of Ivan's ramen soon and with great gusto. This book made sure to put his shop at the top of my must-visit list. Ivan Ramen will be released on October 29, 2013 and is available for pre-order via Amazon.
Cookbooks with a tale is one of my favorite book genres. Ivan Orkin, known to many - this writer included - as Ivan Ramen. A few years ago, my business school friend, Michael Vito, introduced me to ramen and let's just say it was love at first slurp. Michael has described Ivan to me as the John Lennon of ramen. His book, Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint, lives up to that comparison. His book is to ramen lovers what Let It Be is to music lovers.
It all begins with a child who grows up in a house where food is seen as fuel and not art. Through the wondrous imagination of a child, in this case little Ivan, food becomes a self-made salvation, and eventually a way to make a life. In college, Ivan majored in Japanese studies and as a rather lost 20-something college graduate, he moves to Japan to find out just how much he's learned. He falls in love, has a small family, moves back to the U.S. to attend the Culinary Institute of America (incidentally this is right near my hometown), and then tragedy strikes in much the same way as it strikes the protagonist of the Jimmy Buffett song He Went to Paris. But never fear - Ivan's love of Japan, food, family, and life in general help him hold it together and he finds love again in the romantic sense and in the kitchen.
After a decade in the U.S., Ivan and his family make their way back to Japan where he eventually opens his first ramen shop in a sea of ramen shops. His relentless pursuit of the perfect bowl and the diversity he brings to the scene make him a stand-out shop, and in a short time, he rises to the top of his game - finally whole, finally happy in every way. It's a beautiful story of triumph and delicious broth.
The remainder of the book details the love and care that go into the preparation of each intricate ingredient of ramen. Ivan reveals all his secrets, and then unveils the biggest news - he's opened a New York City-based shop on the Lower East Side's Clinton Street. I practically ran out of my apartment to grab a bowl, and then realized that the shop was probably closed for the evening. It was 1am. Rest assured, I'll slurp my first bowl of Ivan's ramen soon and with great gusto. This book made sure to put his shop at the top of my must-visit list. Ivan Ramen will be released on October 29, 2013 and is available for pre-order via Amazon.
August 22, 2013
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for review.
The book opens up to a hilarious foreword from presumably, a friend of the authors. I sent 10 minutes giggling while I tried to read it. The impression of Americans is so true in some ways!
I will say, I'm a huge fan of ramen in general. As a child in a lower middle class family growing up, we ate a lot of ramen. Obviously, the ramen in this book is NOT the same as the 15 cent packets Im used to. I picked this ebook to hopefully get some new ideas to incorporate into MY ramen cooking, and this didn't disappoint. The book wasn't ALL recipes, but it was all fun. I enjoyed reading the author's story and his experiences. As a Long Island Jew, he's probably the most unlikely successful ramen chef either, but that is more than endearing to me. (Though I question the ethics in a Jew cooking pork!) I also really enjoyed that the author wasn't afraid to use a curse word here and there. It is SO unpretentious and refreshing. To be honest, I found the entire book refreshing. The author, Ivan is so real and genuine, it's easy to enjoy his writing. I plan on buying a copy of this book for myself, and I hope I get a chance to one day visit Ivan Ramen, whether in Tokyo or NY.
The book opens up to a hilarious foreword from presumably, a friend of the authors. I sent 10 minutes giggling while I tried to read it. The impression of Americans is so true in some ways!
I will say, I'm a huge fan of ramen in general. As a child in a lower middle class family growing up, we ate a lot of ramen. Obviously, the ramen in this book is NOT the same as the 15 cent packets Im used to. I picked this ebook to hopefully get some new ideas to incorporate into MY ramen cooking, and this didn't disappoint. The book wasn't ALL recipes, but it was all fun. I enjoyed reading the author's story and his experiences. As a Long Island Jew, he's probably the most unlikely successful ramen chef either, but that is more than endearing to me. (Though I question the ethics in a Jew cooking pork!) I also really enjoyed that the author wasn't afraid to use a curse word here and there. It is SO unpretentious and refreshing. To be honest, I found the entire book refreshing. The author, Ivan is so real and genuine, it's easy to enjoy his writing. I plan on buying a copy of this book for myself, and I hope I get a chance to one day visit Ivan Ramen, whether in Tokyo or NY.
May 25, 2016
Ivan Orkin, a Jewish guy from Long Island leaves the United States for a journey to find himself, going to Japan. He doesn’t only find a wife and a few computer salesman jobs, but he finds his passion for Japanese ramen and is inspired to start his own style of the dish. Although half of this book is recipes, it was still a very good book with an amazing story of Ivan growing up with an unacknowledged love for Japanese food, and then taking his life to Japan, and turning his love for the cuisine into his story. This good was very good because it was filled with mixed emotions, such as happy, when I could visualize his success and the food he was eating, or sad, such as when he lost his first wife and daughter.
It is also very specific and humorous, which enlightened the reading experience to a great extent. Ivan's commentary on his experiences when opening a restaurant were very funny, but also inspiring. This book was inspirational to me because it showed me that most things are possible if you try hard enough, and you can always rebound from your failures because you learn from your failures.
It is also very specific and humorous, which enlightened the reading experience to a great extent. Ivan's commentary on his experiences when opening a restaurant were very funny, but also inspiring. This book was inspirational to me because it showed me that most things are possible if you try hard enough, and you can always rebound from your failures because you learn from your failures.
