Tsukemen (a kind of ramen)

choi

(1) Days ago, I read a food review at New York Times, about a ramen shop in Manhattan's Chinatown. Under the belief that it is a Japanese restaurant, owned and operated by Japanese. But my research failed to find its Japanese name or parent. It turs out that it is a restaurant incorporated in California in 2018 and owned by a Chinese American, a Japanese American and a Korean American [Hyun or Sean PARK], which explained that its original store (restaurant) was established in Los Angeles Chinatown (in 2018). The chain now operates under the name of Okiboru in LA, Georgia (three locations) and the latest -- in Manhattan.  
(2) Because the Atlanta newspaper provided more information about the origin of the chain, I will introduce it first, followed by the review in NYT.


(3) Bob Townsend, First Look: It's all about the details at Okiboru Tsukemen & Ramen in Sandy Springs. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan 27, 2020 (blog).
https://www.ajc.com/blog/atlanta ... dA7X3OuQQ08TSeFA5J/

Note:
(a) My guess is that "First Look" is a column in the newspaper.

(b) "Okiboru specializes in tsukemen 'dipping ramen' — a Japanese dish that consists of thick noodles [so as to catch the thick or denser soup] traditionally served cold with a separate bowl of hot broth to dip the noodles and toppings into * * * The signature Buta Paitan with Gyokai Tsukemen showcases a thick and rich chicken and fish broth, and pork chashu, soft-boiled egg, bamboo shoots, yuzu 柚子 zest, scallion and lime are arranged around the noodles. * * * the fresh noodles are made in-house daily from imported Nippon hard wheat [also known as durum wheat] flour ** * In addition to three kinds of tsukemen, the menu offers four kinds of ramen with thin noodles, including Tonkotsu with pork chashu, Truffle Chintan with pork chashu, Tori [kanji is either 鳥 or 鶏] Chintan with chicken meatballs, and Yasai [野菜, which IS vegetable] with tofu and spinach."
(i) Japanese-English dictionary:
* Meaning either pig or pork, the kanji 豚 has Chinese pronunciation tong and Japanese pronunciation buta, respectively.
* In Japanese, the paitan 白湯 and chintan 清湯 refer to color of broths, the former simmered for hours -- bone in.
* gyokai 魚介[P]; 魚貝 【ぎょかい】 (n): "marine products; seafood; fish and shellfish"  (Kanji 介 and 貝 share identical Chinese pronunciation -- kai.)   
   ^ The "Buta Paitan with Gyokai" is a modifier of tsukemen.
* In English spelled as "char siu," chashu is somewhat similar to Japanese rendering without the long vowels (katakana: チャーシュー, where ー in katakana signifies a long vowel and its romanization is chāshū).
* tonkotsu 豚骨 【とんこつ】 (n)

(c) "The concise Japanese beverage menu features Hitachino White Ale, Yuzu Saison, and Ginger Beer, three kinds of sake, Ramune sodas, and hot and iced tea. * * * [The Sandy Springs, Georgia restaurant has the] Located at the front of Modera [a building complex in Atlanta] * * * Last week, managing partners Naoki [Kyōbashi 京橋 直樹] and Justin Lim [with a bachelor's in business administration from University of North Georgia] sat down at a table at Okiboru to talk about bringing tsukemen to Sandy Springs. * * *"
(i) Kiuchi Brewery  木内酒造
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiuchi_Brewery
("was established in 1823 by village headman KIUCHI Gihei [木内 儀兵衛] as a sake and [Shōchū 焼酎 (a distilled spirit)] producer")
produces Hitachino Belgian-style White Ale. Hitachino 常陸野, its product line for beers, came from Hitachi Province 常陸国, the old name for 茨城県 -- where the brewery is located and where the 2011 earthquake hit hard.
(ii) saison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saison
(iii) Ramune
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramune
("was introduced in 1884 in Kobe by the British pharmacist Alexander Cameron Sim. * * * ramune is available in a Codd-neck bottle, a heavy glass bottle whose mouth is sealed by a round marble (instead of a cap) thanks to the pressure of the carbonated contents. The name ramune is derived from a Japanese borrowing of the English word lemonade")

choi

Pete Wells, Wait, Pay, Dig, Slurp and Walk out Happy; A new noodle shop specializes in tsukemen-style ramen. New York Times, at page D5 (section D every Wednesday is Food section).
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/ ... taurant-review.html

Note:
(a) "Since October, though, the Lower East Side has had a noodle shop * * * It is called Okiboru House of Tsukemen. * * * Tsujita [つじ田] Artisan Noodle [founded by 辻田 雄大 in 2003; 辻 means a crossroads], a 20-year-old concern whose dipping noodles are highly regarded by ramen heads in Tokyo, now has a branch [as competition] in Fort Lee, NJ, its first on the East Coast. When Tsujita touched down in Los Angeles in 2011 * * * The regular soup ramen at Okiboru is called tontori [a portmanteau of 豚 and 鶏]. It arrives in a bubble-free broth the consistency of heavy cream and the color of old ivory. Produced by boiling roughly equal parts of chicken and pork bones, it has a complex but tightly woven flavor; neither ingredient gets the upper hand. The noodles, made on site like the ones for tsukemen, are nearly as chewy, but they are narrower, and round."
(b)
(i) tsukemen  つけ麺
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukemen
("The dish was invented in 1961 [ja.wikipedia.org says 1955], at Taishōken 大勝軒 at Tokyo's 中野区] by Kazuo Yamagishi [山岸一雄], a restaurateur in Tokyo")
(ii) The "tsuke" 付け alludes to a separately served that is ATTACHED to the ramen.

(c)
(i) In "麺や okiboru" (found in American store signs), the ya や can be represented by kanji 屋 (meaning a specialty store) or not (meaning "and"). I favor the former.
(ii) The ifficial name of the restaurant chains is
Okiboru, House of Tsukemen.
(iv) About the word Okiboru.
(A) The boru ought to be written bōru ボール, which is bowl (or ball). Of course, the former fits the bill here.
(B) "Okiboru, whose name roughly translates to 'tasty bowl' ": from the Web, but not from Okiboru.com.

However, that is false. The Japanese adjective ōki-i means big (the second i signifies the word is an adjective; with ōki- employed a prefix); and Okiboru, big bowl.