Slur.

Thank you so much.

You're a pro wrestler ever.

Soup, noodles, toppings.

This basic formula for Rahman has been intact in Japan for over 100 years.

But as Rahman continues its global renaissance, the dish has become the perfect blank canvas for regional variation and chef let experimenting.

No one understands this better than self professed Rahman freak Keizo Shimamoto Case does go Roman Block obsessively cataloged thousands of bowls of ramen across Japan and the U.

S.

And his legendary noodle shop, Rahman Shack, became hollowed ground for Rahman freaks in New York City.

Today, Rama Check has closed its doors for good but secure and I are heading to the shop for one final journey through some of Japan's most recognizable Rahman styles way.

Welcome to the last sitting of Roman shack for so Hee can't wait.

All right, so we have to do something special.

What do you have for us today?

So today I want to give you three styles of Roman.

The first will be a show you Roman, which is my favorite style of Tokyo style.

And then the second will be a hot cocoa to okay and then the third will be a gun.

Just style ticket man, which is a thick, rich fish pork brawn.

That's so good.

We have three bowls of Robinson.

I'm ready.

You ready?

All right.

This is my classic style Show you Roman sticky.

It's so picture perfect.

And it's actually my favorite style, the Tokyo style, and it consists of a soy sauce flavoring, so there are many ways to make it.

But blending different styles of soy sauce and adding like little meeting to it is traditionally a Tokyo style show you.

The soup consists of a chicken and dashi in time, so clear soup and the noodles are wavy.

Typically, the clear Chain John is a lighter soup, so the wavy noodles help bring the soup on the aromas into your slip.

Captures it in those next yeah way got pork belly, MME.

Emma, Scallions and not a dog on.

And I just okay, so I can't wait shall way, I think my favorite style.

So I'm gonna join you guys.

So just the way you want it, the noodles feel perfect.

You really have that springing us Thio.

It's such a perfect classic Rahman, and it's just I don't know.

It's like hitting all the notes.

For me, it's comforting.

It's like warm.

It's just perfect.

Yeah, I think the first Roman I ever had was surely Rahman with my grandma.

But, you know, with the in Japan, they have those like steel boxes on the bike.

Yet for to go really, really tight Saran wrap and comes in a way.

So I know that in general regional Rahman is just really dependent on what ingredients are available in that area of Japan.

What makes Tokyo show you Rahman Ai feels like show you could be almost, like, available anywhere.

But like I'm wondering what makes it Tokyo.

It's a good question.

Back when the first people from China it's brought over Roman.

They started using different types of bones for broth and that first shop called bad.

I can waas, you know, considered as the originator of ramen shop.

Before that, everything was like a yacht by a food stall, so they started humping out like 1000 goals a day.

And, you know, they're Roth was pretty light, and they added, show you to that.

You know, sure, you was pretty common ingredient in Japan at the time, and it still is.

So that sort of became the standard Tokyo style.

And from Yokohama to Tokyo to all around Hone Shoe became like a chicken stock with pork.

Teen time like a lighter here brought with the shorting flavoring.

Speaking of Ryder, I can in Yokohama.

I know your restaurant is that I can here in New York.

That's right.

We opened in 2000 in the East Village.

Definitely way before the Roman crazy.

My father opened up Brian, right?

Ken, because he wanted to pay homage to their, I reckon, in Yokohama.

He's very particular about staying true to the true form of Roman.

I seeing authenticity is kind of our middle name.

Mira.

Ken, hopefully is a place that are Jordan's.

On our you know, our patrons can eat our show you every day.

Yeah, kind of the lightness that we want a cheese.

And that's kind of I feel like the definition of perfection for show you, Rahman, is the fact that you could eat it every day, not get bored.

Hi, I'm Sarah.

Yeah, G.

I am CEO of T C.

Restaurant Group.

And this is my father.

Hello.

My name is Bo Ja GI on the responsible person and key.

I see restaurant group, Right, Ken, I think, is the oldest ramen shop in New York City That's still standing today.

David Jiang, you know, from Momofuku.

I heard he used to come in the light like and all the time before he opened up a Forrester Lemon shop.

Oh my like.

And it's originally open because I felt Lemon is you know it's gonna be the future In New York, late seventies and beginning of eighties, there was one national chain in Japan.

They came and didn't do too well.

But then 1985 Tampopo The movie hit around the world.

So I study Tampopo.

I study many other restaurants.

In 2000 I opened up a lie like him.

I like it means please come into our house in the welcome any time and enjoy.

That's the name of the lake E o.

All right, here's number two tongue puts things is a Hakata style.

Don't go too.

So Hakata is a city in key issue where tonkotsu ramen became popularized.

And if you ask someone from Kyushu what Rahman is, they'll say this And if you show them, I'll show you Rahman, they'll be like that's not wrong.

So Tonkotsu is known for a cloudy milky broth and you get that by taking pork bones like femurs and the backbone and the heads in some cases and you just boil the heck out of him.

