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Take one part Mexican, add Japanese sabores, what you’ll get is an incredible combination at Ramen Del Barrio.
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Chef Christopher Krinsky: I, I have zero beef with the word effusion as long as it’s done thoughtfully, thoughtfully, because it’s, it’s really, really hard to, to not offend. And when I grew up in Mexico, I had probably the same experience that immigrants would have here, getting the crap beaten outta you ’cause you look different or you’re not as social or don’t even know the language yet.
Like the first words I learned was
like, please stop beating me up.
Mando Rayo: What’s up Taco World? I’m Taco journalist man and welcome to the Tacos of Texas podcast, El Cinco, produced by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT and KUTX studios. And we’re back exploring taco culture in Texas through the eyes of the people in the Lone Star state. So slurp up some menu and ramen and get ready for some moi.
Tasty taco conversations. Cue the taco beets
some water.
Mando Rayo: What’s up Mando here. Back in the taco trenches. But today. We’re trading tortillas for tu. Now I know what you’re thinking, ramen on Tacos of Texas. But let me tell you this story, this chef, this barrio born broth, it’s Pura raison, and it’s just as much ason as any taco I’ve ever had. But before we dive deep into Ramen del Barrio, let’s dig into how Japanese culture influences Mexican Cultura.
Japanese immigration to Mexico began in the late 19th century with a significant wave arriving between 1920 and 1940. Immigrants initially found work in agriculture and fishing, particularly in Baja, California, where they. Cultivated crops and engage in fishing enterprises, communities. Also born in Mexico City.
So there’s history there. I mean, you got kas, haven’t you? That sweet and salty snack that was invented by a Japanese immigrant in Mexico. How about that story about Chicano culture, low riders? Art and styles popping up in Japan. I saw that story just a few years ago. Which brings us back to Ramen del Barrio.
The name says it all. A Japanese skeleton with Mexican skin just like Chicha Ron, a ramen joint that bumps gritty RAs right in the middle of an Asian mart in North Austin. Chef Chris Krinsky took a wild idea, ramen from the barrio and turned it into Austin’s only. Michelin awarded Ramen Shop with a bib.
Goman recognition. So pour yourself some broth. Turn up the volume, and let’s dive into this fusion of culture, hustle, and flavor with Chef Chris Krinsky from Ramen de Barrio.
It is taco time. And now here’s a word from our sponsor, Chuco Town. Visit El Paso is the hometown of this taco journalist. Get your Cultura on at the Mexican American Cultural Center or the Mac. Approved by El Paso voters in 2012. As part of the quality of life bond, the Mac was developed to celebrate and preserve Mexican American heritage.
The center aims to honor the traditions, resilience and cultural contributions of Mexican Americans through vibrant arts experiences and creative engagement. Situated in the heart of El Paso’s downtown Arts District, the M offers exhibition spaces, performance areas, classrooms and artists in residence studios, fostering a dynamic cultural environment as a cultural institution under the Museum and Cultural Affairs Department.
The M plays a pivotal role in enriching the city’s cultural landscape and providing a platform for the celebration of Mexican American art and culture. To our friends at Visit El Paso for sponsoring this podcast episode. Follow visit El Paso on Instagram and Facebook at visit El Paso or on their website@visitelpaso.com.
Today on the show we’re joined by Chef Chris Krinsky, who grew up in Mexico and first started serving ramen out of his parents’ garage. That humble hustle turned into Ramen del Barrio, his north awesome spot where Mexican flavors and Japanese techniques come together in surprising and delicious ways.
Well, Chris, welcome to the re. What do you, what do you think? It’s
beautiful. Thank you for having me. Yeah, I feel like I love it.
Mando Rayo: Feel the vibes are there. Del Barrio. Yeah. And I see this too. Yeah. I was like, we gotta, we gotta do something. It’s
warm, it’s comforting, it’s rustic, you know, it’s, it’s just supposed to invite you into it.
Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. Absolutely.
Mando Rayo: Let’s introduce people to Ram Del Barrio straight off the bat, right? Yeah,
absolutely. So it’s
Mando Rayo: like this fusion of cultures, perro, you know, tell me where did it come from?
So I grew up in Mexico, right? As you as you mentioned. Um, and when I came to Austin, I started working in Japanese restaurants.
So from a disciplinary standpoint, I’m pretty strictly familiar with Japanese kitchens, but you know, like every single restaurant in this country, regardless of what cuisine’s cooking, it’s run by Latinos. Right. Yeah. So along the way I’m meeting plenty of Theas and, and I’m like, Hey, like, you know, I’ll pay you, teach me how to make Caritas, you know?