December 11, 2013
the epitome of fussy. i appreciate him pulling out all the stops and listing the recipes the way he makes them in japan and i appreciate him giving a list of things you can do with all the leftover ingredients
but
these are intense project cooks with a lot of ingredients you might not be able to find at the freshness level he insists, a lot of liquid movement that is not conducive to my tiny apartment kitchen, and at the end of the day, man - it's just soup.
also he spends half of the book talking about how he started this shop and learned how to make ramen and, personally, i could give a rat's ass. david chang, who wrote the foreword of this book (and the similarly fussy but more well-rounded Momofuku) did a better job of the 'restaurant bio' by including short, funny, to-the-point anecdotes.
but
these are intense project cooks with a lot of ingredients you might not be able to find at the freshness level he insists, a lot of liquid movement that is not conducive to my tiny apartment kitchen, and at the end of the day, man - it's just soup.
also he spends half of the book talking about how he started this shop and learned how to make ramen and, personally, i could give a rat's ass. david chang, who wrote the foreword of this book (and the similarly fussy but more well-rounded Momofuku) did a better job of the 'restaurant bio' by including short, funny, to-the-point anecdotes.
April 19, 2014
Not much of a cook book, so beware of that. But this is a very interesting story of how a New York guy randomly went to Japan, made his life there, and became a superstar in the Ramen world. I'd love to try his ramen some day and even though there is a recipe for his soup in the book, I'll probably just leave it to the expert.
March 14, 2014
This is worth reading as a memoir more than a recipe book, as Orkin is a serious enthusiast. I suppose if you are a technical cook that loves to disappear into creating the perfect loaf of bread or the ultimate duck confit, you may try and make ramen at home. Me, I'd rather let someone else do it.
June 3, 2016
Part memoir, part recipe book, Ivan Ramen is a Must Read for foodies and travelers alike. I borrowed this book from my local library, read it cover to cover, and plan to buy a copy to keep at home. Loved it!
December 20, 2013
Beautiful book! Great pictures and a touching story, not to mention delicious recipes I look forward to trying
January 2, 2014
A great book for any ramen-obsessed foodie. Even though making a single bowl of Ivan's ramen will probably be impossible for most, it's still good to have some real guidance and recipes.
May 3, 2014
While the writing is a little flat, I was riveted by Ivan's story. And now I want to head back to Japan to slurp more noodles! Although I may have to start with some culinary tours stateside, first.
March 2, 2014
Read: December 2013
Where It Came From: eARC from publisher via NetGalley*
Genre: Cookbook-food-memoir
Rating: 4 Slices of Chashu
I’m always interested in the experiences of other foreigners in Japan, having been one myself, and I’m also always interested in things published by Ten Speed Press (remember this lovely?). Based on these two facts, I was definitely planning on having a look at Ivan Ramen from the moment I first heard about it. The subtitle is “Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo’s Most Unlikely Noodle Joint”—I was completely on the same page with regards to the love and obsession I bear ramen (we’re talking Japanese ramen here, not the stuff you can grab at the grocery store for the low price of a dime and elevated blood pressure), but I had never before heard of this Tokyo ramen shop owned by an American guy. Of course, I’m certainly not an expert on everything that happens within Japan’s borders, and when I was living over there I wasn’t in Tokyo, had no TV, and was not super into the ramen following. But my curiosity was definitely piqued by a) the story of a white dude opening a ramen place in the ramen motherland, and b) actual ramen recipes, which are not too easy to come by in English.
The first 90 pages of the book are straight up autobiographical prose. As Ivan states on page 3, “I’m a chef. I don’t really open a cookbook to cook from it, and I don’t know if many people do. I read cookbooks because I want to know why someone cooks the way they do, how they arrive at their recipes.” In that same vein, I found it very interesting and enlightening to see the meandering path he followed in life to get from being a high school student dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant in Syosset, New York, to a man living with his family in Tokyo and opening restaurant to present his own spin on ramen to a discerning (to put it lightly, perhaps) Japanese public. This section covers the broad strokes of his personal and professional life, from his origins as a food-obsessed kid growing up in a not-food-obsessed family, to the initial interest in Japan and its cuisine kindled during his time as the aforementioned dishwasher, to majoring in Japanese in college, to teaching English in Japan after graduating, and to his first encounters with ramen. He talks about how he eventually decided to buckle down and pursue a career in food after returning to the States, and how he moved from working at a very famous restaurant to the corporate cooking world. He also experienced tragedy when his first wife (whom he met while teaching English in Japan) died, leaving him and their son devastated, but eventually he remarried and moved to Japan with his new, blended family. Through all of this, you can see the strands spun out and coming together to lead to his decision to open a ramen shop, and it’s rather inspiring to read about how he integrated with the local community and met all the challenges involved in making the restaurant happen. It’s fun to relive with him the experience of becoming famous not just for the novelty of white-dude ramen, but to be critically praised, and to have success at the level where he was able to open more shops and move back to NYC and open a branch there, too.
After the reader has gotten some context and learned a bit about who Ivan is and how he got to where he is now, it’s on to the recipes! I’d always heard about the complexities of ramen and how complicated it is to make, but beyond that everything had been shrouded in mystery. Making ramen at home just wasn’t something that was done amongst my friends and acquaintances in Japan—it was always a dish you went out to eat. Ivan does an excellent job pulling back the curtain a little while still retaining some of ramen’s mystique, and he explains things in a way that makes sense and demonstrates the Japanese culinary tradition. He reveals to us the heart of ramen-making, and he is true to that heart, but at the same time he isn’t afraid to push boundaries and put the Ivan mark on it, such as with his nod to his Jewish heritage through rye noodles and the schmaltz included in his signature ramen.
He provides the entire recipe for shio (salt) ramen, exactly as it’s prepared at his shop. It’s admittedly a bit intimidating, but he’s aware of this and has ideas for how to break up the steps, how to make enough of all the components to preserve for later ramen batches, and how to use components in other recipes so nothing goes to waste. He says ramen made at home is the epitome of slow food, and reassures us that the effort is completely worthwhile. The recipe for shio ramen is presented in a sort of work-backward way, with the first recipe being for making the complete bowl when you have all the components all cooked up and ready to go in front of you. Following that are the recipes for making each of these components from scratch—chicken fat, pork fat, shiotare (a kind of seasoning mixture) using sofrito, katsuobushi salt, double soup using dashi and chicken stock, toasted rye noodles, menma (cured bamboo shoot), chashu (delicious slices of pork belly), and half-cooked eggs. I know, I know…it’s a lot. I can imagine your goggling eyes through the computer screen. But before you get overwhelmed and abandon all hope of making ramen at home, Ivan emphasizes that you shouldn’t put pressure on yourself to make it perfect. He recommends making a few of the components from scratch to start with and getting the rest readymade, and eventually building up to do the whole shebang. He also encourages you to make it your own, just as he did when developing the recipes for his restaurant.
After all the instructions on how to make a complete bowl of shio ramen, he moves on to other recipes, from the traditional to the not-quite-as-traditional, to put to use the basic ingredients that you so lovingly made from scratch. Examples from the traditional camp are recipes for ozoni, a soup with rice cake eaten on New Year’s Day (yum), and dashimaki tamago, a kind of sweet rolled egg omelet. In the realm of things universally appealing enough that even picky eater children would probably happily nom them, we have a recipe for chicken cutlet fried in schmaltz and some tasty-looking chicken teriyaki. Some of my favorites in the less-traditional offerings are the recipes for a chashu Cubano sandwich and breakfast yakisoba. He also shares recipes for some of the other noodle dishes from his restaurants and has a chapter dedicated to sides and sweets. The roasted pork musubi (a kind of rice ball) and the lemon sherbet from that section sound particularly delectable to me! He also is sure to include information about sourcing ingredients, which is always valuable to home cooks stepping outside their usual cooking arena. The lovely color photos feel like a scrapbook of his life and are evocative of Japan and the characters he met there, and, most importantly, they make you crave the food!
The dishes presented in this cookbook look to taste both different from the ramen I ate while in Japan, and yet similar in the most important ways. It’s clear that Ivan prides himself on being true to the spirit, heart, and technique of ramen-making, while being inventive, innovative, and true to himself and his heritage, too. He captures the spirit of food culture in Japan and of just plain good food. This book is great for Japan fans, noodle fans, and foodies in general. Next time I find myself in Japan I’ll definitely seek out his restaurant, and in the mean time I’ll work my way up to preparing his shio ramen after building my confidence and skills through some of the less-complex recipes. I’m thinking I’ll start with the dashimaki tamago (I’m a little ashamed that I haven’t mastered it yet!). I might even go make it right now.
*As ever, much as we are grateful for the copy, our review is uninfluenced by its source.
Originally posted on Read This / Eat That
Where It Came From: eARC from publisher via NetGalley*
Genre: Cookbook-food-memoir
Rating: 4 Slices of Chashu
I’m always interested in the experiences of other foreigners in Japan, having been one myself, and I’m also always interested in things published by Ten Speed Press (remember this lovely?). Based on these two facts, I was definitely planning on having a look at Ivan Ramen from the moment I first heard about it. The subtitle is “Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo’s Most Unlikely Noodle Joint”—I was completely on the same page with regards to the love and obsession I bear ramen (we’re talking Japanese ramen here, not the stuff you can grab at the grocery store for the low price of a dime and elevated blood pressure), but I had never before heard of this Tokyo ramen shop owned by an American guy. Of course, I’m certainly not an expert on everything that happens within Japan’s borders, and when I was living over there I wasn’t in Tokyo, had no TV, and was not super into the ramen following. But my curiosity was definitely piqued by a) the story of a white dude opening a ramen place in the ramen motherland, and b) actual ramen recipes, which are not too easy to come by in English.
The first 90 pages of the book are straight up autobiographical prose. As Ivan states on page 3, “I’m a chef. I don’t really open a cookbook to cook from it, and I don’t know if many people do. I read cookbooks because I want to know why someone cooks the way they do, how they arrive at their recipes.” In that same vein, I found it very interesting and enlightening to see the meandering path he followed in life to get from being a high school student dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant in Syosset, New York, to a man living with his family in Tokyo and opening restaurant to present his own spin on ramen to a discerning (to put it lightly, perhaps) Japanese public. This section covers the broad strokes of his personal and professional life, from his origins as a food-obsessed kid growing up in a not-food-obsessed family, to the initial interest in Japan and its cuisine kindled during his time as the aforementioned dishwasher, to majoring in Japanese in college, to teaching English in Japan after graduating, and to his first encounters with ramen. He talks about how he eventually decided to buckle down and pursue a career in food after returning to the States, and how he moved from working at a very famous restaurant to the corporate cooking world. He also experienced tragedy when his first wife (whom he met while teaching English in Japan) died, leaving him and their son devastated, but eventually he remarried and moved to Japan with his new, blended family. Through all of this, you can see the strands spun out and coming together to lead to his decision to open a ramen shop, and it’s rather inspiring to read about how he integrated with the local community and met all the challenges involved in making the restaurant happen. It’s fun to relive with him the experience of becoming famous not just for the novelty of white-dude ramen, but to be critically praised, and to have success at the level where he was able to open more shops and move back to NYC and open a branch there, too.
After the reader has gotten some context and learned a bit about who Ivan is and how he got to where he is now, it’s on to the recipes! I’d always heard about the complexities of ramen and how complicated it is to make, but beyond that everything had been shrouded in mystery. Making ramen at home just wasn’t something that was done amongst my friends and acquaintances in Japan—it was always a dish you went out to eat. Ivan does an excellent job pulling back the curtain a little while still retaining some of ramen’s mystique, and he explains things in a way that makes sense and demonstrates the Japanese culinary tradition. He reveals to us the heart of ramen-making, and he is true to that heart, but at the same time he isn’t afraid to push boundaries and put the Ivan mark on it, such as with his nod to his Jewish heritage through rye noodles and the schmaltz included in his signature ramen.
