JAPANESE vs. CHINESE Ramen Noodles & A5 WAGYU BEEF BBQ | BEST RAMEN in Miami!?

Good morning, it's Mike Chang here in Miami, Florida. Hopefully everyone's doing well out there. You know, I've been in Miami for about a week now. Been eating a lot of Latin food, a lot of buffets, but haven't really explored the Asian foods in here. Japanese food in Miami? Supposed to be amazing. And before we head out, since it's still pretty early, let's do some snack tasting. This video, of course, is sponsored by Tokyo Trees and Sakurako. I just want to say, I anticipate when these boxes will show up. It's like making up for all the Christmas and birthday presents I never got. You open these boxes right away, there's a booklet that tells you exactly what's inside the box, all the treats, where they're from, as well as some cool facts about Valentine's Day in Japan. First, Tokyo Treats. Strawberry milk Kit Kats. This is awesome. And you can use this bag as origami paper and make it into a heart. Hey look, Mike Popcorn. This is so delicious. I'm gonna save this for movie nights. Strawberry milk drink. Oh, that's yummy. Yuzu Sinter Ramen. Let's see what's inside the Sakurako box. Look at these, little heart-shaped candies. Little heart-shaped rice cracker candies with a sweet strawberry shell. This is awesome. As always, you get a little home item here. And it is a sauce plate. If you don't know the difference, Tokyo Treats is more of a collection of popular Japanese candies and snacks. Sakurako is more authentic, traditional snacks from local artisan snack makers. Both are delivered straight from Japan worldwide, right to your door. Of course, every month, you get different themes, different snacks to keep things exciting. I love their mission, which is to share Japanese culture with the world through the medium of snacking. It's like the best way to spread culture ever. So if you want to give these boxes a try, which I highly recommend you do, seriously, you're gonna be looking forward to this every single month like I am. For Tokyo Treat, use code KITKAT22 to get a bonus Kit Kat in your first box. For Sakurako, use code TIGER to get a bonus Japanese home goodies in your first box. And make sure to sign up before January 31st to get your freebies. Well, this is gonna be my breakfast, and then let's go get some ramen. First bowl of ramen of the day here in Coral Gables. I think there's a ramen shop here that's gonna be pretty good. Breakfast slash lunch is at Ichimi. I think there's a couple of locations in Ichimi in the Miami area. And at least from the pictures, it looks pretty darn good. There's the So ramen, there's the Ichimi ramen, tonkatsu broth, spicy miso black dragon, dandan noodles as well. So step one, you choose your broth and toppings. Then you choose your noodles. I'm going for this for sure. And then you can add anything else you want. Chili oil is free. I didn't bring my own, so I do appreciate that. First thing to arrive at the table, crispy pig ears. Look at this, covered in scallion. I can smell the chilies. There's some sort of sticky sauce on this as well. You know, this looks delicious and smells great too. Also, a lot of people think this is saffron. It's not. It's just strands of chili. This is awesome. I've had fried pig ears only one other time at a ramen restaurant. It was especially not chewable and definitely not good. This? Absolute perfection. So good, I want to cry. I think there's a little soy sauce glaze on top of this. I might be wrong, but again, spicy chili flakes. Cilantro, scallions. This thing is fried perfectly, so you got that nice crunch on the outside. And inside, you got that really nice crunch from the cartilage of the ear. And then there's that great gelatinous-y texture of the meat around the cartilage. 100% recommend this when you come here. Sweet and savory, definitely spicy. Crunchy and gelatinous-y. This is like all my favorite textures and flavors in one bite. Amazing, amazing. Ramen's have arrived. First of all, love these wooden ladles. This is the spicy miso. Tonkatsu broth. Thin layers of char siu. Perfectly cooked eggs with chilies on top. Sesame on top of the broth as well. Scallions, mushrooms. Let's take a look at the noodles. Ah, that's nice. Thin, straight noodles. My favorite in tonkatsu broth. Because this thing soaks up the broth the best. And they give you a lot of noodles in here, too. Some sprouts on the bottom as well. Let's see about this broth. That's good. Oh, that's