An Interview with Ivan Orkin of Ivan Ramen

[@skyswift8084]

I remember watching his episode of chef’s table. Still is my favorite episode in the entire series.

[@WayofRamen]

Yeah he's pretty charismatic. When he talks you want to listen.

[@ikeraden8933]

i know Im randomly asking but does someone know of a method to log back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb forgot my account password. I would love any tricks you can offer me!

[@lachlankhalid4886]

@Iker Aden Instablaster ;)

[@Fatbutnotflat]

The US ramen star himself. He is one of the first people that inspire me 4 years ago to try to pursue things in ramen. I failed, not finding enough source to learn. And finally Way of ramen channel pushed me to make my first noodle last week. Am grateful to this channel.

[@WayofRamen]

Ivan is a great. Really inspirational and insightful talking to him.

[@rexdickey4894]

He is so black and white with the way he discusses ramen. That put me off when I've first heard of him, but after making ramen from the broth all the way to the noodles EVERY interview, cookbook, and documentary I've seen him on he's always been right. His noodle recipe is one of my favs. His spicy miso broth recipe is one of the best entry points if you want to learn how to cook ramen.

[@Fatbutnotflat]

@@WayofRamen btw can you tell us what documentaries were in the video so we can search it

[@Fatbutnotflat]

@@rexdickey4894 passionate people is usually quite opinionated, but the passion is real here

[@mersilvaureus1525]

Listening to the New Yorker talk about ramen like this. Incredible.

[@woolfel]

I went to Ivan's slurp shop a few years back and he makes a delicious ramen. So glad to see ramen start to flourish in the US. No matter the weather, I always want ramen. Sadly in central MA there aren't any great ramen shops. They are ok, but hopefully in a few years they will get better

[@WayofRamen]

I still have to get out to NYC to give Ivan's ramen a try. He's was a real class act though when it came to this interview.

[@woolfel]

@@WayofRamen it's too bad the slurp shop closed. I had the spicy ramen on a cold december day and man that hit the spot. The noodles were nice and chewy with a different flavor than any other ramen I've had. You could tell Ivan put his heart into the noodle recipe. I probably eat ramen 4-6 times a week on average. I make home made for my family, but I also eat lots of Shin ramen at lunch for a quick bite. I do all sorts of weird stuff like combining chinse sichuan, korea, thai and japanese flavors.

[@isabellerosario1171]

his restaurant has the most amazing food and very professional service. i love that you did this interview!

[@WayofRamen]

He's definitely professional. In all the of the correspondence leading up to and after the interview, Ivan was super quick with his replies and very accommodating. Really thoughtful chef too, its no wonder why he's been so successful.

[@Nakameguro97]

Many years ago, I tried Ivan’s Ramen in the suburbs of Tokyo in a tiny shop, way before he opened shops in the US. His rendition at the time was closer to modern, simpler ramen 4/5 with subtle flavors. I remember his accent sounded very much like a New Yorker at the time.

[@mirceskiandrej]

This is amazing! I liked the guy when I watched him on Netflix, but now that I got to know his character a bit more, I realize that he's even better than I thought. Great video!

[@WayofRamen]

Yeah Ivan is a great!

[@ceejaybizzle]

You guys are so boss for making this happen. Loved every minute. Thank you!

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching!

[@urouroniwa]

