tokyo food file

days of heat and spice (2)

Negi kimchi ramen — now there's a little something to get your sinuses blazing and your energy levels up. It looks good in the photos outside the shop, anyway.

The actual noodles are, well, alright. You get a good saucerful of kimchi, but it doesn't really raise much of a tingle...

But that's only to be expected from a large, impersonal ramen joint right near Center-gai, where the announcements by the ticket machine outside are in four languages (Chinese, Korean and English, as well as Japanese).

Yes, it's aimed at visitors, people who may never come back again. That's going to include me.

Just so you know, it's called Kamukura. Just find the MacD (no golden arches visible now) and continue straight ahead until you see the red chochin lantern on your right.

days of heat and spice (1)

 

We recently took receipt of another sack of unpolished genmai straight from our favourite rice farmers. This time it arrived with a small envelope inserted, containing these handsome dried togarashi chillies grown (organically of course) alongside the paddies, dried in the sun and woven together by hand. This is more than just a cheerful decoration — it's an amulet of sorts.

• It's a reminder that the countryside is not so far away, bringing with it a hint of open skies, lush green fields of rice and fresh rural air.

• At the same time, chillies are a powerful disincentive for the bugs (moth larvae) that tend to make their homes in the grain bin at this time of year.

• And spices are also a great way to stimulate appetites left stunted and wilting in the debilitating heat.

In sum, this is a practical home-grown (literally) version of the traditional midsummer expressions of concern for our health and well-being in this most trying of seasons.