A secret so staggering that it will change your life and shift your paradigms.
I promise you, that this secret, will take you on a journey of life to the realm of the senses and back.
I am speaking of course of ramen shop, no, ramen temple, known to us mortals as Ganko. And the lengend of Ganko began like this:
Years ago, a young man by the name of Ichijo Yasuyuki from Miyagi Prefecture began his quest of vanquishing the forever-unsatisfied hungry stomach and salarymen who tongues have already saturated with the taste of second rate ramen. The year was Showa 57 (1982), the beginning of Japan's economy bubble and the start of the Ramen-Mafia-Wars. This was a war period where notorious masters rose to the demands of fat wallets and fought for everlasting fame and honor. Armed with nothing more than a shabby shed, buckets of bones, handful noodles and the much-thought-after chashuu meat, the masters consolidated decades of trials and errors into a single bowl of ramen. Ichijo Yasuyuki, who made his name in this period, was a men amongst men, and a master amongst master.
Another tradition of Ganko is the devil ramen. (悪魔ラーメン) Every fourth Friday of the month after 3pm, a new type/variety of ramen is produced. A sign in the store reads "The devil ramen is not for everyone, approach with caution. Since it's experimental, it might make you uncomfortable."
Ichijo himself ran this ramen shop in the picture above for 20 years. In 2001, he turned it over to one of his disciples. In fact, Ichijo has more than over 20 disciplines, all of them operate ramen shops in Tokyo and around the country. Ichijo asks everyone of disciplines what ramen means to them. The old master is most satisfied when someone simply answers that ramen in delicious and worth making. Anyone who tries to flatter the old man with comments like "It's the food of the soul. I would die without Ramen." is told by the master that those words are better suited for monks at a temple. No Bullshit.
The Ganko shop halfway between Baba and Waseda takes the phrase hole-in-the-wall literally. It appears as if someone took a sledgehammer and caved in a sections of a first floor apartment and covered it with a black tarp. The inside of the shop can only be described in one word, grimy. Two decades of lard, smoke, and salt has covered the interior with a layer of questionable substances. The walls are charred black. The entire store, barely fits five people centers around a make-shift counter, looking into the back section which is stuffed with pots, sinks and the lone master.
Unfortunately, the man in the picture is not Ichijo, he is a disciple of Ichijo, a man who can claim to be a master in his own right. This master, whose name is unknown to us, is taciturn in character. His old blue bike, parked outside the shop, speaks to his spartan life style and detachment from wealth and capitalism. Wearing simple blue-collar clothing, he has a towel wrap around his neck at all times. Whether the towel is there for style or function is yet to be seen. The bearded master speaks only the most essential words いっらしゃい and ありがとうございます. No energy is wasted on speech. His entire being is focused on making your ramen. The preparation process is simple yet meticulous. It is as if he is a one-man-orchestra, playing the most beautiful symphony of the senses. He starts with the allegro by throwing the noodles into a giant pot and pouring the soup base in the bowls, a hint at what is to come. The adagio is a tease. He slowly takes out a block of perfectly cooked chashuu and slices it slowly infront of you. It turned us into voyeurs of food porn. The minuet is the elaborate heating of the lard. Finally, we come to the concluding sonata, where the above said components come together with the thinly sliced chives and pickled bamboo shoots. He then places all of the orders on the counter, in anticipation of the final crescendo.
In swift and precise movements, he pours the lard on the chives. Here is where you hear the music! The sizzling of the chives indicate what is about to come. A fuckin' good bowl of noodles.
The rare uninitiated might have a hard time accepting the flavor of Ganko. But I promised you, after you have eaten this bowl of ramen, you will be thinking about it for days. As I am writing this, the flavor of the soup returned to my mouth and my stomach is begging me to have another "ganko party".
