Ramen Yokocho Fest Is Here Again, This Time With a Ramen Championship

Los Angeles Times ^ | 3/17 | AMY SCATTERGOOD

[nickcarraway]

Forget the possible heat and inevitable crowds, it's time for another edition of the Ramen Yokocho fest. The massive noodlepalooza is coming to Santa Anita Park on the weekend of March 28-29, and this time the Ramen Yokocho Assn. is not only bringing you 11 ramen-yas but, for the first time, they're holding a ramen championship.

When you buy a ticket, you'll also be given a ballot so that you can vote for your favorite ramen. Only the U.S. ramen shops are eligible (the Japanese shops are considered guests), thus seven of the 11 shops are in the running to become Ramen Champion. Of those, seven U.S. shops are entrants from Hawaii, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, including Alvin Cailan of Ramen Champ, the newish ramen-ya in Chinatown's Far East Plaza, and the only non-Japanese chef competing.

When we ran into Cailan on Monday, checking out the permanent lines in front of his Eggslut stall at Grand Central Market, he said he and his crew at Ramen Champ were working on a Kitakata-style tonkotsu ramen for the event — the first he's beeen to as a vendor, although he's been there before as a customer. "Thin flat noodles. Diced pork back fat," said Cailan. "It should be interesting."

Also coming are Shin-Sen-Gumi, Urban Ramen, and chef Mako Tanaka of JuJuYa, all of Los Angeles; San Francisco's Men Oh; Kaido from Las Vegas; Hawaii's Kamitoku; and from Japan, Osaka Ramen Collabo (Osaka), Tatsunoya (Kurume), Wakamusha (Fukushima) and Kin-To-Un (Kagoshima).

[nickcarraway]

[ifinnegan]

So today, St. Patrick’s Day at that, is oriental food day?

[lefty-lie-spy]

I have more than 20 ramen shops within 10 minutes walking distance of my house. I’m happy to see that ramen is getting respect in SoCal, but I’m not interested in seeing that Americanized muck. One reason I stay here is because of the amazing food.

[piasa]

Look at the picture, it’s got green in it.

Maybe the Thais can get in the act with St. Pad Thai Day

[RayChuang88]

Well, there are still a lot of crazy toppings you can find at a Tokyo ramen-ya. Milk in the soup? Whipped cream as topping? That gigantic amount of topping at Ramen Jiro? They're all found in Tokyo if you're willing to look around.

[lefty-lie-spy]

I’m not into novelty ramen. A good tonkotsu ramen with hand made noodles, aji-tama, menma, lots of garlic, cha-shu, and an order of gyoza on the side is a fantastic meal.

Sorry for the Japan yummies rant with the transliterated Japanese for those that don’t live here.

[RayChuang88]

I agree--what you described is VERY common in Tokyo, though mostly since the 1990's when the ramen with the milky tonkotsu soup base started to become popular outside of the northern Kyushu region. Mind you, I still prefer a good ramen with a shoyu soup base, though. I'm a big fan of Shoki Ramen House in Sacrmento, CA, one of the few places I know of where ramen is served like they do in Japan.