Ramen

Most people are familiar with the instant Maruchan ramen, which makes up most of the diet of college students and lazy people. However, authentic ramen is much more than a block of bland noodles in a brightly-colored package. Ramen is a Japanese dish consisting of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat, fish, or vegetable broth with various vegetables or types of meat. This dish varies from locality to locality in Japan.
Recently, on my trip to New York with the LASA quiz bowl team, I tried real ramen for the first time. Upon entering the crowded, club-like restaurant Totto Ramen, I ordered a bowl of spicy vegetable ramen and awaited my meal. I was surprised with a large bowl of noodles, vegetable broth, seaweed, and colorful Japanese vegetables, complete with a small ramekin of spicy oil to flavor the soup. The ramen was fresh, vivid, and made an instant impression on my mouth. The noodles and vegetables were firm and perfectly cooked. It made a nutritious and delectable dinner.
The only drawback to ramen is that there are very few authentic places in America, let alone Austin. The best ramen is to be found in bigger cities, where the Asian population is bigger. If you ever find yourself in New York, though, stop by Totto Ramen. It will be well worth your time.

This is the inside of Totto Ramen. It's even better late at night.

Thank the Colombia Culinary Society for this photo.

Delicious ramen....not mine, though.

Thanks to VillageBlog for this photo.