Food Blog of the Month: HellesKitchen // Japanese at Obento Box and Sapporo

Article taken from: Food Blogs of the Month* HellesKitchen.

Ramen on the menu

Ramen has become one of Norway's biggest trending dishes. Why does noodle soup taste so different from place to place? I had to have a chat with Christian Inage at Sapporo.

Inside Mathallen is located Obento Box. They serve authentic, Japanese takeaway dishes at a low price. If you want to try one of their delicious noodle soups, head up the hill to the ramen restaurant, Sapporo.

I meet Christian Inage, the son of the boss, Masaru Inage. Christian, who is half Japanese and Danish, stands behind the pots and serves piping hot bowls of broth and noodles.

Why do Norwegians like ramen?

– We love home cooking, soups and stews, it's made a comeback. We appreciate a hot meal. Ramen is simple, filling and quick, says Christian.

Ramen is a typical lunchtime dish in Japan. Japanese people don't take long lunch breaks, so it's easy to eat a bowl of ramen, Christian explains.

Japanese food is trendy

In Norway, we are already familiar with sushi, sashimi, gyoza, ramen and eventually also takoyaki (small octopus dumplings) and okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes). All that was missing was for ramen places to appear in Oslo. Sapporo is the capital's very first in that genre.

– We come from Northern Japan and, like the Sami, are an indigenous people, says Christian.

We are used to drying meat, fermenting it, and finding a way to survive. We don't give up until the food tastes good.

– Here in Sapporo we make ramen inspired by Northern Japan. In the south they have soba noodles. They easily disintegrate in hot broth. In the north we use eggs in the noodles. The way we fold the dough is completely unique. It is folded 7 times, then put in the refrigerator for a while. This is done a total of 7 times. The noodles then have more chewy resistance, explains Christian Inage.

Noodles from Japan

Ramen means soup and noodles. – We get our noodles from my father's friend in Sapporo, Japan. The flour is ground to a fineness of 07. You know the 00 flour that the Italians use. This is like dust!

– The pH value in the water is also different. The water is soft. The knowledge of how to make noodles has been passed down for generations and they are of very good quality. That's why we use these at our place, says Christian.

Sapporo opened on April 21, 2 years ago. “It was on my father's birthday,” says Christian.

– In Sapporo, Japan, the most common is miso or shoyu ramen. That's what we serve here at Sapporo in addition to spicy ramen, explains Christian Inage.

– In northern Japan, they use a lot of fat in their ramen because of the cold climate. At Sapporo, we use ribs, which also provide some fat.

In northern Japan you can risk getting a 1 cm layer of fat on top of the soup. We could never serve that here in Norway, laughs Christian. Here people are too afraid of fat.

– A lot of fat is eaten in Japan and they are the healthiest people in the world. The problem probably lies elsewhere than in the fat, says Christian.

Christian says that in Japan you have to apprentice for 10 years before you are a qualified chef. Everyone has to learn everything from scratch. For example, when it comes to fish: You have to know about life on the seabed, temperatures in the water. How to fillet, all about heat treatment and how to tenderize the meat.

Take away in Mathallen

In addition to the ramen bar Sapporo, the Inage family has the takeaway shop Obento Box inside Mathallen. Obento box means lunch box in Japanese and the idea is to take the "lunch box" home, to work or to the square by Mathallen to enjoy its contents.

There, the ribs with teriyaki sauce are the big favorite. “We make our own teriyaki sauce from rib stock,” says Christian. People also buy Japanese products to make their own dishes. We have a fairly large selection at Obento Box with goods from Japan.

The philosophy of father Masaru Inage has always been that people should be able to get a good meal for a cheap price. That's why they only settle for 5-10% profit. “Dad is retired and doesn't need to earn that much,” says his son Christian.

Masaru Inage has been head chef at the Royal Palace in Oslo. He has worked at Bagatelle, Bristol, Grand Hotel and the venerable Maxime in Paris – where he was an apprentice for three years.

Because he is from Northern Japan and loves skiing, he went to Geilo in his time. He started working at the hotel there and people loved his version of steak and bearnaise.

People still come by Mathallen and say, "There's the Bearnaise chef!" - He has left his mark, says Christian.

Masaru Inage was also involved in starting the production of Salmalaks, where he helped with his knowledge of slaughtering methods and temperature control of fish.

Homemade ramen

Christian gives me tips on how to make a simple ramen yourself. – Use minced pork, he says. – The minced pork contains various parts of the pig and has a lot of flavor. This is completely untraditional, so, but make the stock from this minced pork, Christian advises me.

– Fry the minced meat a little at a time. Pour in water and let it boil and simmer for a long time, strain and add aromatics such as onion, leek and ginger. Strain and you have the best starting point for a good ramen soup, concludes Christian Inage.

Of course I had to try that! Here is my shoyu ramen inspired by Sapporo.

shoyu ramen

This is what you need for two people:
1 package of minced pork
1 small onion
6 slices of ginger
2 large cloves garlic, halved
4 aromatic mushrooms, divided into four
6 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce

2 large eggs
1 dl soy sauce
1 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
2 DL water

1 good handful of bean sprouts
1 tsp sesame oil
2 spring onion, sliced
Slices of roasted duck breast or slices of pork tenderloin, ribs or any other meat you have on hand. (This is a perfect soup to use up leftovers from the fridge).
Ramen noodles

The eggs: Start by boiling the eggs for 10 minutes. Cool and peel. Place the eggs in a bag with soy sauce, sugar, mirin and water. Refrigerate for at least four hours.

The power: Fry the minced meat in a little neutral oil. When the minced meat has got some color, pour in 1,5 liters of water. Let it simmer for two hours.

Strain and keep the stock in a pot. You can use the meat dough for another dish.

Add soy sauce, mushrooms, ginger, onion and garlic. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Let the stock simmer for half an hour. Season with more soy sauce. Strain.

Cook noodles in boiling water. Strain and place in soup bowls. Pour in stock and add a few drops of sesame oil. Place slices of meat on top along with bean sprouts and spring onions. Cut the egg in half and place either one half or two egg halves in each soup bowl. Serve.