Everyone knows about ramen, but did you know there are several different types of ramen? Mazemen is a type of broth-less ramen that I didn't even know about until Saturday. Here's how I discovered and tried it for the first time.
Continuing where we left off yesterday at the Wedge in Newport Beach, @rt395/the-jetty-at-the-wedge-newport-beach-california
I headed back to Costa Mesa to grab dinner. Costa Mesa, CA was my old hometown and there is a large Japanese community there with many restaurants and grocers. I was thinking sushi, but then I saw an interesting restaurant that had replaced an old restaurant my wife I used to frequent when we still lived here. The new place was called Mogu Mogu and it billed itself as "Mazemen” broth-less ramen. Wanting to try something different I headed over.
When I arrived it was fairly busy. Lucky for me the counter wasn't so I sat at the counter.
Of course the first thing I ordered was a nice, ice cold Sapporo.
As I ordered the beer I was told to scan the QR code for the menu. While maybe a neat gimmick for the youts, I'd rather have something I can see than trying to squint on my phone's small screen trying to read the menu, but I played along. Try scanning it!
Everything sounded good, but I had to go with the deluxe bowl which had all the toppings included with it.
For me the key to a good ramen is always about the toppings, the nitamago(soft boiled egg flavored with soy sauce, mirin, sake & sugar) and the charshu(pork). If these two items fit my pallet, then the rest of the bowl will be good. From the looks of it, it seemed like it was going to be a good meal.
There is a process to eating the mazemen as explained to my by Tomo, the owner.
(Tomo-san)
He pointed me to the instructions behind me on the wall as he explained.
Of course the first thing to do is to take a picture of it and share it with friends. Done. Next, mix it up as there is a sauce hiding underneath the noodles.
Now, eat, but there are a couple more steps later.
The sauce was a spicy minced pork sauce whose flavor I couldn't quite put my finger on, but It was delicious.
The charshu and nitamago were cooked and flavored just like I like them, which only added to the already delicious ramen & sauce.
About halfway through the bowl step 3 encourages you to try their "umami" sauce. From what I could tell it was some type of vinegar with a chili pepper & slice of kombu for added flavor. When combined with the ramen it almost gave it a gyoza sauce flavor, minus the soy sauce. Definitely a delicious addition to an already great bowl of noodles.
Then it was time to add the gohan(rice). I didn't even have to request it, they knew when to bring it. Good service.
Adding gohan to certain soups is very common in Japan. My wife often does it too udon.
Mix it all together and you have another small meal. What I found was the rice, umami sauce & minced pork sauce went awesome rolled up in the nori I had left over. Like some new fusion temaki. It was really delicious.
So delicious I cleaned the bowl. Something I haven't done with ramen in years. I left pleasantly full, but It seems they also have some home made chicken and black sesame ice cream so I'm already looking to going back!
If you are ever in So. Cal. Mogu Mogu has two locations, one in Los Angeles and this one in Costa Mesa. The Costa Mesa location is at 2969 Fairview Rd, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Their website is here: https://mogumoguus.com/menu/