A place like this is too special to just give away. This is why I will only tell you that it is somewhere between Baba and Waseda. Here is a picture of the alleyway that contains Ganko. Going to Ganko needs to be a pilgrimage of the ramen soul. It opens mon-fri from 12pm. Actually, you should be lucky that you have access to Ganko at all. It use to be a member only ramen shop meaning that you needed an introduction to eat there.
Unsurprisingly, Ganko in not only a force to be recon with in the Tokyo ramen world, it has also achieved international notoriety. The New York Times called it the best ramen in Tokyo. For all of you tech savy folks, I believe there should be no problem for you to dig up info and directions to Ganko on Goolge.
So go forth my friends, go and seek out the prefect bowl of shio ramen. Remember to mark your calendar on this rare occasion where you tastebuds are going be blown through the heavens.
I am looking forward to reading your comments. And of corse, feel free to contact me for directions if you are hopelessly lost.
RATING
Price: 750 Yen
Years ago, a young man by the name of Ichijo Yasuyuki from Miyagi Prefecture began his quest of vanquishing the forever-unsatisfied hungry stomach and salarymen who tongues have already saturated with the taste of second rate ramen. The year was Showa 57 (1982), the beginning of Japan's economy bubble and the start of the Ramen-Mafia-Wars. This was a war period where notorious masters rose to the demands of fat wallets and fought for everlasting fame and honor. Armed with nothing more than a shabby shed, buckets of bones, handful noodles and the much-thought-after chashuu meat, the masters consolidated decades of trials and errors into a single bowl of ramen. Ichijo Yasuyuki, who made his name in this period, was a men amongst men, and a master amongst master.
Master Ichijo Yasuyuki
一条 安雪 さん
Ichijo started his brand of ramen called 「Ganko」meaning "This is going to be most ass kickin' ramen joint in the world" or stubborn. Ichijo's philosophy is customers first. This is the kind of guy that would be depressed for days if a tastebud-deficient customer left soup or noodles in the bowl. It just so happened that the start of Ichijo's career was quiet turbulent. Other than being wholeheartedly worshipped by friends and family, most customers was not accustomed to his early and heavily flavored soup. It makes sense for him to name his shop Ganko, for it must have been inspired by his spirit of perseverance.
The only two other things that Ichijo loves more than ramen is his alcohol and cigarrettes, a trade mark of a true bad ass. Ichijo does not concern himself with the clutter-fuck world of teen idol advertisement or meaningless prices competition. Ramen, satisfied costumers and inner goodness is all that he cares for. This is why the original Ganko store, tucked away in a insignificant valley somewhere in Nishi-Waseda, is nothing more than a hole in the wall covered up by a black tarp. No ads, no store front signs, no hustlers, just a large piece of cow bone to indicate that the shop is open. Unable to stand the shame of costumers leaving leftovers, if he doesn't get the soup right, he doesn't open the store. What a Stubborn-son-of-a-gun!
Original Ganko located somewhere in Nishiwaseda
Ichijo, experimented with his first bowl of ramen at the tender ago of nine while trying to imitate the recipe that his father brought back from Manchuria. He struck gold when he decided to mix beef bone stocking with the ageless classic of salt based soup. From there he was an unstoppable force of ramen-creating awesomeness, experimenting with putting chicken bones, pork bones, konbu, and other secret ingredients in the soup. Modern ramen can trace their lineage back to Ichijo's Ganko.
Ichijo himself ran this ramen shop in the picture above for 20 years. In 2001, he turned it over to one of his disciples. In fact, Ichijo has more than over 20 disciplines, all of them operate ramen shops in Tokyo and around the country. Ichijo asks everyone of disciplines what ramen means to them. The old master is most satisfied when someone simply answers that ramen in delicious and worth making. Anyone who tries to flatter the old man with comments like "It's the food of the soul. I would die without Ramen." is told by the master that those words are better suited for monks at a temple. No Bullshit.
