Many Americans tend to associate instant ramen with college dorm life, poverty and hangovers. And who hasn't had a meal of Cup-O-Noodles born out of desperation and lack of resources?

But in Japan, ramen is comfort food. It's what many consider their national dish. And after the recent Earthquake and Tsunami, ramen served as a sign of normalcy and nourishment. Ramen houses are everywhere in Japan, and it's one of the most affordable and filling meals you can get there.

These days, especially in the Bay Area, ramen is becoming somewhat of a "trend." Recently, I've also noticed more places serving up different variations of the dish, all of which are fairly common in Japan.

Here are a few ramen houses outside San Francisco that serve three distinctly different varieties of these tasty soup noodles.

Shoyu (soy sauce) Ramen w/pork and kimchi from Santa Ramen

Santa Ramen -- 1944 S. El Camino Real, San Mateo, 650-344-5918
This place serves up the classic bowl of Japanese ramen with the typical three broths to choose from: miso (soybean paste), shoyu (soy sauce), and pork. It used to be THE place for Japanese natives to get an authentic bowl of ramen, but since moving to their newer location in a strip mall, the quality has declined.

Their broth and pork slices used to both taste like they took hours to make. However, on my most recent visit, the pork was actually cold. The noodles still had their classic chewy texture, but lacked depth and flavor. I was glad I had decided to add a little corn and kimchi for extra texture and kick. It’s still a decent bowl of noodles, but the joint’s lost some of its luster.

Kuro (black garlic) Ramen from Maru Ichi

Maru Ichi -- 368 Castro St, Mountain View, 650-564-9931
I chose this place for two reasons: 1) they make their own noodles in house, 2) they're known for a specific kind of ramen called "kuro" ramen, or "black" ramen. The black color comes from the browned garlic and was a kind of ramen developed in Japan in the 1960s, as the menu describes. The black garlic oil sits on top of the pork broth like an oil spill. It looks more like a film of dirt and soot floating on top of the bowl, but thankfully it doesn't taste that way. The rich garlic flavor is distinct but didn't completely overwhelm. You do, however, have to be a fan of garlic to enjoy the rich, hearty broth.

Their housemade noodles are thinner than most, but you can taste their freshness. It's something you don’t usually get at other ramen houses. It’s worth trying just to compare the difference in texture and flavor.

Overall, Maru Ichi's kuro ramen definitely isn't your typical bowl of ramen, and it was a nice change from the usual.

Garlic Pork Ramen with corn from Dojo Ramen

Dojo Ramen -- 805 South B St, San Mateo, 650-401-6568
This place is actually in the spot where the old Santa Ramen used to be, and is owned by the same folks. But the differences are vast.

They specialize in something called "sutamina" ramen, which literally means "stamina" ramen. I'd call it "extreme" ramen because of the loads of garlic, spice and heat (which you can request to be even spicier), amount of fixings, and sheer fattiness of the broth. It’s like ramen on steroids. Everything is bolder and richer.

And don't come here if you don’t like spicy food.

The meat that comes with the Garlic Pork broth variation is impressive. There were two big thick slices of pork belly that could serve as an appetizer at a four-star restaurant. I was kicking myself for not ordering extra. It was simply wonderful; fatty and meaty, just like the broth.

And the noodles were the most impressive of any of the other places I visited. Their texture was perfectly chewy without being too firm or too soggy, and had great flavor.

So even without the "sutamina" label, Dojo's was my favorite bowl of ramen simply based on the strength of its noodles and broth, which is really the sign of a superior bowl of ramen no matter where you are.

In case you haven't noticed it's pretty dreary out there. While this is a summer vacation compared to the dreaded East Coast winters I've faced in the past, I still love to curl up with blankets and soup on days like these (a warm dog sleeping next to you doesn't hurt either).

A favorite soup for everyone is ramen. Yummy broth, chewy noodles, and a medley of toppings. It doesn't get much better than that.

Unfortunately traditional ramen is not vegan; the broth contains fish (bonito), pork, and sometimes chicken, and the noodles contain eggs. So the option of going to a Japanese restaurant is out. But no need to fret! You can make easy and delicious vegan ramen at home with just a few tweaks.

I use O'Hana House noodles that are available at Rainbow and Whole Foods in the refrigerated section. The "chow mein" variety has a surprisingly similar effect as regular ramen. It may be taboo for me to make this comparison, but it's the closest thing we've got and it works really well. If anyone knows of a better alternative, I'd love to hear about it!

