Valentine's Day and Chocolate

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Regardless of your relationship status, there’s one very good reason to be excited about February 14^th, aside from Deadpool being in theaters: chocolate.

Unfortunately, due to the commercial nature of this holiday, sometimes the chocolate is a little pricey (unless you wait for the discount stuff on February 15^th). Plus, what says “I care about you” better than chocolates you made yourself?

To make your own chocolate, you’ll need a few things:

A pot and metal bowl that fits on top of your pot and won’t fall in (If you have a double boiler, just use that instead)

3.5 tablespoons Cocoa Butter

3.5 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 tablespoon Honey or Sugar

Let me first begin with a warning: do NOT use a wooden spoon while working with this recipe. This recipe is ruined if any water gets into the mixture, and wooden spoons actually have moisture trapped inside of them! The best utensil to use is a rubber spatula that hasn’t been exposed to any strong foods like garlic or tomato sauce. If you use a utensil that has been exposed to such foods, your chocolate could come out tasting like chocolate and some really tasty spaghetti. On to the directions!

Fill the bottom of your double boiler (make-shift or legit) with water and bring that water to a boil. Even though we’re going to be boiling the water, be sure to keep the heat low—if you turn up the heat too high, you can scorch your chocolate and cause it to lose flavor.

Place the bowl or pan you’re using as the top of your double boiler on top of the bottom half and make sure that the bottom of the pan/bowl doesn’t touch the boiling water. If the water is touching the bottom of the pan you’ll be making your chocolate in, you could burn your chocolate.

Next, place your cocoa butter in the pan and melt it. Once your cocoa butter is melted, you can go ahead and add your vanilla and sweetener of choice. You can also adjust the level of honey/sugar to taste. Once the sweetener has been added, stir your cocoa powder into the bowl and mix well. Eliminate any clumps or grainy bits until your chocolate is has a smooth, glossy texture. Then, just take your chocolate and place it in your mold of choice. If you want to add things like nuts or dried fruit to your chocolate, you can add them now. Simply pour a bit of chocolate, place the nuts or fruit on top, and then fill up the rest of the mold. Give the mold a good shake to get rid of any air trapped in your chocolate, and then place in your refrigerator to chill and set for at least an hour. After the chocolate has set, pop it out of the molds and serve! Or, you can decorate them with frosting and chocolate drizzle.

If you’re looking for something a bit less dark, you can add milk to your chocolate to lighten it up. Powdered milk and liquid milk are both fine. Powdered milk can be added when stirring in your cocoa powder, but if you want to add liquid milk do it at beginning when melting your cocoa butter. Otherwise your chocolate will seize (become lumpy, grainy, and stiff) since it’s sensitive to moisture. 

There are some other ways to do this that replace the cocoa butter with milk and butter, allow you to make your cocoa powder from scratch with cocoa beans, or remove the need for a double boiler entirely. You can check out some of those other options here and here. 

For those of you that would rather skip the from-scratch way of doing things and just melt down some chocolate and set it in some cute molds, here are some tips for melting your chocolate. You can melt chocolate with everything from the double boiler to the oven to the microwave. Just be sure to grate or break up your chocolate into small chunks so it melts more easily, and keep the heat low. If you’re going to add milk, cream, or anything else to the chocolate you’re going to melt, be sure to add it to the chocolate BEFORE heating it. Otherwise, your chocolate will seize because of its sensitivity to moisture. Also check out that link if your chocolate seizes. Although your chocolate won’t be suitable for consumption on its own anymore, there are ways to recover it from seizing, and it can be used for things such as sauces, frostings, and batters.

Whew, there. No wonder nobody learns this in Home Ec. It’s complicated, and there are so many ways to screw it up! However, the making of chocolate for loved ones on Valentine’s Day is something I’ve been seeing in media since I was fourteen and started reading manga. 

In Japan, it’s common place for people to make chocolates for the special people in their lives on Valentine’s day. There’s a little more incentive to do this in Japan, however, because all of that hard work is traditionally rewarded on White Day, when the receiver of chocolates traditionally repays the giver of the Valentine’s chocolates with a gift.