He provides the entire recipe for shio (salt) ramen, exactly as it’s prepared at his shop. It’s admittedly a bit intimidating, but he’s aware of this and has ideas for how to break up the steps, how to make enough of all the components to preserve for later ramen batches, and how to use components in other recipes so nothing goes to waste. He says ramen made at home is the epitome of slow food, and reassures us that the effort is completely worthwhile. The recipe for shio ramen is presented in a sort of work-backward way, with the first recipe being for making the complete bowl when you have all the components all cooked up and ready to go in front of you. Following that are the recipes for making each of these components from scratch—chicken fat, pork fat, shiotare (a kind of seasoning mixture) using sofrito, katsuobushi salt, double soup using dashi and chicken stock, toasted rye noodles, menma (cured bamboo shoot), chashu (delicious slices of pork belly), and half-cooked eggs. I know, I know…it’s a lot. I can imagine your goggling eyes through the computer screen. But before you get overwhelmed and abandon all hope of making ramen at home, Ivan emphasizes that you shouldn’t put pressure on yourself to make it perfect. He recommends making a few of the components from scratch to start with and getting the rest readymade, and eventually building up to do the whole shebang. He also encourages you to make it your own, just as he did when developing the recipes for his restaurant.
After all the instructions on how to make a complete bowl of shio ramen, he moves on to other recipes, from the traditional to the not-quite-as-traditional, to put to use the basic ingredients that you so lovingly made from scratch. Examples from the traditional camp are recipes for ozoni, a soup with rice cake eaten on New Year’s Day (yum), and dashimaki tamago, a kind of sweet rolled egg omelet. In the realm of things universally appealing enough that even picky eater children would probably happily nom them, we have a recipe for chicken cutlet fried in schmaltz and some tasty-looking chicken teriyaki. Some of my favorites in the less-traditional offerings are the recipes for a chashu Cubano sandwich and breakfast yakisoba. He also shares recipes for some of the other noodle dishes from his restaurants and has a chapter dedicated to sides and sweets. The roasted pork musubi (a kind of rice ball) and the lemon sherbet from that section sound particularly delectable to me! He also is sure to include information about sourcing ingredients, which is always valuable to home cooks stepping outside their usual cooking arena. The lovely color photos feel like a scrapbook of his life and are evocative of Japan and the characters he met there, and, most importantly, they make you crave the food!
The dishes presented in this cookbook look to taste both different from the ramen I ate while in Japan, and yet similar in the most important ways. It’s clear that Ivan prides himself on being true to the spirit, heart, and technique of ramen-making, while being inventive, innovative, and true to himself and his heritage, too. He captures the spirit of food culture in Japan and of just plain good food. This book is great for Japan fans, noodle fans, and foodies in general. Next time I find myself in Japan I’ll definitely seek out his restaurant, and in the mean time I’ll work my way up to preparing his shio ramen after building my confidence and skills through some of the less-complex recipes. I’m thinking I’ll start with the dashimaki tamago (I’m a little ashamed that I haven’t mastered it yet!). I might even go make it right now.
*As ever, much as we are grateful for the copy, our review is uninfluenced by its source.
Originally posted on Read This / Eat That
January 9, 2018
Ivan's life story is fascinating. He's had a rough road, like a lot of people in the restaurant industry, but it's great to see where he eventually ended up. His recipes are accessible and I love that his attitude toward it all isn't too precious or conceited. This book is a great companion to his Chef's Table episode.
August 20, 2013
Roughly 50% memoir on Ivan Orkin's journey from Japanese Literature to owning a top Ramen shop in Tokyo, along with what Ramen is all about in Japanese culture. The other half is cookbook.
I had no idea ramen could be so danged complex, and I would love to see Ramen shops take off in the mainstream U.S. in the way that Pho has in the last few years. And I would love those restaurant owners, when they do open, to instruct newbies on how to eat Ramen, why it is enjoyed boiling hot with plenty of slurping and mess and little self consciousness, and what goes into it.
This book gives us a taste of it. By the epilogue I was going crazy for noodles and, for lack of a dedicated ramen shop nearby, settled for Pho. It's not the same, of course, but it made my belly happy and stopped me from gnawing the corner of my iPad in frustration, wanting some ramen and afraid to just boil an instant packet...
There are indeed recipes and they are very thorough...and - a step outside the expected - he claims they are authentic to his shop.
However, a bowl of Ivan Ramen similar to what you'll enjoy in Japan is not a quick process. It's (of course) a production and only the dedicated are going to tackle this. I'd recommend making it a collaborative project between friends.
The rest of us are probably going to call it in and take what works for us, and while not getting the full enjoyment of the weeklong project, we'll enjoy some of the tips and ideas pulled from his wealth of experience and expertise and eat a little better because of it.
I would love to see Ivan Instant Ramen available in the U.S. Even better for those of us who are *even lazier!*
I enjoyed the book. It was an educational and inspiring experience. It inspired me to want to eat noodles. A lot.
Additional notes:
- need to watch Tampopo and find out what all the fuss is about. I had watched Ramen Girl, which was cute...wonder what his thoughts are on that one?
- a typo in the galley that I'll include in the Netgalley review.
- I gather from inference through his memoir how to actually eat ramen: eat it boiling hot, primarily and burn the heck out of your mouth, slurp to get the full impact of flavors...but then what? Did I miss part of the book that actually instructs newbies on proper ramen eating? Is it noodles first? I gather you do eat noodles first because they'll swell in the soup and get overcooked. But bite? Chew? Twirl around chopsticks? Are we slurping broth or noodles or both? Noodles followed by a spoonful of broth? I will be surfing through youtube to find out. I think a checklist of how to actually EAT ramen would be a good addition... do you eat everything on top and work your way down? Do you mix it all up? Do you not stir? Do you garnish your heart out as you do with Pho? Remember we're newbies on this side of the book. Most of us, at any rate.
