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yodamom's review against another edition
5.0
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.
apoorvasr's review against another edition
4.0
I really like reading about books about food and fiction or a memoir in combination. Ivan Orkin's book constitutes his mediation on Ramen. Shows such as Midnight diner and books such as rice, noodle fish have made me respect and adore food of Japan. This is one such book.
In spite of facing many personal odds in life as well as being labelled as gajin in Japan, Ivan perseveres towards making the perfect bowl of Ramen. To normal folk, Ramen is mainly labelled as instant food and is devoid of the complexities of flavor.
Ivan goes into the intricacies of Ramen in this book . Each formulation and each ingredient is meticulously and painfully made. He is so through in his approach that it almost seems like art.
Ivan spent so many years perfecting Ramen and tells us how Ramen is such a versatile dish. But be wary, the amalgamation of flavors has to be perfect- the umami, the perfectly cut egg yolk, the bean stalks, the thinly made rye wheat noodles- they must be in delicious harmony.
"People were applying real technique and serious thought to once-simple bowls''
The next half of the book also talks about detailed recipes for each component of Ramen. Orkin is so thorough that he goes ahead and even tells the naive cooks where to look for these ingredients. Also, each recipe is completely edible. None of the parts are wasted, easily being recycled to omurice, soups and innovative tofu starters. This is a true mark of a cook..
"Of all the principal Japanese cuisines- sushi, soba, kaiseki, washoku- ramen is the most open, the most receptive to change and experimentation.''
In spite of facing many personal odds in life as well as being labelled as gajin in Japan, Ivan perseveres towards making the perfect bowl of Ramen. To normal folk, Ramen is mainly labelled as instant food and is devoid of the complexities of flavor.
Ivan goes into the intricacies of Ramen in this book . Each formulation and each ingredient is meticulously and painfully made. He is so through in his approach that it almost seems like art.
Ivan spent so many years perfecting Ramen and tells us how Ramen is such a versatile dish. But be wary, the amalgamation of flavors has to be perfect- the umami, the perfectly cut egg yolk, the bean stalks, the thinly made rye wheat noodles- they must be in delicious harmony.
"People were applying real technique and serious thought to once-simple bowls''
The next half of the book also talks about detailed recipes for each component of Ramen. Orkin is so thorough that he goes ahead and even tells the naive cooks where to look for these ingredients. Also, each recipe is completely edible. None of the parts are wasted, easily being recycled to omurice, soups and innovative tofu starters. This is a true mark of a cook..
"Of all the principal Japanese cuisines- sushi, soba, kaiseki, washoku- ramen is the most open, the most receptive to change and experimentation.''
sanjana_datla's review against another edition
informative
4.25
Half recipe book half memoir, Ivan Ramen captivated me more than most cookbooks. Often (for me) cookbooks are purely for inspiration and occasionally for reference. I might pop one open on a slow day and dream of all the things I could whip up. Then I would dream of grocery stores with endless aisles of exotic ingedients and kitchen utensils. And I remember the meager offering at the local supermarket and put the book away. There are very few cookbooks that I have read cover to cover, and Ivan Ramen is in that rarifed group. I can't speak to the replicability of the dishes because, despite globalization, I still don't have easy access to a good 70% of the ingredients listed. However the story of how Ivan Ramen came to me gripped me like few non fiction tales do. I like reading about good people eking out an earnest life. It's more gratefying to me than tech billionaires and fortune 500 CXOs telling me how they disrupted the system with their inherited millions.
PS: If you are just looking to learn how to make a good bowl of ramen, start 100+ pages in with the chapter Ivan Ramen's Shio Ramen.
PPS: If you want a definitive guide on all things ramen, this isn't the right book for you.
PS: If you are just looking to learn how to make a good bowl of ramen, start 100+ pages in with the chapter Ivan Ramen's Shio Ramen.
PPS: If you want a definitive guide on all things ramen, this isn't the right book for you.
sheekapatak's review against another edition
4.0
Followed this along with the Momofuku guide and it took me two days but the result was a truly spectacular bowl of ramen. Well worth a read for anyone who wants to make their own ramen.
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
4.0
As much an autobiography as a cookbook, a fun journey of Ivan growing up and opening a very successful ramen restaurant. Makes me want to search out a ramen restaurant!
eling's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed Orkin's story & the additional ramen knowledge. Also really liked the photo styling & book design. Nicely done. Now to dream about actually ever making the extremely labor intensive (but I'm sure very delicious) ramen...
dray's review against another edition
4.0
Although i love recipe cookbooks, and this has some, the main event is how a new york guy came to be honored and respected in Tokyo for creating authentic ramen, which is quite a story. Between the lines you get a good dose of the history and culture of ramen from someone who truely honors the culture, which is awesome. Te last 2/5s of the book are recipes, which are also awesome. Besides deepening my knowledge about ramen i think the book imparted a desire to go to Ivan Ramen in NYC the next time I am there.
ldblick12's review against another edition
2.0
First half of the book is a memoir of the authors life, second half has a few recipes that are to intense for the everyday home cook with ingredients that are not readily available to everyone.
mugglemom's review against another edition
4.0
2nd chances
Pretty interesting story on how he took a chance at a late start in life and the recipes look incredible. Liked that Ivan was self effacing about his work and luck.
Pretty interesting story on how he took a chance at a late start in life and the recipes look incredible. Liked that Ivan was self effacing about his work and luck.
posadafan's review against another edition
5.0
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.