SADLY, IVAN RAMEN SLURP SHOP IS NOW CLOSED.
We know Jewish people love to eat Asian food, but did you know Asian chefs love to incorporate one specific Jewish food into their dishes? I’m talking about everybody’s favorite smoked meat: pastrami.
At least in New York, chefs from funky hip Asian restaurants seem to use pastrami as a meat substitute any place they can. And it usually works wonders. I’ve had excellent pastrami egg rolls at Red Farm, super spicy kung pao pastrami at Mission Chinese, and now I’ve finally discovered Ivan Ramen’s pastrami buns.
The chef in this case is Ivan Orkin who is actually a New York Jew by birth, but has learned the ways of Japanese ramen. His two locations in the city are huge hits for his noodle soups and his inventive appetizers.
At the Slurp Shop in Hell’s Kitchen, Orkin offers a selection of buns. The pork belly buns are the traditional ones and the shrimp buns with smoked chili slaw sounded tempting, but when I saw the word pastrami, I knew which one I had to try.
Here’s another Asian pastrami home run. The steamed buns are soft and pillowy and the crisp, smoky meat inside is salty and tender. Every ounce of fatty flavor is preserved on the soft bun and complemented with daikon slaw and a sweet and tangy kewpie mustard.
Pastrami reigns supreme once again. I can’t wait for someone do Pastrami Sushi.
IVAN RAMEN SLURP SHOP
Inside Gotham West Market,
600 11th Avenue (between 44th and 45th Street),
Hell’s Kitchen
(212) 582-7942
Brian Hoffman is a classically trained actor who is now a full-time tour guide, blogger, and food obsessive. He leads food and drink tours around New York City, which not only introduce tour-goers to delicious food, but gives them a historical context. He has written food articles for Gothamist and Midtown Lunch in addition to overseeing this blog and a few food video series, including Eat This, Locals Know, and Around the World in One City. His latest series is an international cooking show with his son which can be found on this site.