This particular tradition is explored in CLAMP’s series XXXHolic. The X’s in this title are traditionally used in Japan as a place holder for a blank, so when the title is pronounced it is usually just ‘Holic. In this series, trans-dimensional witch Yuko grants wishes from her shop. One of the wishes she grants is the ability to travel to different worlds to the four main characters of CLAMP’s other series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, Kurogane, Fai, and alternate world versions of the characters Syaoran, and Sakura from CLAMP’s other series Cardcaptor Sakura—keeping track of the different versions of CLAMP’s previous series characters that make apperances in Tsubasa and Holic can be as complicated as making chocolate! Due to Yuko’s involvement in the story of Tsubasa, the two series often crossover during their separate stories. One of the more humorous crossovers is a Valentine’s Day crossover. Yuko, having asked Watanuki to make chocolate for Valentine’s Day as part of his workerly duties, has some chocolate left over.

Yuko sending Valentine’s chocolate for White Day gifts.

As you can see, this is a ploy to ensure that she receives White Day gifts from the Tsubasa gang. When they don’t come deliver, she flies into a rage.

Yuko in a rage.

There are two types of White Day gifts; those given by someone accepting the romantic feelings of someone who confessed their feelings while giving their chocolates on Valentine’s Day, and those that are given out of obligation to people like family members, co-workers, and friends. Essentially, if you receive chocolates on Valentine’s Day that don’t have a romantic attachment, or intend to accept the romantic implications of chocolates you did receive, you’re required to give a White Day gift. It’s considered a social faux pas to forget your White Day duties.

Yuko sharing her feelings on not giving White Day gifts.

Of course, Japan being the role based society that it is, it’s usually women who hand make their chocolates in order to confess their feelings to men. What I love best about this portrayal of the Japanese Valentine’s and White Day ritual is that Yuko challenges these values outright.

Yuko breaking down gender roles like a boss.

So, no matter who you’re making chocolates for this Valentine’s Day, whether they be for your family, your friends, a special someone, or yourself, please enjoy them to the fullest.

Spirits: Whiskey in Japan

Recently, I found a whiskey bar in Shinjuku called Zoetrope. It was completely because of this list that I found it, but since it has been impossible to find a good drink anywhere in Tokyo up until this point, I was overjoyed.

Remember how I mentioned the Japanese love of sweet pervaded everything from cocktails to hamburgers? Yeah, I wasn’t kidding.

Those of you who know cocktails will know what I mean when I say that American cocktails typically make their cocktails “spirit forward.” Well, here in Japan, even the most spirit forward cocktails are made so spirit backward that I sometimes question why anyone would waste good scotch on a Japanese style Rob Roy when they could have it straight and actually taste the whiskey.

The large selection of whiskey that I was able to choose from at Zoetrope was a beautiful, savory, dream come true. I was surprised when I walked in and the bar was completely populated by men, however. Then again, I probably should have expected it. Japan has a thriving drinking culture, and one facet of it is the drinking businessmen do together after a day at the office. As Zoetrope specializes in whiskey, it attracts a specific type of crowd, and that crowd includes the businessmen. Zoetrope also attracts a lot of foreigners like myself because the owner, Atsushi Horigami, speaks fantastic English and is exceptionally welcoming.

If you don’t know anything about Japanese whiskey, let me give you a quick rundown: Once upon a time, a man named Shinjiro Torii imported a bunch of foreign whiskey. The whiskey he liked best was from Scotland. Then, in 1924, he started up his own whiskey distillery in Yamazaki city—a city near Kyoto that was known for its pure and delicious water. This distillery is known today as Suntory and is still one of the leading makers of Japanese whiskey today. The other distillery that has made a name for itself is Nikka, but the best whiskey that Horigami presented to me when I visited his bar was the Ichiro’s malt and grain whiskey. To learn more about this lesser known distillery and their delicious bottlings, click here.

Which brings me to this week’s media tie in: spirits (as in alcohol) and spirits (as in supernatural beings).

Recall the drinking culture of Japan I mentioned earlier? A JRPG called Catherine decided to include drinking in its game mechanics.

