新潟三宝亭東京ラボ (Sanpotei in Nakameguro, Tokyo)

0 Reviews

新潟三宝亭東京ラボ中目黒店

I randomly wandered into Sanpotei while having a bit of a sanpo (散歩 – casual stroll) around Nakameguro one day. Chinese hot and sour soup is called sanratan (酸辣湯) in Japanese. It is very uncommon in my experience of dining at all levels of Chinese around Japan, but here it is. It’s also, according to my Chinese friends, not so common around mainland China either.

Quick history lesson. Yukihiro Kaneko (金子行宏) was a chef at a prestigious Hibiya hotel restaurant before going independent in 1967. He moved to Niigata and opened Sanpo Hotel, followed by a slew of restaurants over the years. As of 2022, there have been 38 shops in the group. Most of these look like large family-style restaurants, a mainstay around Japan. If you’ve ever driven along Japan’s never-ending national roads, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Pachinko, car dealerships, and family restaurants kilometer after kilometer. This Tokyo shop is something different, choosing to focus on only a few noodle dishes.

The shop boasts about their kodawari toppings. Customize your noodles with homemade rayu hot oil, howajao (花椒) numbing pepper, aosansho (青山椒) numbing pepper, and budosansho (ブドウ山椒) numbing pepper. These different numbing peppers all have different levels of aroma, spice, and of course that ma sensation of numbing your mouth. Take care.

Hot and sour soup is characterized by julienned bamboo shoots, mushrooms, tofu, and meat (typically pork shoulder). The soup is thickened with cornstarch and flavored with spices and vinegar for the hot and sour. To be honest, although I enjoy soups thickened with cornstarch, I don’t like the way they slurp with noodles. Give me the a side of rice, but hold the men.

Sanpotei also serves an array of Niigata sake. I didn’t try any this time, but a cold daiginjo might be a friendly match for a spicy soup.

It’s hard to see from my photos, but the ramen is served in a double-walled metal bowl to help regulate the temperature. I’ve seen beer mugs made this way in Niigata for sale at high-end department stores. For the mugs, they are called gyokusendo (玉川堂). I highly recommended buying one for your home, though these particular mugs can cost a pretty penny.

I miss hot and sour soup. Growing up in California, it was a normal Chinese take-out order. Most shops would serve a watered-down version of it, but some of our go-to places made one with real flavor. I think. I was probably 14 years old when I ate this regularly with my family. I’ve read that hot and sour soup is more of an American dish, alongside sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, and Mongolian beef. And don’t forget the fortune cookies.

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