And after a while, all the gelatin from the marrow and the bones will start to break down and make this cloudy suit.

Wow, you NorCal Nokko.

Very rich, but still clean.

So the tonkotsu here is a thicker brought, so the thin noodle is actually prepared better with the broth will stick to the thinner straight and bring up not too much soup, but just enough.

Tokyo OTA has been on a very extreme rise, I'd say, almost globally in Japan as well.

But also in your ex city, there are so many different, like Tokyo, too specific ramen restaurants.

What do you think that is from like?

How did it kind of become the new booming flavor of Rahman?

Personally, I just think that it's easier flavor profile, toe, understand?

It's kind of more of a punch in the face, and it's like, wow is delicious.

Yeah, I think Definitely a creamier broth is very attractive to Americans for some reason.

And don't go too has a lot of impact.

That first sip it's like, Wow, you know, I think that's the wild factor that has kind of spread across New York and across America.

Yeah, and it's good.

Okay, All right.

The last full is a sick women s.

So this is a more recent style thick to come in.

So they brought the noodle, and it's a tonkotsu guilt guy, which is fish and pork bones.

What's significant about it is this Gil phone the fish powder on top.

Back in the sixties, there's a guy named Yamagishi who invented this style.

And then in the two thousand's, another shop called Ganja invented this thicker, raw, thicker noodle style with fish powder, and this style is now more popular style to give in.

In Tokyo, in the world document, the broth is hot, but the noodles are cold, so we rinse them in cold water and shock them.

And the way you eat it is you take a little bit of noodles and you dip it into the suit.

Thank you.

So the inventor of ticket men for what they called Morty Silva.

Back then is Kazu Ichi Yamagishi, and he's basically a Roman legend now.

He passed away a few years ago, so rest in peace.

But he is idolized by Roman freaks everywhere.

He's had about 50 or more apprentices at one point.

So he really taught all these young chefs to, like, keep the legend going.

Yeah, I heard he was a very loved by his customers and clients as well, because he would, like, go outside and greet his customers while they were waiting in line.

How important would you say the personality behind the Roman chef is like a Maquis cell, for example?

I would say it's very important because all these bulls, although there called Roman they're all different because of the chef the chef puts is his own personality into the bowl, his own style, and that's what makes it unique.

And that's why Rahman has so much appeal, I think, because people can take the simple bowl and really make it their own and really showcase that to a customer we've talked about.

I then kind of taking Rahman making New York style.

Yeah, right Noodle.

Yeah, I think the next step for Rahman in America is really to localize ingredients and create different styles based upon the region's we have here.

And that is really the next step.

The next evolution of Roman.

If there's one person who has become synonymous with Rahman in New York City, it's Keizo.

Former mentor Ivan Orkin.

Ivan first made a name for himself after opening an incredibly popular Rama shop in Tokyo in 2006.

But since 2013 Ivan Ramen on the Lower East Side has been a hub for New York's growing Rahman.

See pairing regional ingredients with more traditional Japanese techniques.

You know, when I first lived in Japan in the eighties, I fell in love with Rahman.

When I moved back to New York, it was no Rahman.

You could eat food that has 20 places.

You could drink pretty good soccer, but no Rahman at all.

Nothing on it started this thing in me, which is part of why Robin Shop thing started in the first place.

How important is region ality and Rahman?

Well, I mean, up until recently, Not particularly, I mean, I think I mean Rahman's had a real explosion in Japan until recently.

I mean, Rama was mostly really popular in Kyushu and uh, maybe Hokkaido and Tokyo and not so much in other areas.

Now it's becoming popular all over the place and there are definitely region al it ease.

There's a really, uh, underlying current of intense creativity in Robin, which is what one of the things that really drew me to Rama is that it's this maverick cuisine where you know it's the chef's personality is almost as important what he makes.

And it's what makes Rahman really, really fun.

I obviously have some very strong opinions about how Rahman should be made and how it should be and what it should be like.

But the good news is that Robin is really every shop could be different and you could go to Tokyo.

And there's all kinds of wacky shops doing wacky things.

And you know what's great is you don't have to goto Ivan ramen every time you can go toe not commit, are you could go toe, you know, judo or wherever.

And I always felt that way in Japan.

I had always, you know, five or six or 10 shops that I regularly went two for different moods on bats.

And that's what's awesome about Romney.

It doesn't have to be either or both.

Next time on Goji Gang, I'm teaming up with some of my favorite Italian chefs to taste us a new ramen dish dubbed Japanese pasta.

If you're gonna take Japanese food and try to combine it with Italian food, the most logical thing to do is take Rahm and write and make promises with it.

And I'm continuing my ramen shop tasting menu by sampling Hazel's famous Roman burger.

So this burger is kind of like the second generation Japanese American burger.

It's like you in Rahman for J a prize.

It's the season finale of Goji Gang, and I want to see where Roman is heading Next.

Stay tuned.

Thank you so much for watching go to gig.