The Pho-ken Best Noodle Dish Ever

Pho, a dish born from centuries of external influence and occupation, has become the international dish of Vietnam and a staple of Vietnamese life. To the unconverted eye Pho seems simple and dirty bowl of brown-water noodles. That’s calling Miles Davis a guy who plays the trumpet or Johnny Depp another actor. The complexity of flavors and almost infinite combination of condiments make for a truly beautiful and personal noodle experience.

            Pho is a conceptually simple dish. Rice noodles called Vermicelli build the starch base of the meal. The meat, traditionally beef, a French influence, works along with the Vermicelli to make pho a filling dish, but is by no means the centerpiece of the dish.

            If it’s not the noodles and not the meat, then what is Pho? Simply put it is a broth that is ever changing through the dining experience; everything else is just a part of the bigger whole.

When Pho is first served the broth, barely holding itself together, acts as a final hit of heat softening the Vermicelli, cooking the slivers of rare beef and leaching its fat.

  Simultaneously the broth is a canvas awaiting the diner’s addition of condiments that serve a dual purpose, both opening flavors and cooling the broth. If there is one condiment that pho cannot be fully experienced without it’s fish sauce, this is like adding wine while cooking tomatoes. The flavors that fish sauce unlocks are truly mesmerizing. Sambol is Suracha’s chunky sister whose way more fun to party with, and she gives the dish a great depth of spice. While lime juice acts as the great equalizer, corralling little flavor particles and giving the dish a supreme balance.

Then there are there are the fresh condiments basil, sprouts and peppers. If nothing more Pho is a delicious medium for Vermicelli and thin cuts of beef so why not add basil, the tastiest of the leafy greens. Peppers, often Jalapeños here in the states, give Pho a mellow heat and a healthy crunchiness. While the sprouts high water content cool the broth, and congeal the flavors.

As the broth cools and the flavors mend something beautiful happens. As the spoon breaks the surface tension of the broth releasing strong aromatic flavors, and the chopsticks struggle to separate and collect the perfect combination of noodle, meat and vegetable the broth becomes a playground. A fun place; where American cuisine is scared to venture. As the broth continues to cool and new flavors arise Pho becomes a truly personal experience. The cook may have built the stock and added the meat, the waiter served the bowl but in the end the diner created the meal. 

Maruten Food Review

Maruten is as simple as pointing at a picture and saying, “I want this.” The Udon menu is on the front window, and if it’s your first time getting Udon then there are just a couple things I can tell you. First of all the broth has is not vegetarian. If you are vegetarian stop being silly or just don’t go, if you have vegetarian friends don’t bring them. Udon is about sharing in someone else’s craft and passion, so a bit of respect is due.

         The Bukkake is really great, but it’s cold and the noodles are kind of chewy. It’s perfect for a mid-afternoon lunch or a warm evening. I had the Cod Roe Udon it was great stuff, but if strong fishy flavor isn’t your thing then this may not be the dish for you.

Ethan had the fried bean curd soup, which was a bit milder in taste but still very rich and very delicious.

         We both had the tempura-fried egg. This could be one of the most genius soup condiments ever created. It was a great complement to both the cold and hot Udon. Ethan also had the tempura-fried sweet potato that had a good balance of sweet and rich, crunchy and soft. But if you are only going to get one side go with the egg.

         Another condiment on the menu we didn’t get this time, but have had before is a rice ball. Think of the Eastern equivalent of crusty bread with stew. You dip then eat, simple and amazing. As before the Code Roe rice ball is delicious, if you’re not afraid of flavor, but there are also other options for the more conservative eater.

         There is an Udon with mountain yam, our waiter warned us that the yam becomes gooey and may not be that appetizing. So if you haven’t had it before this may be a dish to stay away from. Lastly, get the barley tea, it’s complementary and brings a nice balance to the meal        

          Muratan is a great place I fully recommend it and the fact that its open late on weekends means you can get some noodles after having a couple drinks. They also take credit cards, which always makes thing easier. So now you know, Go out and EAT A NOODLE!

Lets start at the end...

...This doesn’t work for most writer-audience relationships, but it might work for us!

Tonight was the first night, in what seemed like a solid week of rain, that Los Angelinos could see what stars penetrated the light pollution. It seemed like the first time people had been out of the house in days. It seemed like the first night I have gone out in LA. This wasn’t the case but something had changed, as if the rain had shed a skin we had been wearing for so long. As we set out, our destination was Maruten Udon (this is a facebook page link) in Santa Monica.             

We took the winding streets above the coast, which slowly turned into the familiar grid that brought me to Maruten for the first time. I had stopped there by chance as I was trying to find a Pho place after a concert.  But it was Sunday, I had missed the Pho by several minutes and Maruten was closed. Yet it caught my attention through a sign on its big wooden door, “This is not a sushi house! We have no sushi!”. With such a show of passion I knew I had to come back.

Maruten is funny; it is an Udon house on one half of the building and an Izakaya house, a style of Japanese tapas, on the other side. Only a small step separates the sides, but no Udon on the Izakaya side, and no Izakaya on the Udon side. Simple. Like so many other things in Maruten simplicity seems to be the wave everyone is riding.

            Maruten specializes in Udon, so that’s what you’re having. Now here are the choices: hot or cold. Cold Udon is called Bukkake, and though you may laugh now, one day you will get a Bukkake and love it. Now there are several menu options but, other than the beef and onion Udon, they are mostly veggie-based soups. Once you get you soups order in mind you can also get tempura sides, such as hard boiled egg and sweet potato. I highly recommend the egg it’s an amazing complement to the stock.

So there it is--Udon, Tempura and if you go from 6-7 Mon.-Thurs. 99 cent Sapporo--simple and delicious.

Find out what we had and our recommendations in a couple days...

Eat a Noodle!

In middle school someone told me that if you take the word “Machiavelli”, move some letters around, add a couple, subtract a couple and divide by 3.14.

I would get the message, “2Pac lives”. Going off that logic, if you take the word “Noodle”, add a V take out a couple letters and move some things around you get “love”. Some other results are, No El, done, eon and doe.  But love is really the only word that can describe where my life has led me. To a dish that is simple and honest, broth and noodle. A simple delivery system for all that’s good in the world of flavor.

            In a time when foodies, are fucking up everything from street food to diners, and even a simple burrito cost $8.00 so they can know that the chicken they are about to turn into shit had a great organic life. I summon my fellow American to pay no more than an hours wage for a meal that will carry you through the day. While stepping out of the box and putting some fermented fish sauce on your uncooked/still cooking meat as it is pulled down by the vermicelli and drowned in a broth that will make you want to kill the next foodie you see.

            So come join my friends and I as we slurp our way through bowls of noodles here and there. Be it Soba or Vermicelli, Chinese or Korean and what ever else lay out there from around the world. When we find it you will know.

We will find the places to go, and try our hand at making some semblance of soup ourselves.  We have cameras and hands; I think we may do all right.