Gumshara

Posted on August 22, 2010 by The Hungry Bon Vivant

LIKE Japanese Anime and Manga, Gumshara, a hole-in-the-wall ramen-ya in Sydney Chinatown’s ‘Eating World’ hawker centre is currently gaining a cult following.

Eating World houses a collection of Asian hawker-style/food court spots and is in the Harbour Plaza complex on a corner of Dixon and Goulburn streets. I have been a regular to some of its many (and some now defunct), food outlets for over a decade.

Gumshara only sells ramen (and only a small, niche variety – just under a dozen). Its cult following is due to the stock which Japanese ramen master Mori prepares. Mori’s ‘master’ tonkotsu soup it is made over seven days using 120kg of pork bones and water (and nothing else). There is a lighter Hakata-style broth for other ramen styles which is probably also used to dilute the tonkotsu broths if customers request.

Brewing pork bones for days on end produces a brown, thin gravy-like stock which creates a mouth-puckering, collagen-enriched noodle soup that is slightly viscous, rich and almost “nutty”.

On my first visit to Gumshara I had the sho-yu ramen with soft-boiled egg ($12 + $1.50).

Once the steaming bowl of ramen comes out you can add any of the toppings available at the service counter – sliced pickled garlic, pickled ginger, sesame seeds, and chilli flakes.

It takes about five minutes for the ramen to be assembled (slightly longer during peak lunch times) with Master Mori tasting each one before it comes out.

The sho-yu ramen had four sheets of nori, two egg halves, four slices of pork, sliced spring onion and menma (pickled bamboo), with a light brown broth with a slight viscosity. I decided to add some of the pickled garlic from the condiments tray. The broth whacks you. It is nutty and rich with collagen, leaving what seems like a slight film on the roof of the mouth and your lips. The sliced pork was tender and the noodles chewy. The egg halves were exceptional – they were perfectly cooked with a golden and almost gooey centre and slightly seasoned. The four sheets of nori adds a sea-like saltiness to the broth. For almost the remainder of the day my palate was somewhat ‘fatigued’.

I decided to return to Gumshara a second time to have its limited pork rib ramen with soft-boiled egg ($14.50 +$1.50) and was served by Master Mori himself. He told me that only 20 of the pork rib ramen were available daily. This time I decided to add a couple more of Gumshara’s condiments – along with the sliced garlic I added a teaspoon of sesame seeds and a pinch of julienne pickled ginger.

This style of ramen came with one sheet of nori, chopped spring onion, menma and a fair-sized and meaty pork rib. Again, the tonkotsu broth was nutty and full of that lip-smacking collagen – the eggs halves still had that fabulous golden and almost gooey centre and the noodles nice and chewy. But the highlight was the pork rib. It was slightly season and obviously sealed at high temperature. It had been scored along the top making it easy to eat. The meat was tender and juicy with the slight layer of caramelised fat just adding a lovely toffee-like flavour (and there was plenty of flesh on the bone). With that collagen-enriched broth my lips became as silky and smooth as a baby’s ‘you know what’.

One thing that I found this time round having Gumshara ramen is that the pickled ginger is a must as it cuts through the intensity of the broth and really awakens the palate.

Gumshara also has other side dishes available (such as gyoza) or additions to ramen to enhance its flavour (such as fish, curry or chilli ‘bomb’ for $2). To Gumshara’s credit, it recognizes the overwhelming power of its stock and offers customers the opportunity to adjust its saltiness or ‘strength’ when ordering.

Gumshara excels in delivering hand-crafted ramen. Thankfully, if it wasn’t for Sydney City Council’s oppressive parking controls around this area of town, Japanese truckies would be parked the length of Goulburn Street.

The verdict: This is die hard rocker ramen – big, bold and loud and dressed in leather with a big monstrous mouthfeel that lasts for hours. It may be a little bit loud or grungy for some but Gumshara can tone the volume down. This is ramen that Goro (of Tampopo fame), would approve of.

What: Gumshara, Shop 209 Harbour Plaza Eating World, 25-29 Dixon Street, Haymarket NSW 2000. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11.30am to 10.30pm and on Sunday from 11.30am to 10pm. Closed Mondays.

Ate there: 2 and 19 August 2010.

Go to the Oodles of Noodles page for more information on ramen.

Posted in Hawker food, Japanese, New South Wales, Ramen, Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Morsels: Zenya Noodle Bar

Posted on August 7, 2010 by The Hungry Bon Vivant

ZENYA Noodle Bar stands out amongst the surrounding Korean and Chinese restaurants on Rowe Street at Eastwood for two reasons. One, it’s Japanese and two, it has a stunning and contemporary chocolate-hued and exposed stone interior opposed to those stark white-washed walls that you tend to get in other Asian restaurants.

I’ve come here for the ramen and Zenya has a reputation for making a good one.

The restaurant is narrow but long, with a wooden bench and stools at the front of the restaurant while beyond in the long, deep main space lie the tables (with stainless steel exhaust funnels above them – possibly from life as a former Korean BBQ restaurant?) as well a TV blurting out a bit of J-pop. First impressions count – decor great – first human contact bad. As a sole diner I was put at the bench and was ready to order (having studied the menu outside) but the front service gentlemen told me: “I have to do something else”, and went back to the front counter to shuffle menus (taking orders probably isn’t in his job description but surely client service is). Thankfully for Zenya’s service reputation a pleasant waitress approached me only after three minutes to take my order.