That’s right: the more drunk your character, Vincent, becomes, the faster he is able to move in his nightmares that night. This might seem like a funny ability to want, but when you’re climbing a tower that is literally dropping off beneath you, you’ll find every little bit of added speed helps. One only needs to consume three drinks in order to max out Vincent’s speed for the game play, but Catherine added a little extra incentive to drink at least four drinks each night: beverage trivia. Every night a new bit of trivia is unlocked for each type of drink that Vincent can consume. The options are beer, sake, a cocktail (Vincent always seems to end up with a Cuba Libre), and, of course, whiskey. When the player finishes a drink, the narrator of the game interrupts the game to inform the player of an interesting fact pertaining to the type of beverage they just finished. The trivia is interesting enough to keep one drinking enough to move quickly in the puzzle stages of the game even if the player is completely oblivious to the three drink counter to the side of the screen. Ranging from distilling techniques, naming conventions, and historical context, a new bit of trivia is unlocked per night, and if you have one of each beverage per night, you will be given the titles of “Cocktail Connoisseur,” “Beer Baron,” “Sake Sensei,” and “Whisky Wiseman.” If you’re curious, feel free to check out the video of all of the whiskey trivia below.

The next example of “spirits” is the punned version—supernatural beings. Spirits in media tend to be one of two types: either the spirits of the dead or the spirits of things, such as household items, trees, fire, and anything else that might possess a personality in the human imagination. Spirits can manifest in lots of ways, born from the residue of a life extinguished, born from intense emotion concerning a certain item, because there was simply a will to live within something, etc. In the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Korra franchises, the origin of spirits is rather unexplained. It becomes plain that they are different from humans, however, and thrive on all things magical and wild. During The Last Airbender timeline, the spirits exist in their own world known quite plainly as The Spirit World. However, in the events of The Legend of Korra, it comes to light that the world in which humans dwell was once shared between spirits and humans. The two portals that kept the worlds separated are opened, and the humans and spirits once again begin to live in the same world. This is not without its contentions however.

Avatar Korra lecturing a spirit about compromise

When the spirit and human world merge once more, both the living arrangements of humans and spirits are disturbed. The human’s great cities are suddenly overrun with magical flora, and the spirits are baffled by the technology humans invented to do things that magic had always been used for in their world. But the job of the Avatar, as illustrated in the above picture, is to keep the balance between humans and spirits. Why does this responsibility fall upon the Avatar’s shoulders? It’s because the Avatar is a human with a spirit living inside of them. As such, they are the unbiased party, the middle ground, between the two races.

It isn’t always an easy job, but regardless of the “spirits” you’re working with balance seems to be a good thing to strive for—even if you’re not the Avatar or teetering up collapsing nightmare puzzle towers! Drink responsibly and tastefully, everyone!

The Holidays: Noodles, Cake, and Fried Chicken, Oh My!

Here’s the thing about Christmas in Japan: It is not the Christmas you know. And don’t even get me started on Hanukkah…

In Japan there are two things that are “traditionally” eaten on Christmas: cake, and KFC. No, you read that right. It doesn’t stand for something else. I am, indeed, speaking of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The reason for this? Christmas is a secular holiday in Japan. One might say that Christmas in the United States or other countries is also a secular holiday, but Japan is secular in a different way. In America, we have some pretty specific traditions regarding decoration, meals, familial togetherness, the spirit of giving, and cookies left out for Santa. In Japan, only children receive gifts on Christmas, and the day is more about couples loving sharing a “Christmas Cake” than the family being together. Christmas isn’t considered a national holiday, so most people usually have to go to work. And as for the chicken? Well, like with hamburgers, it looks like that’s our fault too.

So instead of focusing on the Christmas foods of Japan, I thought perhaps talking about the symbolism of the long New Year’s noodles would be more interesting.

Everything the Japanese eat on New Year’s has some sort of symbolic nature. Here’s a bit about the dishes I won’t be talking about, because the dish I find the most interesting is the one traditionally eaten on New Year’s Eve that symbolizes “crossing over to the new year” with its long noodles. Known as omisoka or toshikoshi soba, this soba noodle soup is made—you already know this if you read the name of the dish—of buckwheat soba noodles. The important part of this dish is that the soba noodles are made looooooooonnnnnnngggggg to symbolize a long life and so that you cut them with your teeth and let go of any hardship from the past year.

I’ve never made soba noodles before, but I have made long egg noodles to celebrate the New Year. Shout out to my good friend Ceili Shannon for hosting the noodle making party and teaching me how. All you’ll need is flour, some eggs, and your favorite spices (I ended up throwing oregano and mace into my noodles—they were delicious). Here’s a quick recipe for making egg noodles. You can twist them into fun shapes or cut them into thin strips. Ceili had a noodle press that flattened out our dough and cut them into noodles at the same time, and it was really convenient if you don’t feel like the hassle of doing it by hand. For those of you who want to make the soba itself, here’s a recipe for the special New Year’s dish.