Vegan Shoyu Ramen

Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 package of O'Hana noodles (each inner packet is good for one bowl)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp grated ginger (tip: freeze ginger and grate on a Microplane)
1 tsp sesame oil
3 cups water
1 cup kombu dashi soup stock (You can also buy instant kombu dashi like Riken Kombu Instant Dashi at a Japanese market like Nijiya.)
1 Tbsp sake
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp soy sauce

Topping options:
• tofu (I used Hodo Soy Beanery's braised tofu.)
• spinach (I like to blanch it, line it up, roll it in a towel to get some moisture out, and then slice it.)
• sliced green onions
• nori strips (You can cut your own, or buy a tub of pre-made strips at a Japanese market.)
• shichimi tōgarashi
• other options: shiitake mushrooms, veggie tempura, seitan, steamed or seared vegetables

Instructions:
1. Place noodles in a bowl of very hot water to loosen them up.
2. Meanwhile, heat sesame oil. Saute ginger and garlic for a few seconds.
3. Add water and kombu dashi soup stock and bring to a boil.
4. Add sugar, salt, sake, and soy sauce and simmer for a minute.
5. Pour broth through a strainer -- you want a nice clear broth with no bits floating around.

Place noodles into two bowls. Pour broth over noodles and arrange toppings. Make it pretty -- it makes a difference!

Enjoy!

This time of year is all about soup, what with cold season in full swing. You know how it is... you drag yourself home from work, head full of cement, and all you want is something warm and comforting to eat that will make you feel better. If you're looking for lighter soup that's nourishing and easy to digest -- as opposed to a thick, rich stew -- you might consider having a big bowl of miso soup. More interesting that your plain old chicken soup, miso is comfort food with a little international flair.

For those uninitiated in the ways of Japanese cuisine, miso is made from fermented soybeans and other grains, which are made into thick paste that is rich in protein and nutrients. While there are many different kinds of miso, the two you're most likely to find at your local grocery store are red miso and white miso. Red miso is saltier, having been fermented longer, and white miso is a little lighter in flavor. For making miso soup, you want to pick up a tub of white miso, also known as shiro miso. Note: This stuff lasts forever in the fridge. Seriously. I think my tub of miso is over a year old and it still tastes the exact same. Also, a little goes a long way, so don't buy a huge vat of miso unless you plan on willing it to your grandkids.

Another important ingredient in miso soup is dashi, or Japanese soup stock. Dashi is the base of many Japanese soups and sauces. While you can just buy dashi mix from the grocery store, I highly recommend making your own dashi -- just like chicken stock, it's way better when made from scratch! Dashi isn't vegetarian by default, but you can find veg dashi at Asian grocery stores.

Miso soup is a particularly good soup to eat when you're sick, due to its ample protein and high electrolyte content. Plus, fermented foods are easier to digest if your gut is sluggish from the virus du jour at your kid's school, so if you're just generally feeling the ick, a bowl of miso soup might be the one thing that will make you feel better.

There are several places in the Bay Area to get an incredible bowl of miso soup:

Cha-Ya Vegetarian Japanese Restaurant
1686 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 981-1213
-and-
762 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 252-7825

Okoze Sushi
1207 Union St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 567-3397

Kahoo Ramen
4330 Moorpark Ave
San Jose, CA 95129
(408) 255-8244

Gombei Japanese Restaurant
193 Jackson St
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 279-4311

Norikonoko Japanese Restaurant
2556 Telegraph Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 548-1274

O Chamé
1830 4th St
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 841-8783

Some Japanese restaurants still use a packaged dry mix, so if you're going somewhere else, I'd call ahead to make sure you're getting a quality bowl of soup made with fresh ingredients. Pre-fab miso soup is ok, but once you've had the real thing, you'll never go back.

Speaking of the real thing, why don't you try making miso soup yourself at home? It's super easy, and will be leagues better than most of the stuff you'll find in restaurants.

Homemade Miso Soup Recipe
Makes: 2 bowls of soup

Ingredients:
1 6x6-inch piece of kombu, soaked 30-minutes to overnight in 5 cups of water

3 tablespoons bonito flakes

1/2 pound silken tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 tablespoons white miso paste

1 spring onion, sliced, for garnish

Method:
1. After the kombu has soaked overnight, bring the seaweed and its soak water into a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, then allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add bonito flakes and remove from heat.
2. Allow soup to steep for another 10 minutes, then strain the broth into another pot. Bring to boil over a medium-low heat. Add tofu and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
3. Ladle out about 1/2 cup of broth into a small bowl and mix in miso paste until it is completely dissolved and there are no lumps. Pour the miso into the rest of the broth and stir well. Place over medium heat just until the soup begins to simmer, then remove from heat and ladle into bowls. Top with sliced onion for garnish.