I ordered the Sho-yu Ramen set (for $9.80 -plus a $3 upgrade  with a ramen or udon dish), and comes with gyoza (pan-fried dumplings) and salad. I also ordered a pot of green tea ($2.50) and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the tea that arrived in the pretty ceramic pot and matching cup was Japanese genmaicha green tea (a loose-leaf green tea which contains roasted brown rice grains). The tea, which is slightly cloudy with a light emerald-green colour, has a slight roasted flavour to it and is always a joy to drink. And, best of all, it is unlimited.

The small green leaf salad and the gyoza came out first. The salad was a basic mixed leaf salad with sliced onion and a wedge of tomato and a tangy miso-style dressing. The three gyoza were filled with seasoned pork with cabbage and spring onion and were moist and juicy – the thin skins lightly fried then steamed. They came with two dipping sauces – one soy with citrus overtones and another slightly spicier version.

Next came the steaming bowl of ramen with wooden ladle. The pork broth was light brown with two slices of roast pork, a beautifully boiled egg with gooey centre, bean sprouts, matchstick-slices of dried mushroom, chopped spring onion, mema (pickled bamboo), a dusting of sesame seeds and a square of nori paper to one side all – on top of chewy ramen noodles. The soup was rich and flavoursome – with the scent of pork and soy wafting through the steam. It was certainly a broth that had been well prepared and lovingly worked on in order to integrate all its components over time. It was well-balance had some guts but was not overpowering.

One of the other courteous waiters told me that the pork broth is made fresh from pork bones and a pig’s head (which is a traditional ingredient), and left to simmer for over 14 hours. Apparently Zenya’s two most popular ramen were the Tokyo (made with a chicken stock), and teriyaki chicken (in a chicken or pork stock). For ramen aficionados there is a range of 16 ramen styles to choose from at Zenya, including miso-based and the shio (salted) style. There also is a range of bento boxes, udon and a variety of other Japanese-style dishes (such as donburi), available.

The verdict: Contemporary and warm interior and great and authentic ramen (from $9.80) which has been prepared with attention and skill. The extra $3 for gyoza and salad makes it a nice all-rounder. Real tea! Zenya will not disappoint ramen afficandos and the menu will cater for the non-noodle lover. Someone, though, needs to pull aside the front man and give him a stern talking to.

What: Zenya Noodle Bar, 217 Rowe Street, Eastwood NSW 2122. Phone: (02) 9874 2122. Open: Lunch on Tuesday to Sunday 11.30am to 3pm and dinner on Tuesday to Sunday from 5.30pm to 9.30pm (until 10pm on Fri & Sat). Closed on Mondays. BYO (wine only). www.zenyanoodlebar.com

Ate there: 31 July 2010.

Go to the Oodles of Noodles page for more information on ramen.

Posted in Japanese, New South Wales, Ramen, Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why shoot monkeys when you can eat them

Posted on July 28, 2010 by The Hungry Bon Vivant

HARVARD Business Review published a now-famous article back in 1974 by William Oncken Jr and Donald L. Wass entitled: Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?

It was essential reading as part of my recent internment at UNSW for the excellent AGSM Executive Programs five-day course I attended (my review of my fine-dining experience during the program is here). The article tells the story of an overburdened manager who has unwittingly taken on all of his subordinates’ problems (monkeys). The authors’ preach that managers have two choices – either feed or shoot the monkeys. By shooting monkeys you empower someone to deal with their problem, by feeding them you get burdened with the problem (by accepting the monkey the manager has become subordinate to the subordinate). Ideally you want to shoot them but of course there are occasions when some monkeys have to be feed.

I have mixed success when dealing with monkeys and this got me thinking – surely there are other things you can do with monkeys than shooting or feeding? Walking into the office with a gun is a no-no in Australia (it may be ok at Harvard in the good ol’ US of A and protected by the Second Amendment), but in some cultures monkeys are cooked and eaten. Now, I am no management guru but surely by eating monkeys aren’t you turning a problem into a solution?

It seems the Choco Indians of the Darien jungles in Panama are great believers in this management technique and in 1973 (a year before Oncken and Wass published their paper), the Panama Canal Review printed the article below:

Monkey Stew

The flesh of jungle animals and birds, such as tapir, monkey, ibis, peccary, venison, and agouti are common fare in the Darien. The flesh of these is often smoked before cooking. Fresh meat, however, can be boiled, roasted, or barbequed. It is also salted and dried in the sun for several days.

Monkey meat is usually smoked for 24 hours before cooking, but a Darien housewife in a hurry to feed her hungry family may simply boil the meat in salted water until it is tender.

So, Monkey Stew is made by frying salted, smoked monkey lightly in hot oil, adding diced onions, then water and achiote. The stew is cooked until the meat is tender and sauce has thickened.

These meat dishes are often served with rice which has been cooked in coconut juice with the addition of onion and salt, or corn rolls (bollos) made by grinding and boiling green corn which is then formed into balls and wrapped in corn husks and boiled.

–Panama Canal Review Special Edition, 1973.

So, if shooting or feeding monkeys isn’t working for you and you decide to take my advice and need to cook your monkeys, do it the Darien way.

You can access the Oncken and Wass article here.

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