Slurping Turtle

Slurping Turtle
116 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 464-0466

This is going to be another "back when I was in Chicago" post. After work for dinner, I would typically hit up the River North area if I had time, and based on a recommendation from one of my wife's co-workers, I visited Slurping Turtle. I enjoyed it very much the first time and actually went back for a second time.

Slurping Turtle is a casual and hip izakaya, and the chef behind it is Takashi Yagihashi. I wasn't that familiar with him but apparently he's a pretty a well-known and respected chef. He was on one season of Bravo's Top Chef Masters for what it's worth, and he did pretty well.

The restaurant space has a funky, ultra-modern decor with concrete and a color palette of white, red, and wood tones. The door of the restaurant is a bit non-descript, and upon entering, you have to walk down this narrow hallway to get to the restaurant. At the bar, which is where I often sat and ate since I was eating solo, the large flat screen TVs show episodes of anime. This is definitely a funky, fun type of place.

The menu at Slurping Turtle is pretty diverse and wide ranging. There's sushi and raw fish preparations, hot and small cold plates, bincho grilled items, as well as noodles and ramen soups. The pictures below are from two different meals, so don't get the wrong idea about me. I enjoy eating, I eat alot, but I don't have an eating problem.

Duck-fat fried oysters with spicy mayo and crunchy slaw - this was one of the specials they had for the day and it was delicious. Super crunchy coating with a silky, creamy interior from the oyster. The slaw was refreshing and crisp. 

 

Tartare of Hamachi in Taro Root Taco - another delicious dish, albeit a bit small. The tacos look much bigger in the picture but they're pretty tiny. The hamachi was marinated in a light soy dressing and who doesn't love taro chips. 

 

Wagyu beef grilled on a hot stone - this was another special for the day. The beef was buttery and rich, just as you expect quality waygu beef to be. It's fun and interesting to also be able to grill your own meat tableside. The brownish dipping sauce was also delicious, although I'm not sure what exactly was in it - miso?

  

Action shot: grilling the meat and mushrooms....

 

Tan tan ramen - homemade thick ramen noodle, ramen stock, pork meatball, pork miso, bok choy, snow peas, bean sprouts

Shoyu ramen - homemade thin ramen noodle, classic Tokyo style soy broth, chicken wonton, grilled chicken, snow peas, marinated egg

Chocolate-black sesame macaron

 

The food at Slurping Turtle isn't that pricey but the food is delicious. Of the two ramen soups that I tried there, it's tough to say which I prefer more. Both are different and delicious in their own ways. The shoyu ramen is a little more what most people are accustomed to but the tan tan ramen had a nice spicy broth, so it depends on what you're in the mood for. The macaron I had was also delicious, although a bit pricey at $2.25 for one (that's on par with what they charge in Paris for macarons!).

 

Chicago is such a great food town. People there are seriously so spoiled. If this same place were in Boston, it would be totally mobbed. The ramen was top rate, something I think that is on par with what you'd get at a place like Ippudo in NYC. I didn't go particular early, and there wasn't a huge line or wait. Definitely check this place out if you're ever in Chicago - they also serve lunch.

Yumewokatare

Yumewokatare
1923 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140

Yumewokatare...this little restaurant is a really polarizing place. Hop on over to Yelp and read some reviews. Some people absolutely love it. Other people hate it. The first time I went, I said I'd never wait again for 1.5 hours in the cold for a bowl of ramen. But I've been back two times since then...

If you haven't heard about this place yet (what rock are you sleeping under?), it's a small - and when I say small, I mean it - ramen shop located near Porter Square in Cambridge. The restaurant seats no more than 15 people, although the current table arrangement is extremely poor and could actually fit more. There's a bar area overlooking the ramen chef doing his thing, and then there's a large table where diners sit family style. You'll likely sit next to a stranger.

Ah......but I'm getting ahead of myself. There's the whole experience you enjoy even before you step foot into the restaurant. The restaurant opens at 5 (or is it 5:30? they keep changing the operating hours), and even before that, rabid ramen fanatics start lining up in anticipation of the opening. It's really nuts. Consider this is also in the middle of winter with freezing temperatures, blowing winds, and the occassional falling snow. If you arrive late, and by that, I mean anytime after the true opening, you're screwed and in for a long ass wait.

Each time I come to this place, I go through this whole range of emotions. We leave the house excited for some ramen, only to arrive to a huge line, leaving us disappointed and a bit depressed. I then get into an argument with my wife after yelling at her for taking so long to get ready. "You want to go somewhere else? Where should we go?" Then after a while of dicking around, we finally give in and just agree to wait. The line usually starts at the Dunkin Donuts, and slowly...ever so slowly...painfully slowly...you make your way closer to the...window. At that point, maybe you've waited an hour or so already, and you're really pissed and frustrated at this point. I usually glare at the diners slurping away at their soup and noodles, hoping they get uncomfortable and finish up quickly. Once I was really irritated by a girl I spotted, daintily eating her ramen, individual noodle by individual noodle, taking her sweet ass time. Hurry up, dammit! After my wife reminds me that we're almost at the front, I calm down a bit.

