Sapporo Ramen Cambridge

Sapporo Ramen in Cambridge is located in the Porter Exchange in Porter Square with about 5 other small eateries. I first read about this dish in a post from The Passionate Foodie, who was tipped off by Boston's Hidden Restaurants. This place, as with the rest of the restaurants, lacks ambiance and you might have to share a table if they are busy, but the food is inexpensive, and the service is quick. This is a Japanese noodle house which specializes in ramen, and a sign on the wall states that "Our broth is made from chicken and fresh vegetables boiled over high heat for more than 10 hours and served with premium wave noodles."

So what was the dish? Well, here it is, Tan Tan Men ($9.80). This dish is a Japanese version of Dan Dan Noodles, aka Dan Dan Mian, a specialty of Sichuan cuisine, and it's a dish I try in every Sichuan place I go to. Dan Dan noodles are also known as "peddler's noodles" and the term "dan dan" refers to a "carrying pole." Peddlers used to carry the pole with baskets for the noodles and sauce. Here the dish is basically just soup, noodles, ground pork and scallions, without any other veggies or seaweed. There is also sesame seeds, and the broth takes on a nutty and slightly sour taste that comes from the sesame. I must admit that I really liked the broth with its rich flavors and complexity. As you can see, the "premium wave noodles" was absent, but the noodles were cooked perfectly al dente and had a good chew to them. I thought they were stingy with the spicy ground pork until I realized that most of the pork was on the bottom of the bowl. This was a very interesting dish, and I'll be back to try more of their ramen offerings.

As I said, a very small place.