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What is it with ramen that makes chefs so self-consciously, or publicly, decide to master them whatever it takes? You don't read about a chef dedicating their y

by lores 3y ago

What is it with ramen that makes chefs so self-consciously, or publicly, decide to master them whatever it takes? You don't read about a chef dedicating their youth to the best boeuf bourguignon by breeding special cattle, or even about a plov perfectionist, which seems conceptually close. Was Tampopo an effect or a cause?

sva_ 3y ago
Maybe because it is a Japanese dish, and Japanese are notorious for being obsessed with perfecting their craft no matter what.
- chongli 3y ago
  Yeah. If I were a betting man, I’d bet you could find a chef dedicated to perfecting boeuf bourguignon… and it’d be a Japanese chef!
PurpleRamen 3y ago
Ramen is a simple and popular dish with endless flexibility. And from my experience, people seem to more likely obsess over the simple things. We have similar happening with other simple dishes (pizza, burger, bread, sushi, steak, etc.). Maybe because it's easier to tweak them, and simple to start. You don't need much skill or experience to make a good ramen or pizza, but mastering them can be very challenging. So you probably you a fast action/reward-loop in the beginning, and can always repeat that by moving to different recipes. Which might drives some people in the hell pit of mastering and bullshiting about the deeper parts of them, similar to other addictions.
- chongli 3y ago
  That’s a really good point. Those simple dishes are actually quite hard to master due to the complex chemistry going on with fermentation, meat development (raising cattle, dry aging meat), wild-caught vs farmed fish. Their simplicity in terms of bulk ingredients puts them into the same category as wine, beer, spirits, coffee, chocolate, cheese, vinegar, and fruit/vegetables (heirloom tomatoes, hot peppers). That is, to say, having a few simple ingredients is challenging because it pushes you to generate the complexity out of those basic inputs. Dishes with a lot of ingredients (curries and stews) get their complexity more directly.

by lores 3y ago

sva_ 3y ago

Maybe because it is a Japanese dish, and Japanese are notorious for being obsessed with perfecting their craft no matter what.

chongli 3y ago
Yeah. If I were a betting man, I’d bet you could find a chef dedicated to perfecting boeuf bourguignon… and it’d be a Japanese chef!

PurpleRamen 3y ago

Ramen is a simple and popular dish with endless flexibility. And from my experience, people seem to more likely obsess over the simple things. We have similar happening with other simple dishes (pizza, burger, bread, sushi, steak, etc.). Maybe because it's easier to tweak them, and simple to start. You don't need much skill or experience to make a good ramen or pizza, but mastering them can be very challenging. So you probably you a fast action/reward-loop in the beginning, and can always repeat that by moving to different recipes. Which might drives some people in the hell pit of mastering and bullshiting about the deeper parts of them, similar to other addictions.

chongli 3y ago
That’s a really good point. Those simple dishes are actually quite hard to master due to the complex chemistry going on with fermentation, meat development (raising cattle, dry aging meat), wild-caught vs farmed fish. Their simplicity in terms of bulk ingredients puts them into the same category as wine, beer, spirits, coffee, chocolate, cheese, vinegar, and fruit/vegetables (heirloom tomatoes, hot peppers). That is, to say, having a few simple ingredients is challenging because it pushes you to generate the complexity out of those basic inputs. Dishes with a lot of ingredients (curries and stews) get their complexity more directly.