Kin-no-buzo" is the 20th anniversary project of the popular ramen restaurant Menya Musashi. This is the fourth in a series of special menus offered at each store over the course of a year on a rotating basis.
Menya Musashi "Bamboo Shoots Ramen
The fourth menu item is the "Bamboo Shoots Ramen" at the Kamata branch (Ota-ku, Tokyo). Yes, it is "bamboo shoot ramen. Compared to the first "
Ootoro " ramen, the second "
Puffer Fish Milt and Otters Sake Kasu" ramen, and the third "
Thai Fish and Pepper " ramen, it is rather plain, don't you think?
Because they are bamboo shoots. And there's nothing but bamboo shoots on top.
But when I ate them, I was shocked to the point of shaking.
I have never known bamboo shoots like this.
I met a shocking bamboo shoot.
The Shock of Boiled Bamboo Shoots
Golden Renge debuts in this film.
Big, big bamboo shoots that stand out on a bowl of rice with a huge presence. Frankly speaking, they are extremely difficult to eat. I had to force my chopsticks into the jagged (?) gaps and lift them up. I had to force my chopsticks into the jagged edges of the bamboo shoots and lift them up. As soon as I took a bite, a
shock went through my body.
What is this? I had never experienced the texture of bamboo shoots like this? I have never tasted anything like this! After the shrieking sound, they melted into a juicy, succulent texture. The natural sweetness without any bitterness. I don't know how to describe it... Anyway, I have never eaten bamboo shoots like this!
The shock of bamboo shoot soup
Gold bowl with gold lenght. Sparkle.
The soup is another surprise. The soup is clear, but you can feel the presence of bamboo shoots, as if they are actually mixed into the soup, so fine that you can hardly see them. It has a depth to it that makes you think it is the broth of a high-class kappo restaurant (although I have never had it). How can the soup be soaked in bamboo shoots...!
The noodles are chigere noodles like Kitakata ramen. But the texture is totally different from the usual! The noodles are surprisingly firm and elastic, yet soft enough to be easily chewed through. The soup is well mixed with the noodle and spreads in your mouth.
The Shock of Bamboo Shoot Rice
This menu also includes a set of "bamboo shoot rice" filled with bamboo shoots. You can eat it as it is, or add it to the soup and make it like rice porridge. The rice has a strong bamboo shoot flavor that blends well with the soup. It would not be an exaggeration to say that everything about bamboo shoots ramen is condensed in this rice porridge.
Just cook them locally.
The bamboo shoots themselves, the soup, and the rice with bamboo shoots all led me to the dazzling world of bamboo shoots. Of course, it is the bamboo shoots that are partly responsible for this.
These bamboo shoots come from the Asahina district of Okabe-cho, Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, which is famous for its gyokuro, or "dewdrops. When they made "
Gyokuro Ramen", they encountered bamboo shoots from this area. In fact, the Asahina area is so famous for bamboo shoots that some locals even come from beyond the mountains to buy them.
The manager of the Kamata store actually experienced harvesting in Asahina and had the farmers prepare various bamboo shoot dishes on the spot. Among them, the one that impressed him the most was the "miso soup," which is just raw bamboo shoots in a bowl. The farmers were impressed by the fresh bamboo shoots, which they thought made a good soup stock, and this led to the creation of "bamboo shoot dashi" (bamboo shoot soup stock).
Fresh bamboo shoots can only be eaten immediately after harvesting. After a short period of time, the taste of the fresh bamboo shoots becomes bitter, so they are often boiled in water and sold as soup stock. However, this way, the umami flavor is lost in the boiling water.
Even after only two hours of bringing the fish back to Tokyo, the taste of the fish would still be tinged with bitterness, and they were unable to reproduce the taste they had enjoyed in Asahina. So he came up with the idea of cooking the fish onsite. They set up a large pot in the bamboo grove. The bamboo shoots are selected from among those picked, and cooked in "ichiban dashi" (broth made from kombu and bonito) for about 10 minutes.
Like this. (We borrowed this photo taken during the prototype production.)
This is the 13th (the day before it goes on sale). Freshly picked and cooked on the spot!
The root of the cooked bamboo shoots is that big, big bamboo shoot. They are cut large on purpose so that you can enjoy the texture of them because they are cooked fresh.
The tips are cooked with rice in broth to make bamboo shoot rice. The key point is the addition of a little bit of soy sauce.
The dashi left in the pot serves as the base for the soup. The fact that the bamboo shoots are cooked right after they are dug up is what gives the soup its "bamboo shoot broth" flavor without any bitterness.
About 1/2 of a bamboo shoot is used for this dish!
Incidentally, the toppings are also made from sprouts picked near a bamboo grove. This too has a rich aroma that is distinctly different from the ones sold on the market.
Taste the freshness of bamboo shoots!
The offer period is from April 14 to April 17, limited to 10 servings per day. The price is 2,000 yen. You will be surprised at the depth of this dish, which allows you to fully enjoy the freshness of bamboo shoots.