Ramen

Mmm, Ramen. I'm not talking about just the "Ready in 3 minutes" that costs you a whopping $.18 in the grocery store. I'm talking about the real thing. There's nothing quite like sitting down to an enormous bowl of corn-butter or curry ramen reading slightly inappropriate manga and not hearing a word of English being spoken anywhere in the restaurant.

Ramen = good, there's just no denying it, but you have to understand that there might be some things going on in that bowl that you don't understand. If you know about it, the experience will be much better.

The biggest thing that you need to know about is naruto kamaboko. Kamaboko is a fishcake and the naruto style of kamaboko is a white fishcake with a pink dye swirl in the middle. Honestly it looks kinda strange, but it's taste and texture are both very mild, and it doesn't really do anything other than add a bit of protein to the soup.

Another thing you might want to know is that even if you don't order soup with seafood in it, depending on the restaurant you go to, your soup will likely have seafood of some kind in it. People with allergies beware.

Finally, if you can't figure out what the large tofu looking like lump is melting in your soup, never fear it's only butter. I normally find it better to allow the butter to actually melt and diffuse though the soup before you eat it, otherwise the last bit of soup sure is going to be buttery.

Matsuchan is a restaurant in Canton, MI, which is the only authentic Ramen noodle bar that I know of in the Greater Detroit Area. This place is awesome, and if you are ever going to be in the area, you should do what you can to make a visit. Your taste buds will thank you.