Much of the credit (or blame) for the country’s current ramen obsession can be laid at the door of New York’s Momofuku Noodle Bar. David Chang’s first restaurant—which was less famous for ramen than other things—opened in 2004, and its runaway success, along with that of his subsequent restaurants, inspired chefs across the land to add nontraditional twists to formerly humble pan-Asian dishes. Recently the New York food press has given the trend an execrable name—”Asian hipster cuisine.”
First, let’s look at the ramen. Yim states that the broth employed in three of the bowls is born of an 18-hour pork bone simmer, and it is an impressive alchemy. In his tonkotsu-style bowl—with roast pork loin, tree ear mushrooms, and a creamy boiled egg—the broth has a milky, almost nutty aspect, like a dark roux, and it carries plenty of body with it. It’s lip-smackingly thick and rich, and if Yim had left well enough alone he’d really have something there. But in all four of his soups the preponderance of seasoning—particularly black pepper and salt—not only masks the bowls’ best qualities, but also tires out the tongue well before one hits the bottom of the bowl.
In this Yim has superficially and fundamentally recharacterized one of the most humble Korean dishes around in a way that isn’t forced or imitative. The success of Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ssam Bar was the result of David Chang bumbling around until he hit on inspirations just like that. Here’s hoping Oiistar strikes its own path instead of following Chang’s.
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