Mr. Ramen - Cheap Dining During LA Dodgers Baseball World Series

How about 35 cents for a senior LA Metro rail trip* to Downtown's Little Tokyo to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers playoffs? 

With 3 Japanese players on the team, I wanted to watch a few games in Little Tokyo with the locals. 

                                          Click on any photo to see larger.

So, hang out with me and I'll show you a few great meals and drink deals in a cool, historic Los Angeles neighborhood.

The 700 million man, Dodger pitching and hitting ace, #17 jersey-wearing Shohei Ohtani (originally from Japan), has led the team to its second consecutive World Series Playoffs. His image is plastered all over Little Tokyo on murals, posters, and bobble heads. 

But I'm there for ramen, sake, and other food and drink specials during game days. 

Earlier in the baseball season, I happened to see a half-price ramen "Ohtani Special" advertised on Mr. Ramen's restaurant front window while shooting Shohei Ohtani murals downtown.

Mr. Ramen restaurant offers 17 half-price ramen bowls on the day after Shohei Ohtani hits a home run (since most 3-hour or longer games are played late-afternoon and into the evening near closing time). And, just the day before, Ohtani hit a home run, plus they still had a few of the ramen specials left when I ordered.

Shohei Ohtani's Dodger jersey number is 17, and number 16 is the number of the 50% off ramen "Ohtani Special". It is a delicious Tonkotsu Ramen with sliced pork, boiled egg, seaweed, pickled red ginger, and green onion in a bone broth loaded with tender ramen noodles. 

I asked why the Ohtani Special ramen is number 16 instead of his jersey number 17, and the waitress said number 16 is a classic ramen recipe, while their number 17 is a vegetable ramen. 

They can't change the numbers since most menu items have been the same for decades. (Shohei Ohtani just joined the Dodgers last year.)

               Half-price is about $7.50

The ramen bone broth is milky and loaded with intense pork flavor. I can see why they offer #16 instead of #17. (I'm sure the #17 Vegetable Tonkotsu Ramen is just as delicious.)

Mr. Ramen is a small and colorful ramen restaurant on 1st Street in Little Tokyo, featuring Japanese manga illustrations on the walls. The service is quick and friendly. 

The waitress mentioned that her husband has taken over the restaurant from his father.

Mr. Ramen is located on 1st Street in the heart of Little Tokyo. There's even a Dodger memorabilia shop down the street that I browsed and picked up my own Shohei Ohtani bobble head.

Walking around Little Tokyo, I spied other cheap$kate deals I'll share with you during the LA Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays Baseball World Series, so check back. 

Mr. Ramen

341 1/2 1st Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: (213) 626-4252

Email: www.mrramendtla.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/mr.ramen.dtla

Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/mr-ramen-los-angeles?osq=mr.+ramen

Hours

Monday    12PM - 11PM

Tuesday & Wednesday - Closed

Thursday to Sunday     12PM - 1AM

* LA Metro

Website: www.metro.net

Seniors 62+/ Medicare/ Customer with Disability: www.metro.net/riding/fares/seniors

When you are a senior (62 years old) with a senior-issued LA Metro TAP card, it only costs 35 cents during off-peak hours. The normal base fare is $1.75 per ride. 

Snow Peas, Tofu & Ramen Stir Fry

Light and economical the latest recipe from the 99 Cent Cuisiner is a delicious vegetarian stir fry.

Snow peas have been showing up lately on sale. You could substitute with regular frozen peas as well. And tofu is one cheap protein. I lightly browned the tofu in a little oil for extra flavor, but you could skip it if you are in a rush.

Snow peas are tender enough to be stir fried whole in the shell -- unlike regular peas. I saute them for only 3 minutes, so there is still a slight crunch. Snow peas are even sweeter than regular peas, and more subtle in taste.

I wanted to serve my Snow Peas and Tofu Stir Fry over ramen noodles this time, instead of rice. It turned out perfect. This is a yummy dish any college dorm room dweller or paycheck-to-paycheck living proletariat can do!

