From the gutter to gourmet, noodles get makeover
TOKYO: A Japanese restauranteur has turned the nation's everyday comfort food, ramen or noodle soup, into a pricey, gourmet affair that costs more than $100 and takes three days to fully prepare.
The "five-taste blend imperial noodles" offered at Tokyo's Fujimaki Gekijyo restaurant is ultimately just a bowl of soup and noodles, albeit an expensive one especially as Japan's economy slowly recovers from its worst recession since World War II. But owner Shoichi Fujimaki said it's the soup, and the more than 20 ingredients used to make it, that elevated the dish from street food into five-star cuisine, with a price tag to match.
"It's not really ramen. This is my cuisine, it's my 25 years of experience distilled into one bowl," Fujimaki told Reuters as he poured ingredients into a bubbling pot. "This is the only place in the world that people have this kind of soup."
