Early Saturday morning, hordes of 20-somethings began lining up for one of New York’s most coveted culinary creations. They passed the three-plus-hour wait with smartphones in one hand and iced coffees in the other. Some napped, curled on the ground, while others stood with friends, foggily recalling the previous night’s adventures.
The foodie throngs weren’t hungrily waiting for a Cronut on Spring Street. They were lined up on the Williamsburg waterfront, ravenous for New York’s newest culinary craze: the Ramen Burger.
A Japanese-American mash-up, the fad food of the millisecond features a hamburger patty sandwiched between two discs of compressed ramen noodles in lieu of a traditional bun. To date, it’s only been available on three occasions — the past few Saturdays at Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg food market — and each time, it’s sold out in just a few hours.
Keizo Shimamoto already has a trademark — and t-shirts — for his Ramen Burger. (Eilon Paz)
(Eilon Paz)
“It’s definitely crazy!” says Keizo Shimamoto, 35, the creator of the Ramen Burger and a former computer programmer who quit his day job in 2009 to devote himself to ramen and blog about it at GoRamen.com. “I didn’t expect it to be this popular.”
By the time Smorgasburg opened at 11 a.m. last Saturday, more than 100 people stood waiting, some having lined up as early as 7:45 a.m. Shimamoto sold out of the 300 burgers he had on hand in a matter of hours, leaving dozens waiting on line to go without.
To make sure she wasn’t one of those left hungry, Danielle Cheng, a 21-year-old student from Staten Island, spent last Friday night at a friend’s apartment in Manhattan to cut down on her morning travel time. “I don’t really have high expectations,” she admits, “but this is kind of like the new Cronut, and I want to experience it first.”
Cheng’s friend, 22-yearold Brian Fung of Woodhaven, says it’s all about the bragging rights. “I’m doing it just so I can say, ‘I’ve had the Ramen Burger!’ ”
At this point, Smorgasburg is the only place to get a genuine Ramen Burger — Shimamoto has already trademarked the name — but supposed imitators have already popped up in the Philippines. Packaged ramen brand Annie Chun’s is now offering instructions on how to make your own buns at home with its noodles, and Carroll Gardens ramen shop Dassara served its own version of the Ramen Burger at its one-year anniversary party last week with Shimamoto’s “blessing.”
When asked about his future plans, the Frankenfood creator is coy, saying, “We are looking into doing other events soon,” and noting that he is considering opening a brick-and-mortar shop.
And there are other versions of the burger in the works: some based on traditional ramen, like shio (salt) and miso ramen, and some based on American cult burgers, like the In-N-Out “Double-Double” cheeseburger.
But for Cheng and Fung, who first got on line at about 9 a.m., the hamburger didn’t live up to the hype.
“I feel like this is something that I could make at home,” Cheng laments.
“This is such a mess to eat!” adds Fung, laughing and reaching for extra napkins to sop up the profusion of juices and grease dripping down his arm.
Others say it was well worth the wait, including Eugene Kung, a 35-year-old former chef and food enthusiast from Flushing, who was the first on line at 7:45 a.m. Saturday.
“It’s a perfect mix of ramen and hamburgers, two of my favorite things,” says Kung. “This is what New York City is all about — having new experiences and eating something you can’t have anywhere else!”
WHAT MAKES A RAMEN BURGER?
THE BUN
Two discs of compressed noodles from Sun Noodle, a New Jersey company that supplies many of the city’s top ramen joints, surround the patty. Shimamoto parboils the noodles al dente, then uses a secret “proprietary process” to form them into a patty. At Smorgasburg, the noodle “buns” are cooked on a griddle with a squirt of sesame oil. The final texture is chewy, not crunchy.
SECRET SAUCE
After being griddled, the beef is lacquered with a shoyu ramen sauce. While chef Keizo Shimamoto won’t reveal exactly what’s in it, he says it’s soy sauce-based and cooked down “for hours.” Shoyu ramen broth also traditionally contains garlic, ginger, scallions and dashi fish stock.
ARUGULA
Shimamoto says he picked the fancy greens because he wanted to contrast an “American gourmet ingredient” against the Asian elements.
SCALLIONS
A sprinkle adds a nice crunch and a welcome counter-bite to the greasy burger and salty sauce.
THE BEEF
A smaller-than-expected (just ¼ pound), 100 percent chuck beef patty is sourced from Burger Maker in Carlstadt, NJ. It’s 25 percent fat, making for a very juicy — and messy — burger that’s barely contained by its paper wrapper. No wonder it comes with a generous side of napkins.