I've never really spent much time paying attention to Ivan Orkin. I've heard a lot about him and I've heard a lot of people tell me what they think he's about, but I'm super glad to have watched this. He's *much* different than I imagined from what other people have said. I've lived in Japan for 12 years now and I've got to say that what he says about living in Japan really resonates with me as well. Additionally, his description of a bowl of good ramen vs a bowl of bad ramen is so spot on in my experience. A few years ago ramen was the big thing that the KZbin cooking crowd was jumping on to. It made me quite sad that the bowls of ramen that many were producing were clearly stodgy, difficult to eat and just kind of haphazardly thrown together. I'd watch them try to eat the ramen and the noodles were all clumped together, the soup was more like gravy than soup (due to excess starch and bowls that were too small), their mouths would be packed like chipmunks while half of the noodles in the bowl would be hanging out of their mouths. Remaining in the bowl was a mountain of unnecessary toppings. They would proclaim, "This is ramen!" and it was honestly a bit disheartening. A lot of people have told me that "Ivan says you have to do X in his book" and "Tokyo is the only place that makes good ramen, as exemplified by Ivan's ramen". It's really nice to see whatever I'm picking up from those people are just miscommunication (somewhere). What he says about ramen in this video is just what I hear when I talk to the guys who have been making ramen for 40 years in the tiny town where I live. I especially enjoy his discussion of the lighter broths and soups. Where I live, shio ramen is what serious, old school ramen shops make. Usually there is this real striving for balance between flavour and mouthfeel and there really is such a thing as too much fat. And like he says, you've got to eat this giant bowl of ramen in a few minutes, so if it's too rich and too thick you really are going to throw up! I also share his feeling about the amount of control that the media has on ramen shops. Getting into one of the big magazines means having people lined up outside your shop for hours every day, so there is a huge incentive to make whatever the editors think is "the thing" that year. When I'm going to the shop, it's so frustrating when the ramen I've been eating for 10 years gets crowded off the menu because some stupid editor thinks we should all be eating something crazy. I shouldn't write such long winded comments, but I thought I'd share another quick story. When I first came to Japan, my sempai at work took me out to a good ramen shop. It was the first time I had eaten ramen. I ordered a wakame ramen and I swear the mountain of wakame on the top was bigger than the bowl it came in. Wakame happens to be famous near where I live, so it was quite a famous dish at that shop. I couldn't finish my ramen. It was amazing (and I quickly discovered that I liked wakame :-) ), but it was just impossible for me. The master came out and said, "You aren't eating your ramen! What's wrong with you?" "It's very big", I said in my very limited Japanese at the time. He launched into a big lecture about how much time and effort it was to make the ramen and how the producers of the wakame worked hard to gather it and deliver it freshly to the shop. It was well more than I could understand, but my sempai said, "You have to eat it!" I learned a lot about Japan that day :-) To this day, I've never ordered that bowl of ramen again -- I'm afraid of it! Anyway, keep up the good work with your videos!

[@Lunarmemory]

Why didn't ganbaru and finish it!?

[@user-mh3rx9qh5p]

日本からこんにちは❗️ 彼の素晴らしいラーメンが忘れられません。 I ate his ramen when I was in Tokyo. I want to eat delicious Iban ramen.

[@WayofRamen]

コメントありがとうございます！ アイバンラーメンを食べたんですか？羨ましい！僕はハワイに住んでてニューヨークは結構遠いです。😅

[@ImFataI]

Sucks to see an amazing interview with someone like Ivan get such little attention. Great conversation - thanks to you two for putting this together!

[@remingtonpenaranda7762]

wow man! cant believe you got him on your show! i pretty much just watch his videos and yours as a way of learning. seen his chefs table episode like 4 times.

[@WayofRamen]

Yeah it was pretty crazy!

[@Mike-Eye]

I really dig Ivan orkins style. True NY personality.

[@Mike-Eye]

Thank you for this great podcast!

[@Mike-Eye]

Listening to this podcast reminded me of Ivan’s book. He’s a great storyteller.

[@ChinesePanda777]

Super hyped for this interview! Thanks to you and Ramen Lord to donating to get this to happen. Last year, I went to New York basically just to explore food and made sure to try a ramen place each day. I ended my tour with Ivan Ramen, finished 3 different bowls, and had my most favorite ramen experience ever.

[@WayofRamen]

thanks for watching! Ivan and Mike area great.

[@renoits06]

Amazing work my dude. Both you and ramenlord did a great job. cheers!

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks very much!

[@albertozaffonato1325]

Amazing interview, thank you so much for sharing this!

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching!

[@HOLLAHfoDOLLAH]

I bought Ivan's book a couple of years ago as a starting guide to make my first bowl of Ramen. His book and the instructions are simple and easy to understand. It makes you feel comfortable knowing that the preparation can be intimidating. He warns you that it's going to be a challenge and it's going to be very important that you should persevere. That book taught me so much. It's like a bible when making Ramen. It teaches you a lot of basics that can help you create something different in the future without completely failing.

[@yota821]

So jealous! Thank you for recording this interview!

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching. Ivan is a class act.

[@BigStuffedRhino]

Yes! I'm glad you are putting these on KZbin now

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching, Not sure if I'm going to put all of them on youtube, but maybe once in a while.

[@satanismybrother]

this is a really fantastic interview - you guys let Ivan talk and we get a real glimpse of his personality. On of the best vids of him Ive seem. Really well done!

[@WayofRamen]

Yeah I feel like this is one of the few times he actually got to talk to ramen nerds for an interview, so because of that he got to talk about things he normally doesn't get to in interviews. Most interviews he does, people are asking him "What's the right way to eat ramen?" or things like that. It was great to be able to hear more on his philosophy and methods of crafting his bowls.

[@ch1maera087]

From making ramen as a relatively newbie, to talking to one of the ramen gods イヴァラーメン going up in the world. Congrats dude

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks very much! I'm still a newbie but yeah its pretty crazy that I got a chance to chat with Ivan for a bit haha

[@alexill]

Dude you hit the jackpot. I’m proud of you.