Still feeling sluggish? Here are a few other soups that will make you feel better. They're great if you're perfectly healthy, too:

• Homemade Chicken Soup
• Mom's Turkey Soup
• Tortilla Soup
• Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
• Gluten-Free Matzoh Ball Soup

Sake is a popular beverage but how it pairs with food is still a mystery to most of us. While many people first encounter sake on sushi menus, where sake really shines is with izakaya or tavern style Japanese small plates. Izakaya is getting more and more popular in San Francisco. Great places to try izakaya dishes include Hime, Oyaji and O Izakaya Lounge.

Here's another great opportunity to try izakaya style cuisine paired and sake. The Japan Society of Northern California, in cooperation with Sozai Restaurant and Sake Lounge and True Sake, presents its next Japanese Language & Cultural Experience Workshop: Sake Appreciation.

Matching food and sake is just like matching food and wine. It's a fun, imprecise process that largely depends on your own unique taste buds. What's a perfect match to one may be the ultimate mismatch to another. The important thing is what's delicious to you!

What: Sake Appreciation
Where: Sozai Restaurant and Sake Lounge, 1500 Irving St., San Francisco
When: 6:00pm-8:00pm, Tuesday, July 15, 2008
How: $30 Japan Society Language Students, $35 Japan Society Members, $45 Non-Members, Space is limited; please RSVP by Friday, July 10th.
Why: This informative tasting workshop will detail different types of sake and answer questions about the intricacies of food pairing. A variety of seasonal delicacies will be served during the tasting, pairing each sake with traditional and contemporary Japanese tapas, all created by Chef Mari.
Note: Although this is a language workshop and some sake-related vocabulary will be introduced, all Japanese language levels are welcome to participate.

On display through the wonderful internets are hundreds upon thousands of photographs of everyday lunches. No soggy PB&J's here, though. One forum, the Mr. Bento Porn Flickr group, posts their collective creative efforts to make mid-day meals visually appealing, healthful, delicious and, yes, a little easier on the wallet. Their cousin site, Diet Bento, includes impressively low calorie counts for those whose 2008 resolutions (for now at least) include trimming down a little of their own belly fat.

Portable meals have been with us for as long as farmers have trudged off to their fields and soldiers have marched on in war. The Japanese took it a little further, of course. Where other countries preferred banana leaves or woven baskets, Japanese al fresco diners preferred compartmentalized boxes. By the 17th century, bento meals became elaborately arranged celebrations of the full moon and cherry blossoms, a leisurely way to enjoy intermission with friends at the theatre or, like the older form of sushi, essential food for travelers in an age before planes and bullet trains.

Fast forward to the 20th century for aluminum tins, insulated containers, microwaveable cups and, last but not least, those brightly colored, plastic Hello Kitty boxes that accompany kids to school. Adult versions abound, too, although Ichiban Kan's bento aisle seems pretty well populated by over-twenty-somethings. For those who want to pack with style, <a href="http://www.plasticashop.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=P&Product_Code=BNTOBX&Category_Code
Designer boxes">Plastica offers a sleek, stackable set in elegant colors.

Japan is not the only country with distinctive lunch boxes. Vietnam has its aluminum ca men that families carry every morning to the market to pick up breakfast, a different soup in each of the layers prepared exactly as each person prefers. The beautifully painted enamel tins of Malaysia are collectors' items, while in India, no-nonsense tiffin boxes show wonder less in their appearance than in their amazing daily travels from home to office and back again.

In Japan, there are nearly 500 magazines dedicated to showing parents (read: mothers) how to pack lunches that will entice and impress. The proper order to place in the elements, the proper balance of color and flavors, the proper container for the right food, the secret to making flowers and hamsters and their favorite manga characters out of edible delights: childrens' meals are no less subject to codification and over-the-top creativity than anything else the Japanese do.

A few English-language books attempt to translate the techniques as well as the art of bento. Some designs would only appeal to an obsessive artist with lots of free time, but many are simple and worth trying. It's a good way to get the kids involved the night before. Lay out some ingredients, flip to a fun photo and suddenly packing lunch becomes a game. Two titles to check out are Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go for a how-to guide and Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes for an aesthetic treatment of the topic.

Another good resource is Biggie's Lunch in A Box site, where parents will find excellent suggestions for getting their kids off to school with good food. She has hints that acknowledge the need for speed in addition to the desire to make lunch and snacks both healthy and fun.

