Thursday, March 21, 2019

Slurp x 鬼金棒 Collab in Copenhagen

Slurp x 鬼金棒


My dream became a reality. Kikanbo in Copenhagen. Two days of ramen bliss for those lucky enough to score a seat. 


Check out the video!



The short story is that a year and a half ago I visited Copenhagen for the first time to try my friend Philip's new ramen shop. Slurp ramen was great!



At the same time, I had the pleasure of dining at Noma. I learned that the Noma staff had spent almost one month in Tokyo for a popup at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel a few years prior. During their residency, the staff of 20 plus people would walk to Kikanbo for a bowl almost daily. They became obsessed. Kikanbo is pure comfort food. And though the Noma-Tokyo menu had exotic shrimp topped with local ants, some "demon ramen", as head chef René Redzepi called it, was what the staff wanted more than anything.

In the back of my mind, I told myself I would bring Kikanbo to Copenhagen. Want to hear more about this project? I'll make a Patreon-only video for my supporters on Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/ramenadventures

Ramen is my passion. This popup was just another passion project. Thank you for showing your support as a Patron. Patreon is a platform that lets people support their favorite creators with a monthly financial donation. It is almost impossible for me to judge if my blog and YouTube channel are popular. Neither makes much money at all, maybe just enough for a few bowls of ramen. If people want, I will devote more of my time to ramen. Simple as that.


We severely underestimated the spice tolerance of the Nordic people. We thought only a few would want the devil-level, Kiaknbo's mega spicy blend made with scorpion peppers. Though we advertised 10 a day, we were able to do about 15-20. Crazy considering we only served 200 bowls each day.

Ramen and a drink. Do you want that drink to be something from Empirical Spirits?



Although I think the name of this distilled beverage is a bit pedantic, this is an incredible drink. They took all the flavor of habanero peppers with none of the heat. Fruity and herbal. Really amazing stuff.





Of course, after the popup event, I had to see if Slurp's own shio ramen still holds up.



Yes. Yes, it does. The recipe has changed a bit, using more local ingredients. Before, the tare was made with some very expensive dried Japanese ingredients, something that was just too pricey to import. Europe has become more and more legit in terms of umami-rich seafood. This bowl shows that.



Great sides to go with craft beer.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the event. It was held in September 2018. I'd love to do more of these. It was a lot of work but in the end an unforgettable experience.