Kuma Sushi Rolls and Bowls

RAMEN

Some restaurateurs instinctively know how to create a culinary tapestry of success. From simple burgers that can cure any hangover to an upscale and fantastic sushi bar and ramen noddle empire, the genius behind Kuma Sushi Rolls and Bowls is Brain England. Brian had a sushi bar in 2004, but he has been focusing on Sylvester’s Burgers. For this new venture, he scanned the county and found two of the best sushi chefs that know fish and how to make a dish so pleasing to the eye it is a work of art. Sushi Chef’s Hidehiko Nogi and Jeff (Razor) Fujiwara have been featured in the best fish palaces and now have combined their talents to dazzle the entire patron’s at Kuma.



I revere sushi, it is my culinary utopia. And to have these masters offering an Omakase (special selection offered by the chef) got my palette watering.

OMAKASE

A piece of raw fish is remarkably near the nexus where life suffers death so that it can feed another life. It’s where the circle of life stops and starts, the end beginning.

Razor wanted to make sure I received a full sampling of the menu so I let him pick our menu. We started with a sample of the Ramen Noodles, both pork and chicken. The ramen is cooked in house daily with pure pork. They use all the highest grade, fresh ingredients. The Ramen broth is traditional Japanese broth that is reduced for 24 hours in order to achieve maximum flavor. The Shoyu is the staple pork stock with a soy addition served with egg noodles. I had them add all the extras, garlic chip, shoyu egg, nori, sweet corn and spicy kimchi. The chicken was a flavorful comfort food. Razor presented us with colorful dish of Tuna Poke. Raw tuna is cut and shaped like a rose. Pokē is the Hawaiian verb for "to slice or cut". This was served with a mango salsa with a bit of cayenne and macadamia nuts, resting on a seaweed salad. It was a delectable combination of flavors. The next dish the Loco Moco was Hawaiian in its influences with a large mound of white rice, resting under 2 slices of Spam, savory gravy, sliced pineapple and a poached egg. My dining companion had never had Spam before and loved this combination of salty, savory, sweet and comfort dish. I would drive here from Pismo just for this delectable grouping. 

LOCO MOCO

Out came the next offering, a plate of sushi called the Kuma Omakase that was a work of art. On the huge platter were Nigri’s, Scallops on rice with lemon, salmon roe and tobiko. The lemon was carved into a swan and the wasabi snowman was displaced as most dramatic by celery whittled into a tree. There were two fish favors crafted into a rose was Seared Albacore with onions and raw Ahi Tuna. A roll with local fresh out of the bay halibut and the top had avocado, spicy Sriracha sauce, and pomegranate seeds. Each portion of this blew our minds are we devoured this objet d'art.



I brought back my husband the next night and Razor presented him with the Kuma Cake as he sat down. This large and equally beautiful dish consisted of chocolate and vanilla ice cream in between a pound cake that is then deep-fried and covered with chocolate, raspberry syrup and topped with powdered sugar. This trip we dipped into the vast sake supply. Sho Chilly Bai served cold and is a 16th century sake, botanical and smooth it paired well with the Shishito Peppers. This time our Kuma Omakase contained a perfect rose constructed out of Hamachi tuna, seared albacore With polar bear roll that had smoked salmon and cream cheese inside and crab and jalapeno slices on the outside. The accruements were a carved radish and statuesque celery.

At Kuma, the service was outstanding and attentive, the sushi chefs both talented, funny and know fish, the food was as picturesque as it was delicious. I am a devotee. Kuma is located at 2011 10th Street in Los Osos, you can call them at 

(805) 528-6767, 
they are open everyday from 11:00am until 9:00pm.

Meal Ready-to-Eat....... A Soldiers Meal

Since I am a connoisseur of things put in your mouth for subsistence, I decided try some unusual meals. I have a dear friend that has been deployed to sand ridden places multiple times (over ten) and told me about MRE’s. The Meal, Ready-to-Eat, commonly known as the MRE, is a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging bought by the United States Military for its service members for use in combat or other field conditions where organized food facilities are not available.

 

Our soldier brought over some MRE’s for us to try and to say it was the most interesting meal of my life is an understatement. He started the meal by placing a traditional Afghan quilt as a tablecloth. He also made me a present of a Bunker Bracelet, a quilted parachute cord adornment made in the tedium amid combat. I respected that soldiers are making jewelry in between shots being fired at them. He also had Gary put on the Shemagh, the tradition cloth used to keep the dust off while in Afghanistan.

 

He had us try two different MRE’s. These prepackaged meals are dense with calories and sugar, as that is what is needed in a combat situation. The MRE’s have a 5-6 year shelf life, expect in the heat. He told us of the 130-degree heat that is a daily challenge. He said that they adjusted too the heat so much that when they were in an air-conditioned hanger, 90 degrees felt cold to them. With the laying out of the meal, the extreme conditions, I was awed with the sacrifices these men give to our country.

He produced a big knife, to open the contents and we laid them out. There was toilet paper, gum and instant coffee on top. A hot beverage bag came out next, which uses chemicals to warm up the coffee or tea. A bag marked peanut butter came next and I was instructed to knead it. We spread it on a dense cracker (that was like tack bread). The spoon was a treasure and he said most the soldiers save them for coffee later. The drink was a carbo-loaded electrolyte grape flavor you poured into a bottle of water.