The Ganko shop halfway between Baba and Waseda takes the phrase hole-in-the-wall literally. It appears as if someone took a sledgehammer and caved in a sections of a first floor apartment and covered it with a black tarp. The inside of the shop can only be described in one word, grimy. Two decades of lard, smoke, and salt has covered the interior with a layer of questionable substances. The walls are charred black. The entire store, barely fits five people centers around a make-shift counter, looking into the back section which is stuffed with pots, sinks and the lone master.
Unfortunately, the man in the picture is not Ichijo, he is a disciple of Ichijo, a man who can claim to be a master in his own right. This master, whose name is unknown to us, is taciturn in character. His old blue bike, parked outside the shop, speaks to his spartan life style and detachment from wealth and capitalism. Wearing simple blue-collar clothing, he has a towel wrap around his neck at all times. Whether the towel is there for style or function is yet to be seen. The bearded master speaks only the most essential words いっらしゃい and ありがとうございます. No energy is wasted on speech. His entire being is focused on making your ramen. The preparation process is simple yet meticulous. It is as if he is a one-man-orchestra, playing the most beautiful symphony of the senses. He starts with the allegro by throwing the noodles into a giant pot and pouring the soup base in the bowls, a hint at what is to come. The adagio is a tease. He slowly takes out a block of perfectly cooked chashuu and slices it slowly infront of you. It turned us into voyeurs of food porn. The minuet is the elaborate heating of the lard. Finally, we come to the concluding sonata, where the above said components come together with the thinly sliced chives and pickled bamboo shoots. He then places all of the orders on the counter, in anticipation of the final crescendo.
In swift and precise movements, he pours the lard on the chives. Here is where you hear the music! The sizzling of the chives indicate what is about to come. A fuckin' good bowl of noodles.
Ganko only has two simple options for ramen. Salt based soup or Soy Sauce based soup. On first look, this bowl of noodle is simple, way to simple. It doesn't have the visual affect compared to say, tonkotsu ramen. You might be impressed with the two large pieces of chashuu but still be relatively doubtful of the hype around the noodles. And then you take your first slurp....
And that's the moment your life changed.
Ganko ramen's flavor is heavy and salty. The noodle, middle sized and hard, takes on the flavor of the soup. The noodles, as it should, become the focus of this bowl of ramen. Sure, the chasyuu is nice and the bamboo shot is slightly sweet. But they are nothing more than complementaries for the noodle. The soup is something else. I have never had something so flavorful. The salt and lard might be hard to take at first. But the aftertaste, oh god the aftertaste, lingers long after you have left the shop.
A place like this is too special to just give away. This is why I will only tell you that it is somewhere between Baba and Waseda. Here is a picture of the alleyway that contains Ganko. Going to Ganko needs to be a pilgrimage of the ramen soul. It opens mon-fri from 12pm. Actually, you should be lucky that you have access to Ganko at all. It use to be a member only ramen shop meaning that you needed an introduction to eat there.
Unsurprisingly, Ganko in not only a force to be recon with in the Tokyo ramen world, it has also achieved international notoriety. The New York Times called it the best ramen in Tokyo. For all of you tech savy folks, I believe there should be no problem for you to dig up info and directions to Ganko on Goolge.
So go forth my friends, go and seek out the prefect bowl of shio ramen. Remember to mark your calendar on this rare occasion where you tastebuds are going be blown through the heavens.
I am looking forward to reading your comments. And of corse, feel free to contact me for directions if you are hopelessly lost.
RATING
Price: 750 Yen
Location: Not too bad
Atmosphere: Legendary
Wait time: Depends
Taste: Legendary
Yep, I discovered this as well when I studied aboard in 2002-2003. Certainly was a good bowel of shio ramen. Here's a slightly older picture: http://www.risukun.com/Node.aspx?id=18183
ReplyDeleteThere also used to be other similarly unlabeled ramen shop not too far from the Central Library. A bit larger and fancier inside, but behind a non-descript door.