good broth. Mmm. Oh, that is delicious. That is so creamy. It's rich, it's smooth as silk. I wanna add more chilies in here, because why not? You taste the miso, you taste the chilies. Oh, I don't even make it spicy here. Just wanna add a little more spice in here. Favorite thing about these noodles? Look how well they grab onto the broth. That is flippin' delicious. Oh yeah, that noodle absorbed all that rich, smooth, creamy flavor of the tonkatsu. Again, perfect egg. Bite of that, slurp of the noodles. That broth becomes even creamier. Little texture change. Pop in a pig ear. Let's try the chashu. Mmm. That thing is sliced so thin. Absolutely tender. I've only been to a few ramen places in Miami, but I think this is the best one. And I don't even think it's closed. This is so delicious. Luckily, I got two bowls. This one, check it out. This is the tandanmen. Mounds of garlic and meat on the top. Ooh, this is so much garlic. Again, thin noodles on the bottom. I think this is a little bit, um, maybe a half a quarter of tonkatsu broth. Same white noodles. Spices on the bottom too, so when I start mixing all this together, this whole bowl just turns red. This is smelling amazing, by the way. Really, really good. It's the same broth, and that broth is just awesome. Much more garlicky, of course. Much thicker. The meat is very much more minced than what I typically find in tandanmen, but it's good. Gotta add more chilies. I wish there was some vinegar. I know this is not a traditional ingredient to add in Japanese ramen, but, oh man. I think a little black vinegar in this brings up the umami flavor of this dish, which is already so intense right now. That's incredible. I love the fact that they are aggressive with the garlic. I love that. So much garlic, so much scallion, so you get the spice from that as well. And all that is inside this thick, creamy, rich broth. And again, the noodles grab onto the broth so well. Huge fan of the spice. I highly recommend every one of these dishes. But really, regardless of what ramen you get, you gotta get the pig hair to go with it. Next stop, Linwood. And this is where a lot of graffiti is showcased throughout the area. A lot of people are here for that. I think I was here last time for a momosan. There's quite a few Japanese restaurants in this area. And I'm here at Kiyu for a couple things. They're bone marrow and beef rib. This looks good. Giant, crusted beef short rib. There's sweet soy on here. There's garlic. But just look at how beautiful that crust is. Little pickles, onions, a bowl of greens to wrap everything in. This thing is so pretty. It's like owning a Ferrari. People are walking by and just staring at it. Pretty sure if I would let them, they'd want to take a selfie. Again, look how beautiful this crust is. Inside, the most juicy, tender rib. Holy moly, this looks so good. Three different dipping sauces. Sweet teriyaki. Ooh, habanero. Wow. Oh, I'm all about the habanero. That'll definitely melt in your mouth. And then do a little dance all over your taste buds. Perfectly smoky, beautiful char. Again, the inside is just delicate, juicy, melts in your mouth. Fatty rib meat. Let's do a little wrap. Piece of beef, some cilantro, a little wasabi on top. Some barbecue sauce, pinch of salt. And let's just throw on some habanero. A little pepper as well. So, so much flavor. The veggies are incredibly fresh. The beef rib, like I said, holy moly. Melts as soon as it touches anything. I'm gonna make a bigger sandwich this time. Salt and pepper, a little more habanero. And after your meat is done up here, this bone looks like it's begging to be gnawed on. Oh yeah. There's some good eating in this bone too. Look at all this meat on the bottom. That's all good fat right down there. Dish number two. Check this beauty out. Marinated herbs with miso toast over bone marrow. Oh, this just looks so delightful. Look at that. So much marrow covered in onions and herbs. Put that over some miso toast. Let that soak in a little bit. This is the best bone marrow I've ever had in my life. This is so good. I mean the bone marrow itself, like I love bone marrow. Bone marrow itself is such a treasure. It's basically just bone butter. Like this stuff, this stuff spread on toast doesn't get much better than this. This stuff spread on anything will make it absolutely splendid. But with the herbs, holy moly, it's a game changer. I mean it is just so flavorful and smoky. You taste the wonderful smoke of