January 2004 Archives
Recently, I've watched an episode of Boston Public and listened to an interview of Henry Lewis Gates on KQED's Forum on Affirmative Action, and this got me thinking a bit.
So far, my conclusion is that the Affirmative Action program cannot last long solely based on racial criteria. Although I understand where the program came about historically, a lot of the original purpose of the program (as far as I can understand, promoting diversity) would be lost, this point in time, if it were to just continue based on the racial criteria alone.
It seems that some people (including myself) are starting to think that the program should be based on the economical criteria rather than the racial. I am not sure whether a total transition can be achieved easily, though.
One of my concerns is that, in the modern world (especially in the U.S.), the word "class" (based on economy) seems to be even more taboo than the word "race." Maybe this has to do with the knee-jerk reaction to communism (and thus socialism). It seems that people are willing to acknowledge and try to solve the racial problems, but not much so about the economical and social class issues.
Another difficulty with the class angle (especially economical) is that people are less willing to accept (and be proud of) the fact that they are in a "lower" class than that they are a racial minority.
I am not sure how this can be resolved easily. I feel the need for such "social aid" programs, but how to do it "fairly," that's quite a different matter.
805 South B Street
San Mateo, CA
650.344.5918
M-Sat: 11:30-14:00 / 17:30-22:00
Sun: 11:30-14:00 / 17:30-21:30
(Off from JInAOnline.org, but Tuesdays might be closed.)
This is also one I found through WorldRamen.net. It has a pretty good review, and I have to agree.
Ramen Santa (ラーメンサン太) is a couple of blocks off of the main street in San Mateo. The place seems to have gained quite a bit of followers since there is always a waiting list posted outside.
The shop is, maybe, a bit bigger than Tokushima Ramen, and has about 10 seats around the bar, and about 6 tables. The decor is pretty blend. No TV, no manga/magazines.
The menu is on the wall only and it seems there isn't anything else beside ramen. But the soup comes in three flavor: shouyu (しょうゆ, soy sauce), tonkotsu (豚骨, pork), and miso (味噌, soy bean paste). I prefer shouyu, but others aren't bad, either. Their soup has the strongest flavor among the places I've been to, and you can actually see the thickness of the oil layer on top of the soup. :)
They have a matrix of topping selection for each flavor. Some interesting ones were curry and ginger. They have a special "stewed pork" chaashuu (I couldn't get the kanji, but it said タ－ロ－), which seems to be quite popular. Their normal chaashuu is thinly sliced pork belly that you can see in most ramen-ya. This one is a thick (almost cube-like) chunk of pork belly, which adds more flavor.
Also, the portion is quite big. I noticed that there is an "extra noodle" (大盤, "big bowl") option ($1.00), but I doubt anyone would need it.
The only thing that I don't like about the place is the service. It's quite slow. Not that it's bad, but it's slow. Maybe the kitchen is overwhelmed, but don't expect it to quick in-and-out.
Anyway, I noticed that there was a "poem" behind the counter. I am not sure if I remembered it exactly (but the meaning is similar).
さがしているのは
ほんものの
らーめんだっ太
I asked the lady who worked there if that's what the name of the shop really meant. She told me that the name was there before the current owner got it. She said maybe the new owner wanted to put some meaning into it. Who knows.
4330 Moorpark Avenue
San Jose, CA
408.255.8244
M: Closed
T-F: 11:30 - 14:00 / 17:00 - 21:30
Sat: 11:30 - 15:00 / 16:00 - 21:00
Sun: 11:30 - 15:00 / 16:00 - 20:30
As I was looking for different ramen places around the area, I found this shop last December. It might have been around longer, but I didn't know about it.
Tokushima Ramen Dohenkotsu (徳島ラーメンどへんこつ) is in the same complex as the Mitsuwa market, so the traffic seems to be relatively high. It is "hidden" onto one corner, but it's not that difficult to find the place (right next to the PC Bang).
Tokushima is a prefecture in Shikoku (四国). It seems the owner is from the prefecture and the shop claims Tokushima ramen is different from others, and you can kind of see that. I can't tell the difference about the noodle itself, but the chaashuu is definitely different. It looks close to marinated thick slices of bacon.
I think the soup is a pork flavor (豚骨, tonkotsu, "pork bone") and they have only one flavor. They have two bowl sizes: medium and large. I think their large is about the same size as or a bit smaller to that of Ryowa.
As I mentioned in another post, it's interesting to note that in this shop, ramen is also called chuuka-soba (中華そば, "chinese noodle") and you can see the term all over the shop walls.
