Not sure why champon isn’t popular in New York. Given that New Yorkers seem to love tonkotsu ramen, it should be popular. According to my research, the soup base is primarily chicken, but pork bone broth is also added (sometimes 100% tonkotsu). Champon is a great alternative to ramen. The main difference is that with ramen, the noodles are added at the last minute to the broth, whereas, with champon, the noodles are cooked with the broth and topping, absorbing more flavor. Champon noodles use sodium carbonate instead of potassium carbonate to allow for longer cooking.
The champon was as I remembered it, but the gyoza dumplings surprised me. The filling is black because it uses bamboo charcoal. It came with “yuzu kosho,” paste made from the zest of yuzu, green chili, and salt. I’ll have to go back to eat a lot more of those gyoza.
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