My new gear

Yay.. finally! I got my new camera today after what seemed an eternity of waiting. I upgraded myself from the world of point and shoot to the manual planet-- just what I've always wanted. I opted for the Canon Rebel xti and got a great deal on it. The only downside is that it's dark outside now and I can't photograph anything. ha! I have a feeling I'm going to go crazy this weekend with it.

I took a quick test shot of Kitten using indoor lighting and very little sense of the different settings on the camera (other than what I used- manual mode). This is going to be fun :)

The Orochon Challenge

I've been spending far too much time at Daikokuya (see review & ramblings below) and eating far too much ramen lately. However when my friends told me about this place called Orochon, that supposedly had an insanely hot ramen dish, I had to go. It's been a challenge in itself recently for me to find spicy food that is actually spicy because I've built up my heat tolerance to that of a superhero. So many times I got my hopes up when trying salsas called "Cojones" or pouring spoonfuls of chili paste on tofu... only to be let down and sigh "I can barely taste it". When I was told that Orochon was featured on Man vs. Food for its "Special #2" challenge, I was game. The "challenge" is to eat the entire Special #2 in 30 minutes or less. It's the hottest dish they have, so if you can do it, you'll get your picture on the wall of bravery.


Orochon is a small restaurant located on the 3rd floor in the plaza off Astronaut/Onizuka St in Little Tokyo. You'll get very little feel of authentic, comfy Japanese ramen house here because the decor is rather plain and basic. We were seated within a few minutes and I was not the only one up for the challenge, as three other friends ordered the Special #2 when the waitress took our order. When ordering, you have three different options for broth: miso, soy or salt. When it comes down to it, all three of those choices are just salt, salt and more salt. I ordered mine with the miso base.

On a side note: if you're in the mood for hot tea, you won't find it at Orochon. I don't understand why, but for whatever reason they don't serve hot green tea. Odd.

My anticipation grew into a giant monster as I waited for my tastebuds to get burned off again. The wait seemed a bit longer than average but when the ramen was finally brought out, my mouth salivated. Those who did not order the Special #2 had normal, creamy looking soup broth. When I looked at my bowl, it gave me a mean look back with rolling clouds of redness. Oh yeah. :)

The soup itself was so hot, temperature-wise, that I didn't know how anyone could finish it in 30 minutes anyway regardless of the spice factor. We were given a free steam bath from the enormous bowls (and they are huge) and while I could feel my pores opening, I decided to go ahead and dig in. I first wanted to taste the broth, since it looked so evil. I could see spices swirling around in the spoon and ate up. For me, the spice level was perfect. It wasn't too hot but was spicy enough to have a really nice kick. My friends, on the other hand, began swearing because it was so hot. I guess my tolerance of spice was paying off!

I picked up my chopsticks to investigate further and there really wasn't much to the soup. The amount of noodles was kind of sparse, there were a few bamboo shoots, a bunch of sprouts, couple slices of green pepper, one tiny wood ear mushroom and a scant piece of meat. One thing it did have a lot of were hot peppers, which looked to be either jalapeno or serrano. For the most part, I seemed to have a big bowl of broth and spicy peppers. The noodles themselves weren't that impressive either, being somewhat soft and not having much body. This bowl was all about the heat... and that is all you can taste. I got no sense of rich broth, if the noodles were flavored, if anything had that delicious taste of being marinated. Nope, it was nothing but heat.

I didn't think I could win the challenge since it was so much food, but I tried. I ended up burning my mouth in the process and got a nice blister, just from the temperature heat. In the end I was correct, as I looked down at my bowl full of broth and sighed as my stomach said "No more". I did manage to pack away a decent amount, but really the devil in all of this is the massive amount of broth.. not the ramen. I would have loved to have had another plop of noodles to chow on, but I just couldn't get with drinking a gigantic bowl of spice. I still kept slurping away though as my friends were wiping sweat from their faces and calling it quits. I got an E for effort anyway. If I had my druthers, I would have taken a smaller, even spicer bowl. To me the challenge should be all about the spice, not the massive quantity (if your shtick is the heat factor).

I probably wouldn't go to Orochon for good, home cooked ramen. It seems like their thing is the Special #2, which like I said, tastes like hot spice.. not like food. If you're looking to blow your tastebuds out or sweat out a cold, I highly recommend it.