Beside ramen, they also have some stir-fries and stuff (a la Chinese). I haven't tried them though.
I like their ramen. Their flavor is much stronger and their soup has more body than Ryowa's, I think. However, they are pricier.
They have bars (for about 10?) and several tables (5 or 6). It's a bit small. They have a satellite TV showing Japanese broadcasts (whatever is on, usually) and a small collection of manga (with a tongue-in-cheek warning to return them to the shelf when done).
859 Villa Street
Mountain View, CA
(650) 965-8829
M-Sat: 11:30-23:00
Sun: 11:30-21:00
This is actually the first ramen-ya that I've been to. I am not sure when they opened the shop, but their location is probably the best in the area (off of Castro Street) where there are always good number of people, especially Far-East Asians. During the lunch hours, there can be 10, 20 people waiting inside and outside. Their business has been so good that they opened another shop in Berkeley recently (and their commercials are on KTSF).
The seating area is mostly bars (for about 25 people) and several small tables (two, I think). They have a TV showing some recorded Japanese TV shows (mostly talk shows such as Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ). They also have a couple of shelves with manga, but I don't think they have been updating the inventory for a while.
They say they are "Kobe" ramen. I know where it is, but I don't have a slightest idea what that means. The soup has three flavors: ryowa (not sure what it is), shouyu (soy sauce based), and miso (soy bean paste based). The chashu (pork slices) is a pretty common type of thin slices of pork belly. For lunch, they have combos (ramen, gyoza and a bowl of rice).
Besides those three and gyoza, they didn't use to have much variation. But they've been adding others. They have butabara (fattier pork) ramen (only served in the evening if I remember correctly), butter corn ramen (which seems to be popular among Chinese customers) and chicken karaage (fried chicken without the batter).
I like noodles with soup. I've always liked JanChiGukSu (잔치국수/"Party Noodle Soup", Korean thin noodle soup) and KalGukSu (칼국수/"Knife Noodle Soup", thicker Korean noodle soup), and have been digging Pho (Vietnamese thin rice noodle soup) ever since I came to the U.S. in 1994.
However, there is something special about RaaMen (ラ―メン/"ramen"). I am not certain about the origin of the name, but the term came about in the early 20th century in Japan.
Certain times, it is also called ChuuKaSoBa (中華そば/"Chinese Noodles"). Soba is a Japanese word for "noodles" and I think when that kind of noodles were introduced in Japan, it was named such to differentiate from Japanese noodles that existed.
Another indication that it is related to China (or that people think it's related to China) is that most Ramen shops (in and outside Japan) have a decor of Chinese restaurants (the designs on the bowls, the soup spoons, the woks, etc.). However, this could have been more of a marketing device.
Whatever the origin of the noodle was, that is not all that makes a Ramen. Ramen is a Japanese food with its unique characteristics of the soup, the toppings, and the culture.
As for me, while growing up in Korea, I was only exposed to the instant versions (takes 5 minutes or so to cook in a boiling water). And indeed, I thought that and the cup versions were the only variations of Ramen till I saw "Tampopo" in 1995.
I realized that the Ramen that I knew were only a "frozen pizza" version (not that I don't like instant ramen)! I stumbled onto Ryowa Ramen in Mountain View, CA one day in 1996 and got a taste of what it could be. And when I had a chance to visit Japan in 2001, I tried several shops in Kyoto and Tokyo.
Anyway, there are a couple of pretty good Ramen-ya around where I live (San Jose, CA). And with the help of World Ramen Net's DB, I was able to find a couple more.
I don't know why more people aren't getting into Ramen (non-instant) as much as Pho. Maybe it's the cost... Maybe it's the misconception that most people have about Ramen being instant.
Hmm... I need to get my GukSu fix...
This SF novel by Stel Pavlou was an interesting mixture of recent developments in science and technology, and somewhat sweeping overview of mythologies. I thought the beginning was very interesting and the book was able to hold onto my attention till the end.
However, I thought many of the problem solving was done rather unrealistically (i.e., not believable), and although the story involved quite a bit of characters, I thought there was hardly any difference among them (i.e., any dialog from one character could have been said by others).
However, the author did accomplish a tremendous job of collecting and stitching together a vast amount of information. Maybe it involved too much of it to be, what can I say, refined. I often felt that the story was being pushed forward too hastily.
I really liked the possibility of the premise. Trying to put everything together within the two week period was maybe too much (not so for Hollywood, though).