As for a media tie in… It’s Christmas for me, and almost New Year’s for all of us. Go watch your favorite holiday movie—or if you’re at a loss, may I recommend to you Over the Garden Wall? Completely secular, made up of ten ten minute episodes, and you will watch it twice, have your mind blown, and be so happy to be alive that you’ll open the new year with open arms and determination!—and then binge play Fire Emblem or Undertale or any of those other games in which you should really name your protagonist after yourself for heavy emotional impact, and eat some good food to bring in the new year.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Okonomiyaki: Mix it Up!!

Okonomiyaki is often described in English as a seafood pancake. While this little Osakan foodstuff may have started as only a seafood dish, the mixed nature of the ingredients lends itself to endless variations.

How does one make it? Let me show you:

First you start with your bowl of raw ingredients.  The base is usually one of cabbage, egg, flour and water, although traditionally grated Japanese mountain yam Nagaimo is used because of its viscosity and distinct ability to hold an okonomiyaki pancake together. The other ingredients are according to ones tastes—although I admit that my favorite combination was the tuna. Once you get your bowl of ingredients, you mix it up until everything is coated in a thin layer of the egg/flour/water combination. If you don’t coat the ingredients fully, you may end up with okonomiyaki pieces instead of pancakes.

Once you’ve mixed your ingredients into a satisfactory jumble, it’s time to grill them. With a griddle table like this, you spread the mixed ingredients on the table, give them an extra chop with the metal cooking spatulas, and then form your pancake.

But once you’ve finished grilling your okonomiyaki, the diversity doesn’t stop. Now you get to pick your toppings! Common toppings include okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise (the lighter Japanese kind), seaweed flakes, and thin fish flakes.

And even then, this is only one way to make okonomiyaki! Here and here are a few other ideas on how to make it if you’re interested.

But the reason I bring up okonomiyaki this month is because of the powerful nature of mixing things. Let me present to you two examples: Samurai Champloo and Star vs the Forces of Evil. Samurai Champloo is an Edo period samurai story that is blended with hip hop. It may sound like an aesthetic that’s impossible to achieve, but people said the same thing about chocolate and peanut butter.

The series opens with a title card that tells the viewer the story that follows won't be historically accurate, and then rewinds from a present day hip hop scene to the Edo period. From there, the viewer encounters many things they never would have during the Edo period, from little things like the addition of glasses to an old-school ronin samurai ensemble to big things like the inclusion of graffiti tagging culture and fighting styles that include breakdancing.

But aside from the initial statement that the story won’t be an accurate historical portrayal, the anime takes the experience a step further. When one is blending two things that wouldn’t usually go together, one has to think about every aspect. Since Samurai Champloo is a TV show, that means the creator gets to work with content, visuals, and music.

The Samurai Champloo soundtrack is chock-full of hip hop, this being one of the songs included. It’s ultimately the choice of soundtrack that I think works as the batter to hold the work together. It sets the mood and gives the viewer an expectation for the hip hop references and paraphernalia that appears throughout the story. Music can often be used this way. Take the opening for Star vs the Forces of Evil as an example.

Here’s a song about rainbows and puppies sung by a man for a children’s TV show. This is exactly the sort of amalgamation of pretty and powerful I’ve been looking for in children’s cartoons since Sailor Moon debuted in America when I was a kid. Although more subtle than the combination of Edo and hip hop, the combination of gendered items surrounding the main character of Star vs the Forces of Evil—characteristically named Star Butterfly—sends a powerful message about Star’s ability to be herself. Take a look at her room.

When she arrives on Earth to live with the normal, California-based Diaz family, Star works a little magic with her wand to create her own room in their house. What you’ll notice about the above screen captures of this room is the juxtaposition of “feminine” and “masculine” (we’re going to use quotes for those terms because items don’t actually ever connote gender)—a sword in her chest of stuffed animals and jewelry; posters hanging in one corner and weapons in the other; and, of course, the princess-like canopy bed and the morning star resting upon it. Star’s outfit is an amalgamation of things as well, combining a skirt with spiky shoes and a devil horns headband. In the very first episode, Star introduces herself as a princess who likes to fight monsters and tame wild unicorns.  The blend of masculine and feminine in the character of Star Butterfly is one of the most refreshing blends I’ve seen on TV in a while because it’s real: every person is a combination of traits our society has come to define as “masculine” or “feminine” when they’re really just “people-line.” Star doesn’t really need any batter to hold her together because she’s already so realistic, and her portrayal just helps us to break down the fake barriers between people our society created until we can accept her as normal—again, like peanut butter and chocolate.