- I loved the comment he made about loving to see a girl come in wearing a Chanel shirt and going to town on a bowl of Ramen, unconcerned about soup on her shirt. Something like "I'm eating the fuck out of these noodles" - that just made me laugh. I could see my niece getting a kick out of that line. It conjures the image of someone who is absolutely uninhibited in their enjoyment of the food.
- I loved the idea of the vending machine/ticket for ordering. That'd be awesome for places like Subway and Qdoba and allow people to focus solely on making the food vs. trying to hear customers over the drool guards. Really surprised that hasn't been adopted into our culture already, especially with self-check out in grocery stores being so popular.
And lastly, a link to a bon appetite article by Ivan on how to doctor up your (if you have to eat it) instant ramen:
http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitche...
I had no idea ramen could be so danged complex, and I would love to see Ramen shops take off in the mainstream U.S. in the way that Pho has in the last few years. And I would love those restaurant owners, when they do open, to instruct newbies on how to eat Ramen, why it is enjoyed boiling hot with plenty of slurping and mess and little self consciousness, and what goes into it.
This book gives us a taste of it. By the epilogue I was going crazy for noodles and, for lack of a dedicated ramen shop nearby, settled for Pho. It's not the same, of course, but it made my belly happy and stopped me from gnawing the corner of my iPad in frustration, wanting some ramen and afraid to just boil an instant packet...
There are indeed recipes and they are very thorough...and - a step outside the expected - he claims they are authentic to his shop.
However, a bowl of Ivan Ramen similar to what you'll enjoy in Japan is not a quick process. It's (of course) a production and only the dedicated are going to tackle this. I'd recommend making it a collaborative project between friends.
The rest of us are probably going to call it in and take what works for us, and while not getting the full enjoyment of the weeklong project, we'll enjoy some of the tips and ideas pulled from his wealth of experience and expertise and eat a little better because of it.
I would love to see Ivan Instant Ramen available in the U.S. Even better for those of us who are *even lazier!*
I enjoyed the book. It was an educational and inspiring experience. It inspired me to want to eat noodles. A lot.
Additional notes:
- need to watch Tampopo and find out what all the fuss is about. I had watched Ramen Girl, which was cute...wonder what his thoughts are on that one?
- a typo in the galley that I'll include in the Netgalley review.
- I gather from inference through his memoir how to actually eat ramen: eat it boiling hot, primarily and burn the heck out of your mouth, slurp to get the full impact of flavors...but then what? Did I miss part of the book that actually instructs newbies on proper ramen eating? Is it noodles first? I gather you do eat noodles first because they'll swell in the soup and get overcooked. But bite? Chew? Twirl around chopsticks? Are we slurping broth or noodles or both? Noodles followed by a spoonful of broth? I will be surfing through youtube to find out. I think a checklist of how to actually EAT ramen would be a good addition... do you eat everything on top and work your way down? Do you mix it all up? Do you not stir? Do you garnish your heart out as you do with Pho? Remember we're newbies on this side of the book. Most of us, at any rate.
- I loved the comment he made about loving to see a girl come in wearing a Chanel shirt and going to town on a bowl of Ramen, unconcerned about soup on her shirt. Something like "I'm eating the fuck out of these noodles" - that just made me laugh. I could see my niece getting a kick out of that line. It conjures the image of someone who is absolutely uninhibited in their enjoyment of the food.
- I loved the idea of the vending machine/ticket for ordering. That'd be awesome for places like Subway and Qdoba and allow people to focus solely on making the food vs. trying to hear customers over the drool guards. Really surprised that hasn't been adopted into our culture already, especially with self-check out in grocery stores being so popular.
And lastly, a link to a bon appetite article by Ivan on how to doctor up your (if you have to eat it) instant ramen:
http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitche...
October 24, 2013
www.2thepointbooks.blogspot.com
This half-biography/half-cookbook completely turned my American version of ramen on its head. I have been completely clueless about what "real" ramen is supposed to be. I have been used to the 15-cents-a-package version you boil for three minutes, add the powdered flavor and away you go!
Real ramen, I've learned is not this AT ALL. Ramen is a near religion for some in Japan. It is an intensely precise and patience-demanding endeavor. If you're looking for very authentic Japanese noodle recipes, this is a great book. ‘Cause these recipes take a bit longer than three minutes.
I am a ramen neophyte and was hoping to get some good beginner noodle recipes from this book – something accessible. After reading it, though, I'm not sure I can actually embark on the journey Orkin presents – the recipes are definitely for an ambitious, intermediate-to-advanced cook, who is well-versed in Asian cuisine and terminology.
Orkin recommends making the first recipe – shio ramen – over the course of a week! He freely admits that his recipes are “daunting,” but doable with patience. He starts his “gold standard” shio ramen recipe by first laying out the recipe, and second, defining each component that is included in recipe. There are eight. And each of these eight components has a recipe of its own – all from total scratch. Home cooks will find this approach frustrating and unrealistic for families busy with homework, soccer, and dance and tae kwon do lessons.
But for an experienced cook with time and ambition to spare, this book is perfect. It allows a cook to revel in the history, flavor and energy each ingredient brings to the table – or pot in this instance.
Orkin also provides many recipes to use up all those hard-earned – and now leftover – ingredients from the shio ramen. All look to be about the same difficultly level as the shio ramen.
Some of the ingredients – actually most – are hard-to-find. Orkin provides a resource page at the end of the book to point you in the right direction to obtain these elusive ingredients. The main idea: The Internet is your friend.
