Gumshara Ramen, Haymarket

What? A ramen post on Everybody Loves Ramen??

Yes, yes you’re probably wondering whether I even love ramen.  But the truth is there’s not much good ramen around Parramatta (that I know of…if you got the scoop lemme know), and I don’t make it into the city as much as I would like.

So when the opportunity does show itself, the best place I can think of to eat a steamy bowl of ramen is Gumshara in the Eating World food court in Chinatown.
I won’t dive into to much detail — there are some great posts around.

Gumshara’s menu is pretty straightforward — pick your broth, pick some toppings if you want.  Grab your number, then some chopsticks and a spoon from the communal food-court cutlery buckets and wait. Anxiously.  For like 3-5 minutes.  After your order comes up you can add some condiments, which are complimentary and sitting on the end of the bench.  Some toasted sesame seeds and pickled ginger go nicely.

Miso Ramen 

The tonkotsu broth (which you can read about in other posts if you like) is thick with collagen — a product of boiling pork bones and marrow down for hours. Yes, I said hours.  It’s slurpy, salty and great for winter.  The noodles have a bit of bite to them (perfect) and will fatten in the hot broth if you eat it improperly (meaning if you don’t devour it in less than 10 minutes).

Tonkotsu Ramen w/ extra boiled eggs

The famous bowl I haven’t tried yet (stupid me) is the special pork spare rib ramen — they apparently make only 10 bowls a day but.

In addition — Gumshara is a cheap eat — around $10-12 a bowl (give or take for extras).  If Eating World is busy the place gets swarmed with international Uni students & Japanese hipsters.

Just for lolz — and coz it’s true.  Itadakimasssssu!!1!11!!1!!!!1!!

Gumshara Ramen
Eating World Harbour Plaza (across from Sydney Entertainment Centre)
Shop 209, 25-29 Dixon Street
Haymarket, NSW 2000

Wow! 95% like it on urbanspoon – dattebayo! 

Tokyo Ramen, Hornsby Westfield

Slurp!  Slurp!  It’s the sound of warm, slippery, salty noodles…

This week I commuted to Hornsby two days, which afforded me the opportunity to try out Tokyo Ramen at Westfield Shopping Centre.  I was so excited, and not disappointed at all – and ended up eating there for lunch both days of work.
Further – after coming home and telling my housemate, “The Malaysian”, about the noodley wonders of Tokyo Ramen we trekked out for a THIRD visit in one week for Saturday lunch.  Braving the onslaught of Christmas shoppers and angry drivers, these near-heart-attack-inducing bowls of slurpy and salty noodles are clearly in our hearts already.

Tokyo Ramen runs a nice business in a busy wing of the ground floor of Hornsby’s major shopping centre, always busy along with it’s sister sushi kiosk, Tokyo Sushi, directly outside.  On Saturday, it’s so busy that there is a small queue, and we are offered a seat at the bar of the sushi kiosk instead.

Having already tried Miso Butter Corn and Negimiso (bbq chilli pork) ramen earlier in the week, I decide on a classic bowl of Miso Chashu Men: egg noodles with slices of roasted pork, vegetables, nori and half a boiled egg in a thick miso broth.  It’s delicious and definitely the classic standard, but I still favour Miso Butter Corn, which is the same as Chashu Men with the addict- er, addition of sweet corn and lots of butter melting and oozing on top!  This dish is best in winter and is soooo salty it leaves your throat with a burning sensation.

Miso Chashu Men – $9.50

The Malaysian goes for Negimiso which is definitely fighting for first place in my favorite ramen dishes.  It’s a miso based soup with egg noodles, shallots and slices of roasted/bbq’d pork packed with garlicky-chilli flavour. The broth is laced with that smokey, spicy barbecue taste, and visible specks of charring swirl about.

Negimiso Ramen – $12.00

The bedfellow of ramen is of course Gyoza. I’ve had a small gyoza weakness since I first had it when I was six, and the thought of fried little dumplings always makes me salivate.

These beautiful little gyoza, part steamed, part fried, at Tokyo Ramen are tender, juicy, succulent.  The flavour and texture of the fried side of the dumpling is not short of divine.

Gyoza, 5 pieces – $5.00

The big draw of Tokyo Ramen for me is the large draw of Japanese patronage and mixed generations.  The food is flavoursome and adventurous enough for the young, familiar and authentic enough for the old.

Tokyo Ramen
Shop 1042
Hornsby Westfield Shopping Centre
236 Pacific Highway

www.tokyoramen.com.au (website is all in Japanese)

“Gyoza”, or What To Do With Leftover Wontons

Oh no!  That wonton soup was so good, but my buddy and I are stuck with a couple dozen extra dumplings from the recipe.  Not that this is really a tragedy…they’re so yummy we just need a creative way to reuse them.

Enter gyoza!

Gyoza have been one of my favourite little treats since I was first introduced to them as a six year old by a Japanese exchange student.  Gyoza are Japanese pot stickers, and they’re my perfect solution for leftover wontons from that noodle soup made earlier.

Method:

Heat a wok, grill, skillet, whatever over medium high heat with a splash of vegetable oil.
Take how ever many puffy clouds of wonton goodness you have leftover (see recipe here…) and, cooking in batches, pan fry one side of the dumplings in the oil.  When the bottom side is golden and crispy pour in about 1/2 cup water or so (guesstimate this one!) and cover the pan with a lid.  Allow the wontons to steam until all the water has evaporated.   When the water is all gone the bottom will begin to crisp up again. Remove from the pan and serve piping hot with plain rice and sauce (see recipe below).

Gyoza Sauce

Elements:

2 dried red chillies, torn to a few pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (red wine vinegar was all I had on hand and it worked great to!)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Method:

Mix well the vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic and sesame oil in a small bowl.
Place a wok or fry pan on high heat and add the chillies.  Toast for a minute or two until they begin to become golden.  Add in the vegetable oil and fry until the aromas are released.  Pour the chillies and oil directly from the wok to the sauce mixture in the bowl.  Beware!  It will sizzle, but then the aroma of the hot chilli oil quickly heating the sauces and garlic will waft at you like no other!
Dip your wontons/gyoza/dumplings in the sauce and enjoy.

Itadakimasu!