I wonder if they have Reese’s Peanut Butter cups in Japan, because now I have one heck of a craving. Have fun mixing it up, everyone!

Pumpkins: Soup, Salad, and Ale

The month of Halloween is upon us, and all I have on my mind is pumpkins. However, the standard carving pumpkin is really a thing of myth here in Japan, despite the heavy party decorations. The only pumpkin my host family says is common in Japan is this little guy:

Meet kabocha, the little salad pumpkin of many edible uses. Eaten sliced and raw in salads, cooked and mashed into a savory-sweet paste, and even sliced and dipped in a light battering of tempura, these salad pumpkins, while delicious are NOT the sort of pumpkins I am used to eating—perhaps because it isn’t actually called a pumpkin in the United States. In the US, this little variant is actually called “kabocha squash,” which, when translated will redundantly read as “pumpkin squash.” There do seem to be a variety of recipes for the “kabocha squash” though:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kbrat89/what-the-hell-is-this-and-how-do-i-eat-it-f4yb#.cc6Rlkw22

You’ll notice that the paste I mentioned is on here, if not the raw and sliced option—but you’ll also notice quite a few more recipes than the ones I’ve encountered in Japanese cuisine.

In episode twenty one of Ouran High School Host Club, entitled "Until the Day it Becomes a Pumpkin!" or "Itsuka Kabocha ni naru Hi made" (いつかカボチャになる日まで), pumpkins are a bit of a versatile metaphor, highlighting just how shallow the symbolism of Jack O’ Lanterns and Halloween are in Japan. The title of the episode doesn’t refer to a Jack O’ Lantern, but to the carriage of Cinderella. It’s a complex metaphor for a situation that cannot last, and one that the show uses because of its connection to pumpkins and Jack O’ Lanterns.

Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage

The Jack O’ Lantern used as the symbolic pumpkin the carriage will turn back into

The difference between Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage and a Halloween Jack O’Lantern is not one that the show seems phased by in the least, however. This is because Jack O’ Lanterns are purely for decoration in Japan. There is no pumpkin carving to be done with your family, no trick or treating to be done, no need to dress up to avoid being pranked by ethereal beings that can only come into our world on Halloween night. Instead, Halloween is an excuse to scare your friends, test your courage, and dress up as your favorite anime character. And kabocha? That’s an everyday thing.

As for how we eat pumpkins in America… Oh, where to start? The pie, the spice lattes, the salted seeds, the soup? A few friends and I have a tradition of making pumpkin soup and also doing some pumpkin carving around Halloween. Of course, the pumpkins made for eating and the pumpkins made for carving are of completely different varieties! The gourds one enjoys putting faces on are good for little else than their lightly salted seeds, although apparently there is one type of pumpkin called a Baby Pam Sugar Pie pumpkin that is good for both carving and eating. For the most extensive list of pumpkin and winter squash varieties I’ve found yet, please click here—although you will be amused to notice that kabocha won’t be found on either list, perhaps because the author of this list was as unsure about which side of the list to put this gourd on as the rest of the US. The pumpkin my friends and I used for our soup last year was a Cinderella pumpkin.

In this shot you can see two Cinderella pumpkins and one standard carving pumpkin. Here’s what the pumpkin looked like when we were through with it:

At this point, it seems the versatile use of pumpkins to celebrate Halloween really must be an American custom. But perhaps our Halloween customs surrounding this specific gourd are just as appropriated as Japan’s are? After all, our version of Halloween was built up from the Celtic festival of Samhain, which was held on October 31^st. During this night, it was believed that the dead would return to the land of the living and walk the earth for one night. It was also a time in which faeries and spirits could easily transcend the barriers between their worlds and ours. It’s also where the earliest form of trick-or-treating may have developed, in the form of “mumming” or “guising” in which people would dress up as faeries and spirits and make a nuisance of themselves until placated by food and drink.

