{"id":6827,"date":"2015-07-02T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/letsnomnom.wordpress.com\/?p=6827"},"modified":"2019-06-13T15:48:09","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T22:48:09","slug":"momofuku-noodle-bar-east-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/02\/momofuku-noodle-bar-east-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Momofuku Noodle Bar, East Village"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Momofuku<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s been a very long time<\/a> since I last visited Momofuku<\/a>, which is partly due to the absurdly long lines and partly due to the lack of vegetarian options (which seems to be very David Chang). There’s the $14 ginger scallion noodles, but that doesn’t sound very exciting at all.<\/p>\n

Anyway, while watching the David Chang episode of “The Mind of a Chef”, I suddenly remembered that Momofuku added the hozon chickpea ramen to their menu last summer as part of their 10-year anniversary celebrations. I had really wanted to try the hozon as it’s been getting rave reviews even from carnivores, but didn’t want to deal any lines. After putting it off for some time, I finally made it to Momofuku for lunch! At 12:15pm on a Tuesday, Momofuku was quite crowded, but solo diners like myself could easily find a seat at the bar.<\/p>\n

\"Momofuku<\/a><\/p>\n

Momofuku and Ippudo are the two ramen hot spots that skew more pricey. A bowl of noodles will set you back at least $14 here, but it’s a very large and delicious bowl of noodles. This is “new age” ramen though, so you’re a ramen traditionalist, go somewhere else. David Chang once said that Momofuku “wouldn’t be where [they] are today if not for the pork bun”. That’s a must order item for meat eaters, and I was thrilled to see a shiitake version on the menu.<\/p>\n

\"Shiitake<\/a><\/p>\n

My mushroom loving heart started to beat a little faster when these babies were placed in front of me. Soft, fluffy buns stuffed with shiitake mushrooms, hoisin sauce, cucumbers, and scallions ($10). The thinly sliced mushrooms were crispy and savory, while the bigger pieces were quite meaty. The shiitake buns are slightly steep at $5 each, but every bite was magnificent. I would prefer more cucumbers and scallions for an extra crunch though.<\/p>\n

\"Shiitake<\/a><\/p>\n

Now on to the main attraction: the Hozon Ramen ($15). Hozon is a fermented product, similar to miso, but made from chickpeas instead of soybeans. I would love to get my hands on a bottle of that stuff for home cooking. Eater has a nice article<\/a> with more about hozon and how Momofuku prepares this meatless dish.<\/p>\n

\"Chickpea<\/a><\/p>\n

Momofuku’s hozon ramen is basically vegetarian tonkotsu. The broth has an earthy mushroom base, and I have not had a meatless ramen that is this rich, silky, and umami. The noodles were a bouncy al dente<\/em>, which were wonderful in the creamy broth. Fried chickpeas, crispy crackers, and garlicky kale add some nice texture. I happily slurped up every last drop.<\/p>\n

I’ve had plenty of meatless ramen in NYC, but nothing compares to this bowl. The broth feels very buttery, but I hope it does not actually contain butter as the hozon can definitely stand on its own. I’m betting that this ramen will impress even the meatiest of meat eaters. I definitely need to come back soon!<\/p>\n

\"Chickpea<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a very long time since I last visited Momofuku, which is partly due to the absurdly long lines and partly due to the lack of vegetarian options (which seems to be very David Chang). There’s the $14 ginger scallion noodles, but that doesn’t sound very exciting at all. Anyway, while watching the David Chang episode of “The Mind of a Chef”, I suddenly remembered that Momofuku added the hozon chickpea ramen to their menu last summer as part of their 10-year anniversary celebrations. I had really wanted to try the hozon as it’s been getting rave reviews even from carnivores, but didn’t want to deal any lines. After putting it off for some time, I finally made it to Momofuku for lunch! At 12:15pm on a Tuesday, Momofuku was quite crowded, but solo diners like myself could easily find a seat at the bar. Momofuku and Ippudo are the two ramen hot spots that skew more pricey. A bowl of noodles will set you back at least $14 here, but it’s a very large and delicious bowl of noodles. This is “new age” ramen though, so you’re a ramen traditionalist, go somewhere else. David Chang once said that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3355,3359,3358,3639],"tags":[378,621,865,896,946,1428,1429,1498,1523,1715,1872,1937,1991,1993,2310,2551,2553,3132],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/fullsizerender.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}