After waiting for about 1.5 hours, you finally get to the door...and then eventually the staff lets you in. Hooray! I never thought it'd be so damn hard to get a bowl of ramen. When you arrive, you place your order. Not hard deciding what you want - only ramen here that comes in two sizes - large and extra large. Seriously. It's a huge bowl of noodles, vegetables, and either 2 pieces of pork belly or 5. I always go with the 5 piecer, the buta ramen.

After a few more minutes (what's another a few minutes of waiting after you've already waited a few hours?), this rolls up:

At this point, there's nothing else to do but dive right in. Slurp up some of the delicious pork broth seasoned with tare. Enjoy some fatty, unctuous pork belly that melts in your mouth. Mix it up with some steamed cabbage and bean sprouts. Shovel in some of the fresh, homemade noodles. Wash, rinse, and repeat until it's all gone. Most people are pansies and can't finish. I finish. Always.

So...could it really be that good? Worth an 1.5 hour wait in the cold? Worth waiting outside looking like a chump as people walk by and stare at you, curious as to why you and 20 other chumps are lining up in front of this building?

Yes and no. I'll be the first to admit that the line is ridiculous. I don't think anyone should have to wait an 1.5-2 hours for food...But that bowl of ramen is magical. Some people complain that the soup is too greasy, the pork is too fatty, the noodles are too thick, it's too expensive for a bowl of ramen, yadda yadda yadda. If you want something healthy, go eat some grass. You can also kindly ask the chef to leave the chopped pork fatback out of your soup. As for the noodles, I never liked the instant ramen noodles that came out of a bag. If you want to eat noodles with no texture or chew, keep eating the crappy instant variety. The broth, easily the most difficult part to get right with any ramen, is awesome. Go try making ramen yourself. I have. It's HARD. It takes a long time and the right combination of pork parts, seasoning and aromatics to get it right. I'll gladly pay $14 dollars for what Yumewokatare is offering.

Yumewokatare also uses something unique that gives their broth an interesting flavor you don't typically find. It reminds me alot of this pork dish my mom used to make for me as a kid using Chinese fermented soy beans, or what the Chinese call "men-cee". I kind of doubt the chef uses this since he's Japanese, so perhaps it's natto that is used, which I believe is somewhat similar. It could also be something in the tare but I would think that that's more straight forward and likely a combination of soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar.

In any case,  I kind of dodged the question of whether it's really worth it or not. I hate waiting in that line and I probably mutter a few dozen curse words during the night, but for some reason, I always keep going back. My vote with my feet says it all.

Sous Vide Pork Belly, Ramen Broth, Onsen Egg

There's been a lot of buzz recently (see Eater Boston, Chowhound) over a new ramen noodle house named YumewoKatare that opened about a month ago near Porter Square in Cambridge. After hearing all the positive reviews and observing what appears to be the ever existent line of customers waiting outside the restaurant, my wife and I recently tried the ramen there for ourselves. The ramen was indeed outstanding, probably one of the best bowls we've had in Boston. The noodles are thicker than the traditional ramen noodles, the broth super rich, and the pork belly meltingly tender. The bottomless servings of vegetables, broth and garnishes are great too. We were in the mood for ramen again but weren't keen on waiting in line in the cold for an hour plus, so we decided to try making our own ramen at home.

Earlier in the week, we had purchased some pork belly from the local Chinese supermarket. Planning on having ramen for dinner the following night, I put together a quick marinade of Chinese bean paste, soy sauce, pepper, mirin and garlic. I slathered the marinade all over the pork bellies, sealed them up in a large zip loc bag, and threw them in our Sous Vide Supreme. Then I went to bed.

There are lots of different methods out there for sous viding pork belly, some calling for 24, 36, and even as much as 72 hours in the water bath. Since I have limited patience, I opted for 24 hours at 155 degrees.

When I came home from work the following day, I opened up my Sous Vide Supreme to check out the pork belly.

I removed the pork belly from zip loc bag, dried off the moisture from the exterior with some paper towels, and then quickly seared them in a hot sauté pan.

After quickly resting the pork, I sliced the slab into small slices to eventually be placed on top of our noodles and ramen broth.

The pork was very tender and moist, so overall I was pretty pleased. If I had left the pork belly in the water bath for another 8 hours, the meat probably would have been even better






The task of making good ramen is a serious undertaking. After researching lots of recipes, I've learned that making a good broth is nearly an all-day affair. Unfortunately, it being a weeknight, we didn't have the time to devote to crafting a perfected tonkotsu broth, as described here by Kenji Lopez on his Serious Eats blog. A quicker version would have to do.

We made a quick dashi broth using Alton Brown's recipe, which calls for kombu and bonito flakes. We then added to the dashi all of the porky juices and liquids that were released from the pork belly in the zip loc bag. After additional seasoning of soy sauce and bean paste, the broth was ready. It didn't have the richness and depth of YumewoKatare's version, but it was still pretty good for a 30 minute job.

As we were preparing the broth, we dropped two eggs into the Sous Vide Supreme and lowered the temperature to 145 degrees to cook up some onsen-style eggs. And of course we cooked up some ramen noodles.

Here's our fully assembled ramen noodle soup dish!