Aside from the faeries and the mumming, Samhain isn’t dissimilar to the Mexican Day of the Dead, which is celebrated on November 2^nd. In both of these festivals, it was customary to remember deceased loved ones and make offerings of food, drink, and other worldly items like flowers and trinkets. It’s a little more difficult to find media that represents these particular holidays in America and Japan but two very good examples are Folklore and The Book of Life.

Ellen talking to Scarecrow, whom one can identify as both ghost and faerie

Folklore was released in 2007 and is a Japanese Role Playing Game that sets itself in the island town of Doolin, Ireland. The game is essentially a murder mystery in which you must converse with the dead in order to finally lay the mystery of the town to rest. Ellen and Keats, the main characters of the game, gain their ability to enter the land of the dead and investigate the mystery during the festival of Samhain—and the Japanese development team must have done their research on the festival, because the Western influences in this game are apparent. I actually didn’t know the game had been produced in Japan until the credits were rolling and J-pop was playing instead of some Western or Celtic theme music. The food used as offerings during Samhain isn’t really covered, but there is a pub on the island where you can sometimes converse with ghosts.

Manolo as a child with his family, both living and deceased, on the Day of the Dead

The Book of Life is an American movie that came out in 2014 and was created by Mexican animator, writer, and director Jorge R. Gutiérrez. The story’s events center heavily around the Day of the Dead, following the young Manolo’s journey through death and rebirth after being tricked into letting a deity kill him. The movie deals heavily with themes such as familial ties, remembering those who have passed on, and whether it’s ever alright to kill or forget anyone. The only food we really see in the movie is the bread that is offered to the deceased on the Day of the Dead, but if you ever saw the film The Halloween Tree you know all about the candy skulls that are also available on this day. Both movies are completely devoid of pumpkins, however.

Which leads us to one conclusion!: The pumpkins are completely and utterly American.

Which, when you think about it, does make a modicum of sense. Pumpkins flourish in the Americas, especially in the area we now know as the United States. There is some hearsay that the first Jack O’ Lanterns were made out of turnips and potatoes by the Celts for Samhain, and that the traditional Jack O’ Lantern we’re familiar with today is a result of what happened when those people immigrated to Plymouth and found a better vegetable for carving—but even if this was the case, that would still make the traditional Jack O’ Lantern American. Growing pumpkins so well also explains why we’re so good at cooking pumpkins in America. So go grab yourself a Cinderella or Fairytale pumpkin and make yourself some of this delicious soup. It’s quick, easy, and sure to keep you and your friends warm on All Hallows’ Eve while watching your favorite spooky flick.

Oh, and I haven’t had a chance to try this one yet, but if you’re inclined to brew your own beer (or know someone who does), you might enjoy this Pumpkin Ale recipe. There’s a rumor that the Pilgrims made pumpkin beer out of persimmons, hops, maple sugar, and pumpkin. It sounds lovely, but I can’t find a recipe for it. Stick to the one I did find, or play with the rumored ingredients. Either way, let me know how it turns out. I’m looking at you, Portland!

Noodles From Tomorrow

Food. There are a lot of things we silly humans have in common, but a need to feed oneself is one of the most unifying. Although, depending on culture and available materials, what one consumes can be very different from what one’s neighbor does--an observation I would like all of you, dear readers, to remember applies not just to the food we’ll discuss here, but also to culture and media.

But back to what we have in common: Ramen.

Of course we would start with ramen. You laughed at the title of this blog, or you wouldn’t still be reading. You’re expecting noodles, and we’re all acquainted with this particular food whether as gourmets or college students who couldn’t afford anything else for dinner. American, European, Japanese, or Chinese (where the soup actually originated from, btw) we have our own versions of this soup. For an irrefutable example of this, please refer to episode 2 of Space Dandy, entitled "The Search for the Phantom Space Ramen, Baby" or "Maboroshi no Uchū Rāmen o Sagasu Jan yo" (幻の宇宙ラーメンを探すじゃんよ).

In all seriousness, though, this soup is so popular that Shinichiro Watanabe’s portrayal of a galactic ramen culture—complete with ramen bowl themed space stations that serve everything from strange blue globs to Fullmetal Alchemist puns in a bowl—doesn’t come off as far-fetched. Perhaps because the soup can be easily customized to suit many different palates.

