The raman craze continues, and was joined in May by Japanese chain Aji no Tokaidai, which claims to serve up authentic Sapporo-style ramen, ideal for the cooling weather approaching. Over a number of visits, it was reassuring to notice a considerable number of Japanese business types frequenting the establishment, mixing it up with the usual ladies-who-shop clientele.
Japan has innumerable styles of ramen, some better known than others, but among the must-tries is ramen from the city of Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido. This is a ramen that makes extensive use of red miso, and is notable for its inclusion of corn and butter in one of its most notable variations on a theme.
I have never had a great passion for sweet corn (so popular in local baked goods), and the idea of putting a slab of butter on top of soup noodles seemed nothing short of perverse. So, of course, the first opportunity I got, I headed into the warren of Mitsukoshi Nanjing West Road Food Street to give this authentic Sapporo flavor a try.
Photo: Ian Bartholomew, Taipei Times
Aji no Tokaidai has a small niche with limited seating in the basement of what is now classified as the Main building of the Nanjing West Mitsukoshi complex, but this area ensures a degree of privacy and cuts down the noise from the main dining area, a little. The seating is simple, as is the menu, while the service manages to be both friendly and efficient.
As soon as you are seated, staff bring out the menu and a glass of freezing cold water that is remarkable for its clean taste. Compared to the usual lukewarm, seemly tap water offerings that many similar establishments provide, this was a refreshing draught at the beginning of the meal. It subsequently turned out to be the ideal accompaniment to the heavily flavored miso soup, and the glass is assiduously refilled by staff.
The three basic flavors of ramen — salt, soy and miso — are all available at Aji no Tokaidai, but as Sapporo is regarded as the birthplace of miso ramen, the choice was clear. The basic miso ramen (NT$230) can be upgraded to the butter and corn ramen (NT$280), and at the top of the list is the butter and corn ramen with scallops (NT$420).
Photo: Ian Bartholomew, Taipei Times
Even the basic offering is a substantial dish, in terms of flavor at least. It came with a somewhat niggardly single slice of roast pork, as well as preserved bamboo shoots and fungus, lightened with some shallots. The broth, which was a deep yellow and glistened with spots of oil, looked inviting, but the presentation was not going to blow anyone away.
The more elaborate versions were good, but especially with the butter and corn ramen with scallops, the price seemed a little steep, as the shellfish, while adding something to the flavor of the broth, were themselves a little stringy, failing to provide the wow that one would expect for the price. The corn and butter themselves were a fascinating addition to ramen, and while I expected the butter to make the soup greasy, it in fact just made it more creamy, setting up a nice contrast with the crunchy sweet corn.
If the noodles themselves are not sufficient to fill you up, a side of rice can be ordered as a set. Rice topped with chopped pork (an extra NT$60) was interesting if rather underwhelming, while the Chinese-inspired roast pork fried rice (an extra NT$80) proved a good, hearty filler for a hearty eater.
Flavors can be filled out with side dishes including the establishment’s highly regarded kimchi (NT$50), which is more sweet than spicy. With its slight acidity, it provides a nice balance for the meal. Another nice touch for those who care about such things is the availability of bottled Sapporo beer.
Aji no Tokaidai’s location in a food street is inevitably something of a mood-killer as a venue for relaxed dining, but it is a valuable addition to the range of good quality ramen now available in Taipei.
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless