Mmmmm...Ramen

The best ramen I've ever had, and my new obsession lately, is Ramen Jin-Ya on Wilshire in the Miracle Mile area. It is worth the 1.2 mile (roundtrip) walk from work and the long wait if you get there during rush hour. 

I just found this photo on my phone and remembered that I wanted to learn what tonkotsu ramen broth is, since that's what I order when I go to Jin-ya. Turns out there's a REASON why this broth is like butter...here's what I learned from Wikipedia:

Tonkotsu (豚骨, "pork bone"; not to be confused with tonkatsu) ramen usually has a cloudy white colored broth. It is similar to the Chinese baitang (白湯) and has a thick broth made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, which suffuses the broth with a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency that rivals milk or melted butter or gravy (depending on the shop). Most shops, but not all, blend this pork broth with a small amount of chicken and vegetable stock and/or soy sauce. The noodles are thin and straight, and it is often served with beni shoga (pickled ginger). In recent years the latest trend in tonkotsu toppings is māyu (マー油/麻油), a blackish, aromatic oil made from either charred crushed garlic or Sesame seeds.

All I have to say is YUMMO. No wonder it's amazing. I think today I'm going to try to find this type of ramen in LIttle Tokyo-there's a new place that just opened here called  Shin-Sen-Gumi, and I was hesitant to try it until I read about it in this month's issue of Los Angeles Magazine (foodies, rejoice: its cover story is called "101 Cheap Eats" and it contains the very best of all types of cuisine! There are at least 4 ramen joints included!)

Also, this whole post has inspired a whole new category on the SundayLA blog, called "Did you Know?" I am ALWAYS looking up info about how to do things, make them, what's in them, etc. I have an inquiring mind. :) Why not share the knowledge?

Do YOU have a ramen place that you love? What type of ramen do you get there? I want to know EVERY last detail, down to the last drop/noodle. :)

Peace, Love & Progress!

D