“Spicy” ramen around the University

In our lab, there are people who likes to challenge themselves especially Jun-san and me as well. Ramen is no exception but there are several shops that serve spicy ramen. In this blog, I will summarize and introduce such shops.

Mongolia Tanmen Nakamoto (Takadanobaba)

Around Tokyo, the Mongolian Tanmen Nakamoto has firmly established its position as a representative of spicy ramen. The Arctic (photo below) is really spicy as shown in the reviews. Miso egg noodles that is less spicy are recommended. The spiciness is enough as it is so you can enjoy it well.  Honestly I don’t wish to recommend eating the less spicy one. Nakamoto’s mapo tofu is as spicy as Miso egg noodles. If you are a student, please choose the student set.

関連ランキング：ラーメン | 高田馬場駅、西早稲田駅、学習院下駅

Takagiya

This is the shop that Asako had his monster challenge eating. This shop is like a representative of spicy noodles because the noodle here is the most spicy. When I taste in a sip only, it is not so spicy but rather the tsukemen pepper is hotter. The spicy noodle is relatively delicious if you ignore the hotness. It takes a bit of time for the food to reach but if you like spicy food, I would recommend this place.

関連ランキング：つけ麺 | 高田馬場駅、学習院下駅、西早稲田駅

麺爺

Its a pity that I did not eat but I have a free ticket so I gave it to Isshiki. The store’s ambitions are so high up to level 8 spiciness. Originally, I can challenge up to level 5 and decide to increase my level. So I tried the level 8 and took a bite, it was so painful. The Arctic is bit over. Isshiki manage to finish drinking his soup and it was a perfect finish. His next example is Kamimori challenge (second time).

関連ランキング：油そば | 西早稲田駅、東新宿駅、新大久保駅

味噌蔵

Nice to meet you in this blog. A relatively new ramen shop in Shin-Okubo called “Misokura”. This is an ordinary miso ramen but we will review again. This time, we are going to challenge the hot miso ramen called orochon. There are 5 levels of spiciness, and of course, the finest is “danger“. also eat “hot spicy” in the middle. Even though it was extremely spicy, it offered moderate spiciness, but “danger” was really hard. As expected it is in the Okubo area. After eating, it is physically surpassing Nakamoto’s North Pole. The thick noodles that are flat on the back of the muddy soup are very delicious. The taste is much better than Nakamoto. And after-meal damage is also great. This is a shop that has had a good experience in many ways.

The taste is definitely delicious and I think the rating of the eating log will definitely increase in the future.

関連ランキング：ラーメン | 東新宿駅、新大久保駅、西武新宿駅

Checked corner: chilli and capsaicin

I thought that it would be about a ramen article introduced by a chemical laboratory. Ramen is no longer relevant. (Reference: The Biochemistry of Peppers)

カプサイシンと赤色

Why is it painful? The famous capsaicin that everyone knows is a hot ingredient. Capsaicin itself is a white solid compound. In other words, red is not hot at all. This redness is mainly a carotenoid called capsorubin contained in chili. This is not spicy at all.

Do you know which part of chili contains the most capsaicin? Apparently, the place called the pedestal, not the red part, not the seed, seems to be a treasure trove of capsaicin. Of course, capsaicin diffuses from the pedestal to the whole chili pepper during the growth process, so be careful that the other parts are not completely spicy at all. Of course, eating too much is not good for your body, so be careful.

Until capsaicin is made 

If you are a little familiar with chemistry, you may have noticed that the structure on the left side of this capsaicin is something similar. That molecule has nothing to do with spiciness.

パクッ。辛い！こんなときどうする？

辛い！と思って水を飲んだら胃に流れて辛くなりますよ、と思っている方、それは間違いです。カプサイシンは水に溶けないので、しばらく口に残ってます。水が喉元過ぎたらまた口の中に辛さが復活するのはカプサイシンが全く流されていない証拠です。

それでは辛いときはどうするか。乳製品がいいとか言われています。気は進みませんが、お酢に含まれる酢酸も多少は洗い流せられるのではないか、という点で有効かもしれません。

ちなみにカプサイシンを受容するタンパク質はTRPV1らしいのですが、この受容体は43 °C以上の温度によって活性化されます。そして、このTRPV1は熱いものを食べたときに感じる痛覚にも関連しているようです。温かいものと辛いものの組み合わせは最強ってことになりますね。

まだまだ奥が深そうな唐辛子系の話ですが、このへんで。

身近なところにも化学ネタは隠れているものです。

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武藤慶

准教授 at 早稲田大学山口研究室

趣味はラーメン、漫画、マラソン、自転車、野球、バレーボール。ものづくりの街、豊田市出身。車ではなく分子レベルでのものづくりを極め、非常識だが理想的な方法論で未踏分子を世に出すことを目指す。60歳になっても子供のように、化学でできるあんな未来こんな未来を語り、学生とともに実現に向けて一歩を踏み出せる研究者でいたいと考えている。

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