WASHINGTON 鈥� When you order a bowl of ramen, it鈥檚 best to forget Emily Post鈥檚 guide to etiquette.
For starters, there鈥檚 no need to wait for others at your table to be served before you dig in. The second your bowl is set in front of you, it鈥檚 game time.
鈥淭he basic ideal of table manners in Japan is to pay respect and appreciation to the makers of the food,鈥� says Daisuke Utagawa, a partner at D.C.鈥檚 ramen shop . And one way to do that is to eat ramen when it鈥檚 hot and the noodles are at their optimal consistency.
Second: Forget the spoon. Sure, you can use it later in the meal, but the first taste should be a big gulp of broth directly from the bowl of steaming soup. Utagawa says to 鈥済et your face in there,鈥� and make use of all of your senses for the full experience.
Finally, slurping is encouraged. Fill your chopsticks with noodles and slurp up the curly, broth-covered ribbons as quickly and as loudly as you can.
Just like pouring wine through an aerator helps to soften the flavors of the tannins, slurping ramen accentuates each ingredient in the dish and helps to cool down the hot soup before it hits your tongue.
Now you鈥檙e ready to eat some ramen.
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In 2004, David Chang made the Japanese noodle soup mainstream when he opened his New York ramen shop . Since then, interest in ramen has only grown hotter.
Over the years, D.C. has added to its collection of ramen restaurants, which include Toki Underground, Sakuramen and Daikaya, to name a few. But Utagawa says, despite ramen鈥檚 popularity, most diners don鈥檛 know the details of what they鈥檙e eating.
鈥淎 lot of people know ramen through the 鈥榯hree packages for $1鈥� sort of thing; it got them through college and so on. They develop a taste for it, but they don鈥檛 really know what makes real ramen. And we felt that the day we opened,鈥� says Utagawa,听who started Daikaya three years ago in D.C.鈥檚 Chinatown neighborhood.
He and Daikaya chef Katsuya Fukushima decided it was time to start educating diners on the historical, cultural and culinary significance of the noodle soup. So last month they launched one of the city鈥檚 most popular summer classes: Sapporo Ramen 101.
The one-hour crash course covers everything curious eaters could ever want to know about ramen, including the most common varieties (there are 32 different types of regional ramen in Japan), its core ingredients and the different flavor components of the dish.
鈥淧eople are really interested in knowing what ramen is,鈥� Fukushima says. 鈥淭hey really want to be in the know and just understand.鈥�
Utagawa likens the intimate classes, which are limited to 10 students, to touring an art museum with a detailed audio guide.
Small bowls of Fukushima鈥檚 broth (which takes 18 hours to make) are served both with and without salt so attendees can taste the difference.
鈥淣ot everybody actually pays attention to what鈥檚 happening to their palate or the experience of eating, and when you make them aware of what they are already tasting, or the sensations they have, they understand quicker,鈥� Utagawa says.
Students also taste the broth combined with Sapporo ramen鈥檚 three different tares, or sauces, and learn about the importance of the noodle, which Utagawa says should be springy, chewy and packed with flavor.
Fukushima even offers insight into the ramen toppings, including Daikaya鈥檚 famous marinated egg.
And while the hour is packed with fun facts, there is one thing Utagawa and Fukushima do not cover, and that is how to make ramen at home. The class is interactive, but it is not intended to be a cooking lesson. Utagawa says if anything, it shows how difficult it is to make ramen from scratch.
鈥淭he more you understand, the more you realize it鈥檚 something you can鈥檛 do at home,鈥� he says.
That鈥檚 not to say attendees can鈥檛 satisfy their cravings at Sapporo Ramen 101. The class ends with a big bowl of ramen, so that each student walks away with a full tummy and a new appreciation for the traditional Japanese dish.
The next Sapporo Ramen 101 class will take place on Saturday, July 25; additional dates will be announced soon. The cost of each class is $28. More information, including registration, is available on .
Hungry for more? Daikaya recently announced its plans to open a second ramen restaurant location in the new mixed-used Atlantic Plumbing development in the U Street/Shaw neighborhood this fall. The team is also opening a chicken ramen and fried Japanese chicken concept around the corner from its Chinatown location in a former Burger King. That restaurant will also open this fall.
