I developed this dish as a way to pay homage to my Italian American roots while also creating a deeply personal spin on one of my favorite food trends in Tokyo at the moment: tomato ramen.
Some of the earliest memories I have of my mother involve making spaghetti and meatballs with her in the kitchen. The visceral experience years later of slurping down a hot bowl of ramen always brought me back to those pasta dinners of my childhood, joyfully devouring forkfuls of spaghetti coated in rich, tangy tomato sauce, almost always accompanied by a savory and satisfying meatball or two ¡ª not unlike the luscious ³¦³ó¨¡²õ³ó¨± pork belly slices that typically adorn a bowl of ramen.
The natural MSG in the tomatoes and Parmesan cheese in this recipe play nicely with the more traditional Japanese flavors of miso and shoyu, giving this bowl a punch that any truly special ramen experience should deliver. It can also be made at home, relatively easily compared to other types of ramen, and it¡¯s perfect to make in large batches to enjoy over multiple meals.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.