Ramen Cookoff at Union Pool

“We are not over-intellectualizing ramen, this is very important” said Judy Peacock, one of the winners of the Ramen-off challenge held in the back room of Williamsburg’s Union Pool bar.

Inspired by the bad economy, Brooklyn Kitchen owners Harry Rosenblum and Taylor Erkkinen decided to celebrate the cookware store’s second birthday with a Ramen-Off, or a cook-off featuring the super-cheap instant ramen as the main ingredient. Rosenblum and Erkinnen put the contest on the store’s website and sent out emails to customers on their mailing list, attracting an impressive 22 entries. The contestants let their imaginations run wild with dishes such as Fleur de Sel Ramen Brittle, made with sugar, peanuts and chocolate, Chelsea’s Ramen Haystacks, made with peanuts covered in white chocolate and peanut butter chips; and ramen pepperoni pizza with ramen noodles mixed with egg covered with cheese and pepperoni. Other featured dishes ranged from pork and noodles braised inside a pumpkin, to ramen noodles cooked in Bourbon crème Anglaise to even ramen-related desserts.

The judging began at 8:00PM with three judges sampling the dishes, followed by a popular vote reached after the other on lookers in the room sampled the dishes and judged the culinary skills of the cooks.

Contestant Emily Farris who just came out with a cook book, “Casserole Crazy,” often participates in cook-offs. Just last night she had her fourth annual casserole party where casserole cooks presented their competing recipes. She said she loves the idea of cooking with a challenge. She made spring rolls stuffed with ramen noodles, which she named White Trash Spring Rolls.

“The spring rolls are made with ramen. Ramen is the quintessential white trash food; it’s like 50 cents,” said Farris, explaining the origins of the name of her dish.

Other local foodie celebrities Diner and Marlow & Sons butcher and blogger Tom Mylan, and cooking contest pro Cathy Erway of the blog “Not Eating Out in New York,” were a couple of the notable attendees. Erway was one of the judges and Mylan entered his ironically creation “General Tso’s Ramen,” ramen noodles in General Tso sauce made from scratch, which he spent about three hours making.

“I am a butcher, to celebrate [Brooklyn Kitchen’s] birthday, I wanted to cook something that has no meat in it,” said Mylan. “[Plus] I was broke for a while, so I spent much time eating ramen.”

Many people showed up empty-handed, some out of curiosity, some to show support for their local merchants and some by chance or coincidence. Cody Dennison and Matt Singer, Brooklyn Kitchen customers and friends of Rosenblum and Erkkinen, came to show support. Although they enjoyed themselves, they did not deny the quirky nature of the event.

“Man, it’s Sunday night. We’re at a ramen cook-off. This is definitely fringe,” said Dennison.

Chef Sunny Bang, another judge on the panel whose retirement dream is to own a ramen shop, took his job very seriously, doling out advice to contestants on how to improve their ramen concoctions. He said Taylor and Henry couldn’t have picked a better person to judge this contest. He was looking for ramen dishes that were cooked just right, full of flavor, creativity and firm noodles.

“The challenge was to find [the dish] that is well seasoned and not over-cooked,” said Bang. “Ramen is very easy to overcook.”

The contest ended with the announcement of the winners, John Goodwin’s “Vietnamese Beef and Ramen Salad” with steak, red bell pepper, scallions, cilantro, basil, mint, fish sauce, garlic, chili pepper and bean sprouts got #1 Savory. The prize for #1 Sweet dish went to Kathryn Greenberg and Chris Clark’s B.E.S.P.P.R. Ramen Dessert w/ Bourbon Creme Anglaise made with butter, eggs, sugar, peaches and pears. Chelsea White got the #2 Sweet spot for her Ramen Haystacks with peanut butter, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips. Judy Peacock’s Ramen Bibimguksu, made with red chili paste, rice wine vinegar, pork shoulder, red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, sesame oil, sugar and kimchee got #3 Savory. Melissa Sands “Ramen KaoSoy” with coconut milk, red curry, chicken, mustard greens got the #1 all-around by popular vote, as well as #2 Savory.

Sands showed much excitement in receiving the prize.

“It’s an honor to be chosen by the people,” Sands said. “Ramen is for the people, by the people. And you know what, I actually eat ramen in real life.”

A third judge, Joe Pallate a.k.a. Peter Erkkinen, Taylor Erkkinen’s father and a former cook himself, said the dishes were ingenious and the variety was amazing.

“You wouldn’t find this in a restaurant,” said Erkkinen. “I wouldn’t mind paying money for [some of these ramen dishes.]”