Often thought of as a Japanese soup, ramen actually hails from China. Much like their writing system, Japan took the concept of this Chinese soup and modified it to suit themselves. This is why you’ll almost never see “ramen” written in hiregana--katakana is used for “foreign” words, and the name of this soup comes from China, which is why every banner and advertisement for ramen reads ラーメン.

An already modified soup lends itself well to continued modification. Let’s break it down shall we? What is ramen made of? Noodles, water, seasonings... anything else?

At its core, no. That’s it. That’s the essence of ramen. Simplistic, yes, but a fantastic foundation to build off of.

Slices of pork, a soft boiled egg, and three leaves of Nori seaweed plus a miso based soup broth are the key components of this particular ramen. With only these few modifications an adequate foodstuff is turned into a satisfying meal. Most ramen shops offer customers ways to customize their ramen, both on the menu and off. Usually, a ramen shop will ask customers to choose their broth base (the standard choices are miso, pork bone, and salt/soy sauce) and sometimes even noodle type (if you’re getting really fancy). But even after the ramen is served there are choices to be made! Restaurants often set out jars of seasonings, ranging from chilies to seasoned vegetables to Japanese pickles, that can be added to one’s ramen to further modify the flavor. This kind of ramen is a common breed in Japan, but not something that’s impossible to find outside of the country. For those of you on the West Coast who live in the Portland area, there is a particular ramen shop that may be of interest to you.

This is the Kakuni Ramen from Yuzu. Yuzu is a cozy little restaurant just outside Beaverton and definitely worth the trip--it’s native approved as you’ll often over hear bits of Japanese conversations when you enter, and will definitely be greeted by the hostess’s call of “Irasshaimase!” Be sure to go with someone who’s been before or have very specific directions (and definitely a reservation or time to wait if you’re taking more than three) because not only does the restaurant not have its name posted anywhere, it’s usually packed. Although everything on the menu is great (and I encourage you to try anything that calls to you) the real selling point of the Kakuni Ramen is that it’s made with pork belly. But don’t be fooled: this isn’t Portland’s spin on ramen! It’s a Japanese recipe, but still decadent enough to rival your go-to comfort food, so throw those ideas about all Japanese food being healthy right back out the window.

In fact, there are several instances of ramen being used like comfort food in manga and anime--let’s not forget how much energy Dandy put into finding the perfect bowl of space-ramen, or the story about being moved and comforted by the taste of ramen he was told by the ramen-making alien once he found it. However, one of my favorite, more mundane examples of ramen as comfort food is the way ramen is used in the manga What Did You Eat Yesterday.

What Did You Eat Yesterday is the story of Shiro and Kenji and the daily challenges they face as a middle aged gay couple in Japan, such as what to have for dinner. In this particular chapter, Kenji is spending the New Year alone because Shiro’s parents have asked him to come visit for the New Year. Normally, in a relationship as committed as Shiro’s and Kenji’s (cohabitating in the way that Shiro and Kenji do is the societal equivalent of marriage in Japanese gay culture since Japan doesn’t recognize gay marriage) when Shiro is invited home the invitation would extend to his spouse—but since Shiro’s partner is a man, both Kenji and Shiro are unsure if the invitation includes both of them, and Shiro ends up going home alone. One would expect poor Kenji to be sad. Instead he makes ramen for his New Year’s meal.

In Japan there’s a tradition of eating long soba noodles on the New Year to bring long life and good fortune. Before Shiro leaves for his parents’ house he offers to prepare toppings for Kenji’s New Year’s soba, but Kenji turns him down.

Here we see Kenji customizing his ramen just the way he likes it, showing off the versatility of this particular dish once again. But we also see him using it as a way to deal with Shiro’s absence. Since he can’t eat Shiro’s cooking on the New Year, and prepared toppings would only remind Kenji that Shiro can’t be there with him, Kenji takes the opportunity to cook and indulge himself in a meal he could never get from Shiro. The reason this is one of my favorite examples of ramen as comfort food is because Kenji took a potentially sad situation and turned it into an opportunity to really be with himself for a while.

In this sense, the New Year’s meal of ramen instead of soba seems like it will bring Kenji more luck because it’s helped him to stay confident about his relationship in the coming year.

And that’s why we all know ramen. It’s quick, it’s customizable, it’s comforting, and above all damn is it delicious. Try investing in some quality ramen noodles from a specialty store and making your own variations on this dish. Who knows, you might just create your new favorite meal!