Noodle
The Comforting Fusion of Matzo Ball Ramen
A gift from the diaspora, perfect to break the fast.
I hustled into Shalom Japan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on a stormy Friday night. It was dimly lit inside and had all the ambience of a casual Japanese ramen joint. Inside the bathroom, there was an enlarged photo of a Levyās Jewish Rye ad from the ā60s, which read āYou donāt have to be Jewish to love Levy's real Jewish Ryeā in large black letters, with a picture of a Japanese boy dressed in a white shirt and red tie holding his sandwich next to an open bag of Levyās Jewish Rye.
There was only a handful of tables. I grabbed a seat at the bar with an open view of the kitchen to my right. A native New Yorker I had met in Berlin happened to be in town at the same time and joined me. I saw chefs Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi busy at work and turned my attention to the menu, giving it a cursory glance. But we both already knew we were getting the matzo ball ramen soup. How could we not?
Matzo ball ramen soup: It sounds like forced fusion, doesnāt it? But it actually makes sense. Matzo balls are chameleons of the soup world. They can just plop into a bowl without crashing the party. Chefs and husband-wife duo Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi combine their Ashkenazi Jewish and Japanese backgrounds for a warm, brothy bowl that just makes sense.
Historical Jewish cooking mirrors the well-known story of persecution. Jews made similar dishes as their neighbors, with religious Jews adapting recipes to make them kosher. When theyād get kicked out of town by some new royal decree, theyād take their recipes, settle someplace else, and start blending their food with that of their new neighbors.
But whatās happening at Shalom Japan is something different. The matzo ball ramen wasnāt birthed out of persecution, but out of love. We can increasingly see this across the Jewish culinary world. In many ways, Jewish food is evolving on its own terms for the first time in history, and dishes like Shalom Japanās matzo ball ramen are a celebration of that freedom.
Shalom Japan uses a chicken broth with char siu chicken, scallions, and nori as its base for the soup. For a little extra, you can get a soy-marinated egg, foie gras dumplings, or an additional matzo ball. Though basically a vegetarian in my own kitchen, I tend to indulge in unique experiences when I travel. So I decided to go for the foie gras dumplings, and the soy-marinated egg was already a no-brainer.
After a few slurpy noodles from the steamy bowl of ramen, one of the waiters stopped by and asked how we liked the matzo ball ramen and if weād ever had it before.
āIāve had ramen and matzo ball soup before,ā I nodded. āBut not together.ā
āFor someone who isnāt Japanese or Jewish, it just makes sense to me,ā he said, clearly smiling behind his mask.
Indeed it does.
Back in Berlin, I took a crack at my own matzo ball ramen, and it came together nicely. There was the earthiness of the veggie broth, with carrots, celery, turnips, parsley, onions, and dill: just some of the building blocks of so-called Jewish penicillin. I added corn and chopped scallions, following the lead of Shalom Japan. With the noodles I started the shift to Japan, as they were different from the wider egg noodles more typical of Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. Then I went full ramen with the soy-marinated, soft-boiled egg halved and left on top, with the egg yolk still oozing out.
Shalom Japan throws some garlicky chile oil on top, so feel free to use your favorite brand or make your own. Drizzling some of the soy marinade over the dish, with its chile pepper flakes, also helps bring it all together. (Oh, and I slid a small sheet of nori on the side just to be fancy-ish, I guess.)
Ultimately, one of the best things about this dish is that you can easily make it your own, to tell your own story. Use your own cherished broth and matzo ball recipe. Try skipping back-and-forth between Ashkenazi Jewish and Japanese staples, like dill or miso. Bring it out to break your Yom Kippur fast, to serve with Passover leftovers, or just to make a boring Saturday night feel special.
Written by: Joe Baur
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13 Comments
That said, I think matzo balls *do* enhance a bowl of ramen. It's a different kind of texture and flavor (depending on how you make them) than what you'd find in a traditional bowl of ramen. If I made a tee-shirt, it would read "Matzo Balls Enhance Everything."
Thanks for reading!
This isn't so much about this article, but it might have been nice to see an article about actual Jewish holiday cooking from Food52. The tone of this one really put me off. It's not that fusion is a terrible thing, but for most holidays the food media does publish articles about traditional dishes in addition to stories about those foods that break the mold.
Shanah Tovah!
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