Like with most good habits, packing meals for lunch requires practice and foresight at first, then as the regimen settles into a comfortable part of your day and week, merely some momentary foresight during weekend shopping and prep. Simple tips include washing and cutting your vegetables ahead of time, freezing food in smaller batches and learning to pack more flavor than bulk.

And if you just want to have a cute lunchbox without the work, well, they do make excellent take-out containers. Buy one with straps or handles to carry to your favorite deli counter and do your part to cut back on disposable ware.

Amy Kaneko is a Bay Area resident now, but she spent time living in Japan and earlier this year she published her first book, Let's Cook Japanese Food! Her book details some of her favorite recipes for home-style Japanese cooking.

How is Japanese home cooking different from what's served in Japanese restaurants?
Here we get a lot of sushi, teriyaki, and tempura, the three stations of the Japanese food triangle, as per American tastes. But there are so many really fantastic things to eat--using really familiar cooking techniques, just with a little tweak--that are part of contemporary Japanese food and what people eat every day at home and in restaurants, take out, etc. in Japan, that I think Westerners would just love, things like croquettes, gratins, rice bowls, stir frys. They are not all super esoteric ingredients or completely devoid of fat and flavor, either. A meal of Japanese style fried chicken, a rice ball, spinach with sesame dressing, even potato salad is very Japanese and not what Westerners might expect people are eating in Japan.

You mentioned in your book that your husband brings certain ingredients back from Japan. What ingredients do you miss most now that you are living in the US?
1/2 fat mayonnaise! That is #1. In fact, I am panicking a little because my secret Thanksgiving dish (which I bring to any Thanksgiving event to which I am invited) is the kabocha (pumpkin) croquette in the book, and I need the mayo to make it. So I will need to suck it up and pay like $5 to get a small bottle to make the croquette for Thanksgiving this year, since we recently ran out. The other thing is packaged beef curry in vacuum bags. In Japantown you can buy vegetable curry but it is not a good brand. In Japan you can get fantastic prepared beef curry in a boil in bag thing, and it is extremely good. Don't tell the dogs at customs. And sansho, a kind of peppery spice but apparently it is illegal in the U.S. It is essential for eel dishes.
(note: Sansho is available in the US, I recently found it at Super Mira)

Where do you recommend shopping for Japanese ingredients in the Bay Area?
I am lucky that I live on the Peninsula and have two great markets nearby: Suruki in san Mateo on 4th St. and Nijiya (a chain, but good) on El Camino near 92 in San Mateo. There's also one in the city. Super Mira on Sutter in the city is also good. And 99 Ranch (all over) has a lot of the ingredients. Try the Japanese brand organic eggs at Suruki. They are unbelievable, with a golden yolk and great flavor. We eat them raw mixed into natto. Yum.

What is "yoshoku" cuisine?
Yoshoku is literally Western and basically refers to all the Westernized and borrowed dishes in Japanese cuisine, like curry rice, hayashi rice, gratins, doria, and so on. It is SO popular in Japan. Omu raisu (omelettes stuffed with rice), and wafu spaghetti are other examples. Japanese have take western cuisines and adapted them to their own tastes. Croquettes are from Netherlands, tempura is from Portugal, etc. Yoshoku is incredibly popular in Japan, and I have a lot of yoshoku (and chugoku (Chinese) ryori (cuisine) in the book.

What are the main ingredients cooks need to create authentic tasting Japanese food at home?
Soy sauce, mirin (sweet rice wine), sake, sugar, and dashi (bonito fish stock). these are the core Japanese flavorings. And although dashi doesn't taste all that fishy and is fairly easy to find, I substituted chicken broth in a lot of my recipes and the taste was still OK. And rice! Very easy to get short/medium grain rice here. Cooking it, not so easy, unless you have a rice cooker or are patient.

What's your favorite dish in the book?
There are two, toriniku no kara age (fried chicken) and toriniku no amasu an (chicken meatballs with sweet sour sauce) But I am influenced a lot by what I can serve quickly to my two little girls that I am assured they will eat, and these are no-fail. To be honest, I eat every recipe in this book, so it is very personal--it is edited very specifically to my and my family's tastes!

Come back next week for a review of Amy Kaneko's book, Let's Cook Japanese Food!

During a discussion this past week about authenticity, someone asked me what I thought about Japanese restaurants run by Koreans, while another person asked my opinion about the Japanese government's desperate fight around the globe to save sushi.

There are lots of glib answers, but they all skip over some important issues about food and culture. I need to take another week to mull this over.

In the meantime...please enjoy...

In case the YouTube logo gets in the way of the subtitles, here's a link to the video.