One big complaint I have with the prose is that the language is too lowbrow and features waaay too many curse words. Ramen is treated in such a highbrow manner in this book; it just seems disrespectful for the author to debase his passion with base words. It lowers the quality of the entire book.
I loved the photos found inside, although I wish there were more of them. Cookbooks can never have too many photos in my opinion.
I can recommend this cookbook to those wanting to try challenging recipes with a splendid payoff.
Thank you NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for allowing me to review this book.
This half-biography/half-cookbook completely turned my American version of ramen on its head. I have been completely clueless about what "real" ramen is supposed to be. I have been used to the 15-cents-a-package version you boil for three minutes, add the powdered flavor and away you go!
Real ramen, I've learned is not this AT ALL. Ramen is a near religion for some in Japan. It is an intensely precise and patience-demanding endeavor. If you're looking for very authentic Japanese noodle recipes, this is a great book. ‘Cause these recipes take a bit longer than three minutes.
I am a ramen neophyte and was hoping to get some good beginner noodle recipes from this book – something accessible. After reading it, though, I'm not sure I can actually embark on the journey Orkin presents – the recipes are definitely for an ambitious, intermediate-to-advanced cook, who is well-versed in Asian cuisine and terminology.
Orkin recommends making the first recipe – shio ramen – over the course of a week! He freely admits that his recipes are “daunting,” but doable with patience. He starts his “gold standard” shio ramen recipe by first laying out the recipe, and second, defining each component that is included in recipe. There are eight. And each of these eight components has a recipe of its own – all from total scratch. Home cooks will find this approach frustrating and unrealistic for families busy with homework, soccer, and dance and tae kwon do lessons.
But for an experienced cook with time and ambition to spare, this book is perfect. It allows a cook to revel in the history, flavor and energy each ingredient brings to the table – or pot in this instance.
Orkin also provides many recipes to use up all those hard-earned – and now leftover – ingredients from the shio ramen. All look to be about the same difficultly level as the shio ramen.
Some of the ingredients – actually most – are hard-to-find. Orkin provides a resource page at the end of the book to point you in the right direction to obtain these elusive ingredients. The main idea: The Internet is your friend.
One big complaint I have with the prose is that the language is too lowbrow and features waaay too many curse words. Ramen is treated in such a highbrow manner in this book; it just seems disrespectful for the author to debase his passion with base words. It lowers the quality of the entire book.
I loved the photos found inside, although I wish there were more of them. Cookbooks can never have too many photos in my opinion.
I can recommend this cookbook to those wanting to try challenging recipes with a splendid payoff.
Thank you NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for allowing me to review this book.
March 13, 2014
I've had a passing interest for ramen ever since I was a teenager watching crappy pirated VHS copies of anime. Just recently I've really wanted to try and make my own ramen but without any sources I had no idea where to look. Luckily someone happened to mention this book to me. It's half autobiography and half cook book and overall I felt it was a good balance of the two.
The first half of the book is written from the narrative of Ivan himself and how he stumbled through his formative years listing between Japan and the US. Meeting his first wife and then through his life as a professional chef, husband, father, widow, and finally a ramen chef. The story is filled with anecdotes and his thoughts on his path to ramen stardom and his personal pains of being a single parent after the passing of his wife. The stories feel real and down to earth with the true persona of the author coming through with his sprinkled colorful language. Which allows the reader to connect with the author and stand by him through each phase of his life. All of this culminating in the main purpose for purchasing the book, the recipes.
To anyone who's had an interest in the Japanese culture one thing they'll most likely remark upon is two things. First that the Japanese are a very deliberate and detailed people, when they chose to be. And second, they believe that great things come through patience and practice. The author makes no joke about the effort it took for him to achieve his first passable ramen recipe and tries to instill in the reader that the recipes put forth here are just starting points and that you should take just as much care and diligence in creating ramen as one would take in perfecting art.
After reading all the recipes I feel encouraged to take it all on. The recipes are uniquely descriptive and detailed. Down to the timing and temperatures to use. It all almost feels to easy and I hope with time it will be. I'm lucky to have a local asian mart where I can pick up many of the difficult ingredients so in the coming weeks hopefully I'll be able to pull something together that's satisfactory if not passable. Then with time perhaps I'll be able to bring the wonders of this cuisine to my table for my family to enjoy, just as he had.
The first half of the book is written from the narrative of Ivan himself and how he stumbled through his formative years listing between Japan and the US. Meeting his first wife and then through his life as a professional chef, husband, father, widow, and finally a ramen chef. The story is filled with anecdotes and his thoughts on his path to ramen stardom and his personal pains of being a single parent after the passing of his wife. The stories feel real and down to earth with the true persona of the author coming through with his sprinkled colorful language. Which allows the reader to connect with the author and stand by him through each phase of his life. All of this culminating in the main purpose for purchasing the book, the recipes.
To anyone who's had an interest in the Japanese culture one thing they'll most likely remark upon is two things. First that the Japanese are a very deliberate and detailed people, when they chose to be. And second, they believe that great things come through patience and practice. The author makes no joke about the effort it took for him to achieve his first passable ramen recipe and tries to instill in the reader that the recipes put forth here are just starting points and that you should take just as much care and diligence in creating ramen as one would take in perfecting art.
After reading all the recipes I feel encouraged to take it all on. The recipes are uniquely descriptive and detailed. Down to the timing and temperatures to use. It all almost feels to easy and I hope with time it will be. I'm lucky to have a local asian mart where I can pick up many of the difficult ingredients so in the coming weeks hopefully I'll be able to pull something together that's satisfactory if not passable. Then with time perhaps I'll be able to bring the wonders of this cuisine to my table for my family to enjoy, just as he had.
