Let's Make Ramen!

Starred review from June 3, 2019
Chef and writer Amano and illustrator Becan team up again (after The Adventures of Fat Rice) to celebrate ramen in this fun and accessible graphic guide. The book is divided into basic sections, beginning with “Ramen 101,” in which the authors explain “tare” (the “seasoning that gives ramen its characteristic depth of flavor”). A chapter on stocks and broths includes recipes for shoyu (soy broth), dashi (a stock of sea kelp and shitake mushrooms), and tonkotsu (pork broth). In the noodles chapter, the authors explain various kinds of premade noodles as well as how to make noodles with a pasta machine; and in chapters on meat and accompaniments, Amano and Becan offer ramen recipes using chashu (pork belly) and yakitori (marinated and grilled chicken) as well as pickled shitaki mushrooms and charred shallots and scallions. The book concludes with an “Offshoots & Riffs” chapter, in which the authors improvise on ramen, with recipes for curry ramen and adobo chicken ramen, among others. Becan’s illustrations are both amusing and functional, and Amano’s enthusiastic instructions are thoughtful and encouraging. This delectable fusion of two increasingly popular genres—ramen and comics—will thrill ramen aficionados.

July 1, 2019

Chef and writer Amano (The Adventures of Fat Rice) and comics artist Becan have teamed up to write this surprisingly thorough guide to creating ramen at home. In just under 200 pages, they cover the history, ingredients, and development of ramen along with recipes for stocks, broths, the seasoning mixtures called tares, and toppings (meats, vegetables, and eggs), as well as instructions for making ramen noodles by hand. While it could seem like a gimmick to pair a ramen cookbook with a manga-like format, it works well in this case. The design is attractive, clean, and easy to use; the recipes are complex and well written. Ramen is not a fast meal from scratch, but the authors give strategies for how to stage and store the components in order to have ramen at any time. The focus is on authentic Japanese flavors; the standards, including tonkotsu broth, shoyu tare, and yasai broth, are here. But there are also variations such as adobo chicken ramen and ramen-adjacent dishes such as yakisoba and mazemen. VERDICT While there are several ramen cookbooks available, few are as fun, and serious, as this one.--Devon Thomas, Chelsea, MI

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