the marrow as soon as you bite down on this toast. This thing deserves a standing ovation. Must try when you get here. Oh, here we go. Final dish, Thai fried rice with a fried egg on top, crab in a stone bowl so all that rice is touching the inside of the bowl. It's going to get all nice and crispy. Oh, cilantro, ginger, lemongrass. Thai chili? Sweet and spicy. Wow, you see that brown part of the rice? That's where the good stuff is. That's where that rice touched the stone bowl and got even better. Thank you so much. Gotcha, appreciate it, man. Thank you. This is the Thai stone bowl fried rice. Delicious. Yum. Mean. The egg made this rice perfectly creamy. Little sweet, little spicy. Tons of great texture from the crab to the crunchy veg, to the soft egg, to the brown parts of the rice that makes this texture even better. And the chilies, they get you like right on the back of your tongue. So when you take a bite, you don't think it's all that spicy. The chilies will give you a nice reminder. Right on the back of your throat. Bring this to my mouth any day of the week. Whoa. Oh, the pickles here are so sour. Oh, I just thought of something. Some fried rice right inside the bone marrow bowl where still some good buttery liquid remains on the bottom. And then bring it right to your mouth. Please do that when you get here. Oh, this place is awesome. I love this neighborhood. It's so vibrant. The art's really cool. It's really fun to walk around because there's food everywhere. There's things to look at everywhere. For example, I'm looking and across the street, I see something else I want to eat. Uh, let's do lavender on top. Thank you. Eat the lavender, then go for the bran. Thank you so much. Have a good day. If you've never had honey and lavender at Salted Straw, then, well, you need to just get some honey and lavender at Salted Straw. That's so good. Take a bite, close your eyes. It's like strolling through a lavender field. Huh. I think it's raining on my ice cream right now. Or, at least I hope it's raining. So this place is pretty interesting. There's a lot of Asian fusion places in and around Miami. This place has pretty much everything. Sushi, tempura, sashimi, ramen, and Chinese noodles. A couple things caught my eye. The hot and sour dumpling soup, the tingly beef noodles, and the A5 Wagyu on a hot stone. Sour and spicy soup with dumplings. Freshly made pork dumplings in this vinegary, spicy broth. First Chinese dish I've had in about a month. Mm. Ah, sour. This used to be one of my favorite things to eat in China. It's just dumplings inside super sour, super spicy soup. Mm. All right, dumpling's not bad. Pure pork dumplings, not much of a veg in there, but who cares? Wrapper's not that thick. With this dish, you gotta just fill it with soup before every single bite. Mm. This is one of those dishes that you gotta, you know, kind of prepare yourself for how sour it's gonna be because it is really sour. So these dumplings, you really don't need dipping sauce. Dunk it into the soup. Mm. So I had Japanese ramen today, so I figure it's time for some Chinese noodles. This dish, tons of beef, spices, chilies, peppers, scallions, onions, and biang biang noodle on the bottom. They put a ton of beef in here. It's all covered in chilies and sesame. Oh, I miss this. Chewy biang biang noodles covered in cumin, chilies, and a ton of beef. There's definitely a lot of spices in this dish. Beef is really, really tender. Peppers are crunchy and nice. Again, this is something I always crave. They already added a lot of vinegar in here, which is vinegary, spicy, super fragrant, and of course, awesome mouthfeel on the noodles. Last dish is here. They have a five wagyu, so I figured that was what was kind of missing from my Japanese food day. Dip it in a little bit of salt, and that is all you need for the most melt-in-your-mouth piece of meat you'll find anywhere. It's pretty cool they let you grill it yourself right in front of you on a hot stone. Oh, I'm chasing it with some vinegary noodles. Keeps the flavor interesting so the butteriness doesn't overwhelm your taste buds. Amazing food day today. Went to this awesome Japanese restaurant and had probably the best bone marrow of my life. And I'm finishing off with some familiar noodles, dumplings, and a five wagyu. Not bad for a Miami food day. And as always, guys, all the places I went to listed down below for you. Thank you all so much for watching until we eat again. See you later.