Ingredients

• Snow peas - small 5 ounce package (about 1 cup.) Okay to use frozen or fresh. Regular frozen peas are cheap substitution.
• 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic - fresh or from jar.
• 1 package tofu - firm or regular drained. About 12 ounces.
• 1 pack of dried ramen noodles - I used lighter baked ramen noodles.
• Water to boil ramen - enough to cover.
• 1 tablespoon of oil - veggie, sesame or olive oil.

Stir Fry Sauce

• 2 tablespoons of Oyster Sauce - Okay to substitute with favorite premixed stir fry sauce, or even a teriyaki sauce.
• 1 teaspoon of Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon of honey - or any favorite sweetener.

Directions
Add one tablespoon of oil to a frying pan over a medium heat and coat bottom of pan. Drain tofu and cut into 1 to 2 inch cubes. Carefully add the tofu cubes - they may cause the oil to splatter.

Lightly brown tofu on at least 2 sides, about 4 minutes each side. Don't move tofu around as it browns as it may crumble apart, although some brown pieces will separate. Remove and set aside when light brown. (If you are really in a hurry, just go from draining the tofu to adding it directly to your stir frying snow peas.)

Start water to boil for ramen noodles. Add dried ramen noodles to boiling water. Remove and drain when soft, according to directions, about 3-4 minutes (or follow package directions.) Add a serving amount of ramen to your plate. Should be done about the time when stir fry is done.

Remove any long stringy snow pea stems. Pour stir fry sauce ingredients into frying pan, over a medium heat. Add snow peas (or regular peas) and chopped garlic. Mix well. Cook peas until desired tenderness, about 3 minutes.

Finally add browned tofu to stir fry. Carefully mix together. Heat tofu for a couple more minutes. Scoop snow peas and tofu with sauce onto plate of noodles. Okay to substitute ramen with brown or white rice -- also tasty on it's own.

Tempura Over Ramen Noodles - Video

When the Chef was on NBC Nightly News in June, he cooked Japanese tempura with ramen noodles for the producers and crew to film. Fresh veggies come and go at 99c only Stores, but broccoli, carrots and mushrooms are frequently stocked. Usually, tempura is served as an entree with a dipping sauce.

I first had it served over ramen noodles at a favorite noodle restaurant called Atch-kotch, located in a Hollywood mini-mall . Frying vegetables in a tempura batter creates a light coating while keeping the veggies crunchy. For this recipe you can serve tempura as a side dish and use it as a sponge to soak up the miso flavored ramen broth. I also provide a traditional tempura dipping sauce recipe. All ingredients were purchased at this 99c only Store were the "walk and talk" was filmed.

My friend Drew tagged along to video the NBC interview. What is the saying: "You don't want to know what goes into the making of sausage?" Well, the Chef lets his audience get a glimpse into the making of his news story. So here is a short video featuring the "sausage makers."

Shooting The NBC Nightly News Story - Video

Play it here. The video runs 2 minutes 24 seconds.

Ingredients for tempura batter (serves 2)

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking power
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sparkling water, chilled

Ingredients for frying

• 99 cent fish filet cut in half or 2 small filets (tilapia or pollack)
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets - small to medium florets
• 6 whole button mushrooms
• 4 green onions cut into finger size segments (leave about an inch of green stem)
• 1/2 bell pepper, cut in strips
• 6 baby carrots (2 inch size)
• 3 cups vegetable oil for frying
• Add more veggies for a vegetarian tempura

Tempura dipping sauce:

• 1/2 cup 99 cent white wine
• 1/2 cup soy sauce

2 small packages of ramen noodles per directions

Directions
Heat oil to 375 degrees (medium/high heat.) Combine tempura batter ingredients; should be consistancy of pancake batter. Clean and dry vegetables. Pat dry fish filets. Coat vegetables with batter and fry (in batches if necessary.) Batter and fry fish last. Frying should be 5 - 8 minutes for each batch; tempura batter does not need to brown like a typical fry, just enough to cook vegetables but still be crunchy. While tempura is frying prepare ramen per package directions. Serve ramen with broth; top with vegetable and fish tempura. Put tempura dipping sauce in a shallow bowl for extra dipping flavor.