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks so much Al!

[@mariomalke]

That’s great! We would love to see you try his Shio ramen recipe from his book!

[@slanginnoodles9865]

Fantastic interview. The reference to Bossanova was really cool. The curry ramen he was speaking about was Keizos creation, cool that he helped inspire Ivan

[@WayofRamen]

In my interview with Brian McDuckston (ramen adventures), he said that he and Keizo used to go hang out and help out occasionally at Ivan's shop in Japan so they all know each other.

[@slanginnoodles9865]

@@WayofRamen I figured they did, so cool

[@donna24]

Thank you! What a great interview! Ivan is so inspiring. I’m so glad he’s in NYC, I will definitely be there to happily eat his ramen in the heat of July and August. 😋 Oh, and it’s 4am and I just finished watching this, so much better than sleep 😂

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks very much for watching!

[@seanm3635]

I love your videos and I think that they are very helpful. What I like most about them is that they never come out to perfect. That you still criticize your own work and openly show it. This makes especially new cooks less worried about messing up. Anyway I had an idea for a non traditional ramen. I am doing a low carb low sugar diet. I thought it would be fun for you to try and do a shirataki ramen with your own twist. I hope you can figure it out!!!! You got this!!!!

[@JohnDoe-xo2yf]

These 3 guys could summon the Ramen God when together. Incredible knowledge.

[@Armymum13]

Love love love this!!!! Thank you for doing this♡♡♡

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks very much for watching!

[@jenaia.johnson9322]

I haven't seen him since his feature on the Harry Connick Jr Show! I'm so happy you interviewed him.

[@dheerajtumula7285]

Lol people are just flexing on the fact that they watched chefs table now. Anyway I visited his restaurant in New York and I instantly fell in love. I've been aching to go back there ever since I left.

[@TheAndersDanilet]

How is that a flex? 🙄

[@emjdedios]

You & Mike are so cute fanboying over Ivan. I totally would too.

[@pduf7326]

Loved this

[@waider]

It couldn't be more true that its a suffering to see people taking an hour to eat a fucking ramen. I will never understand that. I work for a big ramen chain, but if I had my shop I'd be just like Ivan, too bad if it makes me lose customer's. It's kind of the same with people that asks you to change the recipe or asks for soy sauce when they are eating a miso ramen, it's infuriating when people don't understand the food they're eating.

[@JeremyCrow]

Thanks for this. I really enjoyed hearing his unique take on ramen.

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching!

[@JimminyJim]

“And hey, if you don’t like it, go fack yaself!” - Ivan Orkin fucking legend.

[@bismarrezaaraisyi384]

Nice interview, maybe you can consider to review his ramen recipe, or make a vlog about his restaurant. Cheers

[@WayofRamen]

I need to get to NYC to visit his shop when we get past this whole corona virus thing.

[@johnmagee2394]

Cool you got a Interview with Ivan Great Interview !!!

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching!

[@franksinatta6440]

Wait, is the talking part at 0:55 intentionally mixed in beat with the music? Or am I too high...

[@AndrewDorantes]

Dope!! Thanks guys

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching!

[@MegaMackproductions]

I remember seeing this guy on "Begin Japanology" Id love to make ramen for a living!

[@WayofRamen]

Awesome! Ramen for a living is a tough path to navigate.

[@waider]

Ramen for a living is though especially if you are alone. I love ramen but I'm not sure I'd have what it takes to open a shop.

[@conorhughes6018]

Yes!

[@demsla]

Ok

[@WayofRamen]

makes sense

[@squareduck.]

I think you used zoom

[@cohibaav8or]

Great job guys!

[@WayofRamen]

Thanks for watching

[@jinjeredge]

LETS GO

[@moraxella.catarrhalis]

Why nobody asked him why he was called Ivan in the first place?

[@qweryedu]

58:20 leaving this coment so I can get to my favourite part faster, don't mind me.

[@tobysedibleadventure2151]

Very cool!

[@e45630]

Why is that vertical😿

[@WayofRamen]

he stood his ipad up that way

[@ArgentoRAWRz]

pizza is amazing the next day, sorry Ivan

[@bryanhumphreys940]

I took away from this that ramen is like sandwich. You start with the bread (noodles) or with the protein (broth).

[@cxqmber4477]

1h holy

[@cavianguardian]

Early

[@hank993]

first

[@TheRyanzachary]

OK

[@WayofRamen]

Makes sense

[@TheRyanzachary]

The Way of Ramen what do u mean