January 15, 2014
This is a cookbook memoir with one recipe in it but it is a good one. Okay, maybe not exactly one but not too many more than that. Ramen is a complex soup with various components. Ivan Orkin is an American ramen chef that was the first to open up a noodle shop in Japan. This is his story.
The joy isn't in the recipes although they are well written with great headnotes and fun anecdotes and directions buried in the normal step by step instructions. The joy is in the memoirs. There is death, tears, birth and rebirth and something approaching happiness in those pieces. More importantly there is rumination on what makes a cook cook, a cookbook useful and hope for the aimless.
This isn't another cooking saved me memoir but rather one that describes an irresistible draw to a country, the culture and food.
I loved reading the recipes because there were so many small moments in them. There is one step in a recipe that goes on an aside over ketchup and how to incorporate the right amount of ketchup into rice. It reminds me of the joy that I get from making a sweet sour sauce from ketchup, dry mustard, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar. It is a childlike joy of making mud patties, using finger paint or riding your bike with no hands. The rest of the book has the same type of joy but tempered with the experience of a French trained chef.
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in ramen at home or in the bits and pieces. There are several good recipes for broth and the bits like pork that go into making the ramen. I will not be buying this because I have the Lucky Peach issue that went through the whole ramen craze thing. It included Ivan Orkin. There may be a time when I will change my mind but not quite yet. When I find myself slipping into a monomania about a dish, it will definitely remind me about this book and eventually I may make my way back...
The joy isn't in the recipes although they are well written with great headnotes and fun anecdotes and directions buried in the normal step by step instructions. The joy is in the memoirs. There is death, tears, birth and rebirth and something approaching happiness in those pieces. More importantly there is rumination on what makes a cook cook, a cookbook useful and hope for the aimless.
This isn't another cooking saved me memoir but rather one that describes an irresistible draw to a country, the culture and food.
I loved reading the recipes because there were so many small moments in them. There is one step in a recipe that goes on an aside over ketchup and how to incorporate the right amount of ketchup into rice. It reminds me of the joy that I get from making a sweet sour sauce from ketchup, dry mustard, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar. It is a childlike joy of making mud patties, using finger paint or riding your bike with no hands. The rest of the book has the same type of joy but tempered with the experience of a French trained chef.
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in ramen at home or in the bits and pieces. There are several good recipes for broth and the bits like pork that go into making the ramen. I will not be buying this because I have the Lucky Peach issue that went through the whole ramen craze thing. It included Ivan Orkin. There may be a time when I will change my mind but not quite yet. When I find myself slipping into a monomania about a dish, it will definitely remind me about this book and eventually I may make my way back...
April 3, 2014
Wow, what a lively cookbook...or cool, what a neat memoir...or interesting guide to the culture of Japan...Whatever you think of it as, it's a great read.
Not being a true foodie (more like a poseur quasi-foodie), I thought I'd skip the last third of the book, which is an unbelievably complex series of recipes for the all the components of...yes, A BOWL OF SOUP. A really fine bowl that my mouth is still watering for. But dang, the recipes are so entertainingly written! It gives you such a visual picture of this Master of Ramen behind the counter, cook-dancing in his kitchen: stretching and twisting with his tools and components, chopping and stirring and grabbing things from here and there, bending over to measure more precisely.
Ivan seems, by his own admission, sometimes a bit cranky or exacting. Yet still, I found myself desiring to be part of his inner circle, just for a bit, to see how his genius chef-mind works. It's also a great story of a man finding himself a little later in life. Here's his thought: "In 1987, I was a disorganized, confused twenty-something. I wasn't a student. I wasn't a chef. I wasn't really anything."
I did wonder why there were no photos of people who seemed to be pretty special in his life...his first wife Tami, and his mom and dad. He shows his boyhood house, but...was this an intentional omission? Just curious.
There were a few f-bombs throughout, and seeing "a rat's ass" in the text under a recipe heading was kind of unexpected in a cookbook but I guess that's my hang-up.
Well done, Chef Ivan. Great book. Looking forward to waiting in line at your noodle joint.
Not being a true foodie (more like a poseur quasi-foodie), I thought I'd skip the last third of the book, which is an unbelievably complex series of recipes for the all the components of...yes, A BOWL OF SOUP. A really fine bowl that my mouth is still watering for. But dang, the recipes are so entertainingly written! It gives you such a visual picture of this Master of Ramen behind the counter, cook-dancing in his kitchen: stretching and twisting with his tools and components, chopping and stirring and grabbing things from here and there, bending over to measure more precisely.
Ivan seems, by his own admission, sometimes a bit cranky or exacting. Yet still, I found myself desiring to be part of his inner circle, just for a bit, to see how his genius chef-mind works. It's also a great story of a man finding himself a little later in life. Here's his thought: "In 1987, I was a disorganized, confused twenty-something. I wasn't a student. I wasn't a chef. I wasn't really anything."
I did wonder why there were no photos of people who seemed to be pretty special in his life...his first wife Tami, and his mom and dad. He shows his boyhood house, but...was this an intentional omission? Just curious.
There were a few f-bombs throughout, and seeing "a rat's ass" in the text under a recipe heading was kind of unexpected in a cookbook but I guess that's my hang-up.
Well done, Chef Ivan. Great book. Looking forward to waiting in line at your noodle joint.
September 10, 2014
As a memoir, it is a fun light read about an unlikely path from aimlessness to fame and fortune. It is hard to tell how much his own merits got him to where he is today, and how much of it was dumb luck and the financial assistance of others, but you do come to appreciate how seriously he takes his ramen. I would say it is not as essential, inspirational, weird, or funny as a viewing of Tampopo, but then again it is non-fiction and also not cringe-inducingly sexist.
Whoops, this somehow became a review of Tampopo.