 

The applesauce and the fruit flavored snack were the next bites, they were loaded with sugar and I asked him what his first impression of these meals was. “I was glad to have it when I needed it,” was his pragmatic answer.

The main dish is warmed up with a salt heater. You drop the food in a bag, add water and close it, then shake to activate the heat. The instruction said to lay it on a rock or other hard surface. The box of the food comes apart and makes a free postcard; in fact there was little waste in these MRE’s.

We shared the wheat bread and cheese spread; both were dense and full of the familiar sense of food at home. Each meal has over 1250 calories to help soldiers keep moving. The grape flavored drink reminded me of Kool-Aid when I was six. The coffee was Nescafe and came with sugar and creamer.

Our main meal was Spicy Penne Pasta and after 5 minutes in the Flameless ration heater or warmer, it was ready to eat. It had a faint familiarity of an Italian Grandma’s cooking and was hot, so a bonus. Our other main meal was Beef Brisket with biscuits and mashed potatoes. Each pack came with warm reminders of home, if not in taste, at least in name.

My hero told me that hot sauce and chocolate peanut butter packs are coveted by our soldiers. MRE’s are mostly used when soldiers are on assignment and away from the base; they serve a nutritional value to the brave men and woman risking their lives for our freedom.

 

I dare you all to try one and then not to lobby congress for better food for our troops. I am glad I tried the meals and delighted I am lucky enough to call this brave man my friend.

Raku Ramen San Luis Obispo

There is nothing that excites me as much as a good noodle. We have been lacking in a noodle habitation, so I was excited to see Raku Ramen open in in one of the three restaurant spaces in San Luis Obispo’s Mix on Monterey. A quick stopover delighted my senses with a casual atmosphere, solid menu, and lunch friendly prices. Focusing on noodle and rice bowls, this little haven stole my heart. I took my managing editor that is a notorious picky eater, but they made her a believer.  Owned by the same mastermind of flavor, Steve Supina who runs the Raku Izakaya in Grover Beach and has been a staple in my family for years. Steve has opened a noddle centric place, and kept a few favorites from Grover Beach on the menu for the San Luis Raku Ramen.

First my guest asked me “What is Ramen?” thinking there would be no way my palate was accepting of the Dollar Store Top Ramen we all subsisted on in College. I explained, with my noodle passion, what truly comprises a bowl of ramen. Perfect Ramen subsist with three distinct parts: the soup, noodles, and toppings. Each part is no less important than the other. The chemistry between them creates the rich and exquisite taste of Japanese ramen. Each part, depending on the chef’s tastes and preferences, vary widely as well. The soup may be created using soy sauce, miso, salt, and countless other ingredients. The noodles also vary in taste, texture, color, and form, but most noodles share the consistency shared by the common ingredients of flour, eggs, and kansui (a type of alkaline water). The toppings help to accentuate the noodles and the soup, from the Chashu (braised pork belly) to the ni-tamago (boiled egg pickled in soy sauce). With limitless varieties and variations in each respective ingredient, Japanese ramen is truly diverse, allowing each chef to create their own unique flavors and tastes.

We started with the Spicy Garlic Edamame, which she would pronounce her favorite thing in the world. These Japanese soybeans are enhanced with a garlic/miso/chili sauce that is out of this world. She went for the Curry Udon that was done with a Japanese Beef Curry Sauce. She loved every bite. I went for the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen that was a beautiful to the eye as it was to my taste buds. The noddle soup was filled with flavor, spicy ground pork, a slice of chashu pork, and the ni-tamago. It was garnished with chopped green onions and garlic chips. It was subtle and wonderful, even with its spicy zest.

I brought back Gary and friends the next night and we all went crazy for the food. We all shared the Spicy Garlic Edamame, an order of Mixed Tempura and Takoyaki. Raku is one of the few restaurants in SLO that serve this amazing dish that is commonly called octopus balls. All appetizers were flavor forward and wonderful. We shared a bottle of crispy Pinot Grigio that was perfect with the subtle flavors and flashes of spice.

We each tried a bowl of Signature Ramen including Basil Ramen, a unique basil pesto broth with spinach noodles garnished with chashu, tomato slices, spinach, onions and garlic chips. It was wonderful. We also tried a Donburi Rice bowl. The Spicy Tuna Don was a bit of enchanting spicy tuna served over jasmine or brown rice with avocado and Ikura (orange caviar). I was vacillating over who was my true love, rice or noodles?

The Vegetarian was not lacking anything sans meat with its house made vegetable broth served with spinach noodles and Japanese vegetables, shitake mushrooms and tofu. I had the Raku Ramen, a spicy bowl filled with premium Tonkosu ramen, with pork cutlet, corn bamboo shoots, scallions and Rayu chili oil. I had them add extra noodles and a fish cake, and it was a heavenly bowl.

We finished off sharing a Heart Attack with is a jalapeno sliced and cleaned then stuffed with spicy tuna and cream cheese and tempered, hot delicious and savory.

 

This is comfort food in its finest form. I have eaten here ten times since my first visit. I almost always order a bowl to go for dinner later. The service is friendly, though the ordering is confusing at first, both the counter and the cook will help you select what is flawless for your tastes.  Raku Ramen is located at 1308 Monterey Street
 in San Luis Obispo; call them at 
(805) 439-3088.