Oishinbo: À la Carte - Quickie Ramen

Oishinbo: À la Carte

by Kariya Testu and Hanasaki Akira

2009, VIZ Media LLC

To say that I am a fan of Japanese comics is an understatement. I wrote my thesis on them. The walls of our son’s room are lined with over two thousand manga, because we had nowhere else to put them. So it is difficult to exaggerate the pure joy that comes over me when I lose myself in a very good food-themed manga series.

Of the several culinary manga available in English, none is as long-running as Kariya Tetsu and Hanasaki Akira’s Oishinbo. The series is, in fact, exactly as old as I am, and has only recently been put on hold, in the midst of a Fukushima-related controversy. As far as food manga goes, this is a classic.

Only a handful of anthologies of Oishinbo have been translated and published in English, under the label Oishinbo: À la Carte, collecting stories revolving around themes such as sake, rice, fish, or ramen. I would honestly be hard-pressed to choose a favourite, and was very sorry when new volumes stopped coming out.

The main character of the series, Yamaoka, is a food journalist, who is tasked by his newspaper to put together a collection of dishes that best represent Japan’s “Ultimate Menu.” While his profession alone gives him plenty of excuses to go on food-related adventures, the premise is spiced up by the frequent appearance of his estranged father, an artist and world-renowned gourmet, with whom Yamaoka has an antagonistic relationship, and who eventually goes on to collaborate with a rival newspaper.

While there are multiple variations, a typical story arc will revolve around an arranged food match between both newspapers, or will have Yamaoka working on an assignment, only to run into his father and inevitably fall into an argument over something, such as the best way to cook rice. A food duel ensues, filled with surprise twists and revelations, until one or the other comes out the winner, while the other stews and awaits the next opportunity to shine.

Oishinbo: À la Carte: Fish, Sushi & Sashimi, p. 68-69

(read right-to-left)

If it all sounds a bit silly, it is. But manga, or good manga at any rate, often has an absence of cynicism, an open enthusiasm that makes it completely irresistible if the reader agrees to play along. In other words, if you can just get over the weirdness of having grown men constantly pontificating and growing indignant over gyoza, and if you can accept that this is a universe where couples break up and make up over an asparagus dish and amnesia can be cured by shellfish, you will have a very, very good time. Just let the story and the dynamic page layouts carry you, enjoy the ride, and then go treat yourself to some sashimi – you’ll be craving it by then.

It’s not a perfect series, of course. There is a very strong tendency to equate Japanese food with Japanese culture and its people, which is neither fair nor exact. But, to the series’ credit, this does not result solely in nationalistic pride (although there is plenty of that): author Kariya pulls no punches when he decides to criticize his compatriots’ habits, policies, or attitudes – this is particularly striking in the volume about sake, in which Yamaoka bitterly berates the Japanese for enabling the deplorable state of the sake industry (a situation which has reportedly improved since the original publication).

This type of indignation regularly lapses into preachiness. While most food-conscious readers will find little fault with the content of most of Yamaoka’s diatribes, such as his criticism of the overuse of pesticides in vegetable farming and his insistence on using the best ingredients, the prolonged sermons may make even the most ardent Michael Pollan fans roll their eyes.

Oishinbo: À la Carte: Japanese Cuisine, p. 134-135

Characters mostly verge on the caricatural, and the character humour can be rather sitcomy, often featuring puns that stubbornly resist translation. But the English language editors made the very wise choice of capitalizing on the inter-cultural gap, rather than attempting to camouflage it. Pages and pages of detailed endnotes explain not only the various food-related intricacies, but also the jokes and nuances that the translators were unable to transpose accurately. As such, these books are a goldmine of information for anyone with an interest in both Japanese cuisine and culture.

Oishinbo: À la Carte: Ramen and Gyoza, p. 50-51

There are a few recipes at the beginning of each book. The one I chose to feature today is one I often turn to when I need comfort food. It’s an easier take on miso ramen, substituting ground pork for roast, and katsuobushi dashi for broth. This dish plays a key role in one of the stories included in the “Ramen and Gyoza” volume, where Yamaoka and friends attempt to figure out a food-centric way to reconcile two villages (yes, food can do that, too, in this world). While I am not entirely convinced of its political powers, I am absolutely convinced by its flavour. I have adapted the proportions to make it a bit more substantial than the original. Yamaoka would probably insist that you make your own dashi (and shave your own bonito flakes while you’re at it)… but I’d be lying if I told you I’ve never used instant dashi with this.

Oishinbo-style Quickie Ramen

Adapted from OishinboÀ la Carte: Ramen and Gyoza

Serves 3-4

4 tbsp white miso

4 tbsp sake

2 tbsp peanut or canola oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large shallot, minced

4-5 scallions, thinly sliced
450g (1 pound) ground pork

6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1.5 litre (6 cups) dashi (see below for homemade instructions)

For homemade dashi:

1.5 litre (6 cups) water

500 ml (2 cups) tightly katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)

3 tbsp soy sauce

Around 150g (5 oz) fresh noodles, or 3-4 portions dried noodles

Bring a large pot of salted water to a mild boil.

In a small bowl, combine the miso and the sake and stir until miso is dissolved. Reserve.

In a wok, heat the oil over high heat. Add the garlic, shallot and half the scallions and stir-fry for a minute. Add the pork and mushrooms, if using, and continue sautéing, stirring constantly, until cooked. Add the miso-sake mixture and continuing cooking until the liquid is mostly evaporated, but the mixture is still moist. Reserve and keep warm over low heat.

If making homemade dashi, bring your 6 cups of water to a boil, throw in the katsuobushi and immediately turn off the heat. Let stand for two minutes and strain through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or paper towels. Discard the katsuobushi.

If using instant dashi, prepare it according to instructions on the packaging. Heat dashi until it is steaming, but not boiling.

Stir the soy sauce into the dashi. Keep warm over low heat.

If using fresh noodles, cook them in the boiling water for approximately five minutes. If using dried noodles, cook them in the boiling water according to instructions on the packaging.

Divide the noodles into bowls, top with the pork mixture and the rest of the scallions and ladle the dashi into the bowls. Serve immediately.