Anyway, I never intended to try assembling my own facsimile of Ivan’s Shio Ramen using the recipes in the second half of the book, and he himself describes that as a fine way to approach that section of the book. I did find it illuminating and educational, and I feel like I have a deeper understanding of the ramen and what goes into an obsessively prepared bowl. The author's passion for ramen is obvious. Plus, some of the comfort foods poaching individual component ingredients of the ramen do sound pretty great. And every recipe comes with a story and is told in Orkin’s voice, which makes them worth reading even if you never take them into the kitchen.
Whoops, this somehow became a review of Tampopo.
Anyway, I never intended to try assembling my own facsimile of Ivan’s Shio Ramen using the recipes in the second half of the book, and he himself describes that as a fine way to approach that section of the book. I did find it illuminating and educational, and I feel like I have a deeper understanding of the ramen and what goes into an obsessively prepared bowl. The author's passion for ramen is obvious. Plus, some of the comfort foods poaching individual component ingredients of the ramen do sound pretty great. And every recipe comes with a story and is told in Orkin’s voice, which makes them worth reading even if you never take them into the kitchen.
March 19, 2014
A captivating read for anyone interested in the nuances of how a proper bowl of ramen is created from the ground up. The first 40% of this book provides an autobiographical look into the creation of Ivan Orkin's mini, ramen-empire with the remainder of the book a thorough and detailed breakdown into each of the 8 made from scratch components (along with featured side dishes and desserts).
Orkin graciously provides the complete blueprint to his signature bowl - Shio (salt) ramen - beloved by discriminating noodle connoisseurs in Tokyo and NYC alike and while the recipes are articulate and reasonably presented most home cooks will likely spectate from the sidelines after examining the effort needed to make proper noodles or seasoned umami salts from scratch. Regardless of whether or not you intend to recreate Orkin's ramen on your own, the entirety of the book is a pleasure to read thanks to Orkin's wit and candor that is well conveyed in written form along with a plethora of pleasing and sincere color photography.
Orkin graciously provides the complete blueprint to his signature bowl - Shio (salt) ramen - beloved by discriminating noodle connoisseurs in Tokyo and NYC alike and while the recipes are articulate and reasonably presented most home cooks will likely spectate from the sidelines after examining the effort needed to make proper noodles or seasoned umami salts from scratch. Regardless of whether or not you intend to recreate Orkin's ramen on your own, the entirety of the book is a pleasure to read thanks to Orkin's wit and candor that is well conveyed in written form along with a plethora of pleasing and sincere color photography.
December 16, 2019
This book reads like bullet points. Ivan Orkin manages to condense his entire life, from childhood to 50+ years old, into the first 100ish pages. At times I wanted him to linger on a topic and talk more about it, but this is not that type of book. Once I realized that I started to enjoy the book more.
The main reason I picked up this book was to read the second half, how he makes his ramen. I applaud him to put his entire recipe out to the world when most ramen chefs take theirs to the grave. I soon found out that he put out his entire recipe because it would take me the entire week to source and make everything. There is so much time and dedication put into a single bowl, its astounding. It makes you appreciate all the hard work put into this bowl of love.
I'll take some technique out of this book, but if I want a bowl of ramen as he makes I'll just go to his restaurant. It's probably easier to fly to New York City than making this at home.
The main reason I picked up this book was to read the second half, how he makes his ramen. I applaud him to put his entire recipe out to the world when most ramen chefs take theirs to the grave. I soon found out that he put out his entire recipe because it would take me the entire week to source and make everything. There is so much time and dedication put into a single bowl, its astounding. It makes you appreciate all the hard work put into this bowl of love.
I'll take some technique out of this book, but if I want a bowl of ramen as he makes I'll just go to his restaurant. It's probably easier to fly to New York City than making this at home.
September 16, 2014
So, I wanted to LOVE this cookbook. But I really just... liked it. I thought the history was interesting, but I assumed it was going to be like Roy Choi's amazing L.A. Son with stories and recipes interspersed. While the stories DID reference the recipes, it wasn't as together as I'd like a food memoir to be.
Ivan Orkin gave a lot of information about different styles of ramen, which I appreciate. Plus the dude seems to know more about noodle moisture percentages than anyone I've ever encountered. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd try to recreate any of the recipes. It's too much for my interest level. I do, however, look forward to being an obnoxious guest at Ramen places around LA. I feel much more informed about the history of this humble dish.
Ivan Orkin gave a lot of information about different styles of ramen, which I appreciate. Plus the dude seems to know more about noodle moisture percentages than anyone I've ever encountered. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd try to recreate any of the recipes. It's too much for my interest level. I do, however, look forward to being an obnoxious guest at Ramen places around LA. I feel much more informed about the history of this humble dish.
Read
May 1, 2016Ivan puts himself into your shoes. He assumes your an American interested in the impossible; becoming enlightened into the world of ramen. He knows you're not going to come across the abundance of ingredients or understand the flavors. He knows this because none of these things are available or popular in America. He guides you through a little of his life, how he came into ramen, and really, what ramen is. He acts as the codex between cultures knowing his book will be accessed by the curious wannabe or seeker of success.
It reads fast, and the narrative is short and at the end includes a lot of unique recipes that start with his flagship dish and move into a marrying (he said not to use the word "fusion") of Western and Japanese cuisine.
It reads fast, and the narrative is short and at the end includes a lot of unique recipes that start with his flagship dish and move into a marrying (he said not to use the word "fusion") of Western and Japanese cuisine.
November 25, 2013
A pretty cool look into how fortune favors the prepared. Ivan tells an interesting tale about how a gaijin from America can, through a serious of fortunate events, come to own one of the most popular ramen places in Tokyo. Expanded to New York now too, his ramen doesn't seem nearly as difficult to source or make as David Chang's Momofuku and may be worth attempting soon. However, as with all good ramen broths, the literal hours it will take to prep and cook-down mean don't make this when you're hungry.
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