Yeah, yeah. How do, how do you, how do you roll your masa and all that? Yeah. So, got to learn those things along the way and just by being around the people that you get to meet. But really, when I was doing Ramen Garage, it was, you know. This project that was entirely loose, no real parameters. Mm-hmm. It wasn’t a business.
Okay. So I didn’t have any expectations. It was really just a testing grounds for me to do whatever I want. Mm-hmm. Um, and I remember the first time I really heard about Ria Ramen. Okay. And I was like, oh. Like, I was like, people are out there doing it. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And I go out to the trucks and I’m like, oh, you guys are just making delicious bme.
Yeah. And then you’re pouring it over your Tapio instant noodles. Sure. And I’m like, you know what? That is a beautiful. Evolution of food Sure. Through the street casual environment. Yeah. But that’s not what I’m doing. Right, right. I’m boiling tsu 30 hours over, you know? Yeah. Over the course of two days. Wow.
To get this creamy broth and, and the, and the Japanese ramen structures there. So I was like, okay. So. It hasn’t been done yet. Mm-hmm. Right. Maybe. Maybe it can be done. So the very, very first bowl I did was the VO ohsu. Yeah. And it, I think it had probably just been that very same week that I had had vo
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
At like Taco Mo over on Riverside Uhhuh at the same taco, more Taco Mo. Taco Mo Taco. More Taco Mo. No, that’s.
Mando Rayo: Still, nobody knows. I know. It’s a mystery. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. I’ll go with whatever you want to call it. Right? It’s your show. Um, yeah. So I probably had ulu and I had had the disappointment of understanding what Ria Ramen really was all the same week uhhuh.
So that’s probably where my mind was at. I was like, let me see if I can do this. And I served a few times, but ultimately it was just a one-off bowl ramen garage was Japanese Ramen. Mm-hmm. It was, it was whatever I wanted to do. Mm-hmm. On any given day. Uh, and then, you know, ramen Garage kind of blew up and somebody approached me with an opportunity to open an actual restaurant.
I kind of got this blind interview with an angel investor, didn’t tell me who they were. Mm-hmm. Just came into the garage, right? Yeah. And I treated them like I treat all my guests. Yeah. The next day I get a phone call, they’re like, Hey, this is who I really am, and have an opportunity for you. Do you have something that you could do?
Could you open a concept? And at this point, I’m, I’m 24 years old, and I’m like, absolutely not. Like I have no idea what I would, what I would do, but. I wasn’t gonna say no either. Yeah. Because I had watched my dad be his own, his own boss and entrepreneur his whole life, and I knew, you know. I’m, I’m pretty bad at taking orders from other people, so I knew eventually I was gonna have to be able to do my own thing.
And, um, I knew at the time, or at least where my confidence was that my, my true ability to produce tradi, uh, traditional Japanese Ramen Uhhuh wasn’t necessarily where I wanted it to be.
Mando Rayo: Okay.
And as a young guy, I was like, I don’t know if I want to go out there and compete. With other ramen shops mm-hmm.
That are already established and putting out a fantastic product.
Mando Rayo: Mm-hmm.
And you know, perhaps that was just a lack of confidence at the time. Sure. But I know that my Ramen game has evolved drastically. Yeah. Yeah. From Ramen Del Bar’s conception till now. But I figured, you know what, if I do something truly unique that sets me apart and becomes.
Something that cannot be compared symmetrically. Sure. You don’t think of just Ramen when you think of Ramen del Barrio.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
And it’s a novelty experience. You go there for something that hasn’t necessarily been done in that way before and that protected me. Yeah. Because honestly, like when I think about the first like six months of Ramen del Barrio, I’m like, damn, I wish I could take those back.
Yeah. Because there were so many learning, like going from making Ramen for 20 people. Right. Once every two weeks in an environment where I’m not even charging my guests right. To being a professional business, serving two to 300 bowls on any given day is a drastic change.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, that’s, that’s huge. And, and
I remember, you know, some of the mistakes, I had never worked with an actual industrial pasta boiler.
Like I was a line cook before this. So, so many little things that I could take back if I would, but knowing where I am now, like. The game has evolved so much for me. Yeah. Um, and I would love to like just open a traditional Japanese ramen shop one day, knowing now that the core of Ram del Barrio is like excellent quality Japanese Ramen.
Nice, nice.
Mando Rayo: So this idea was born out of like your experience in working in Japanese Yeah. Restaurants. Yeah, absolutely. But then what was the thing that, you know, you talked about TSU and, and, uh. Caritas brought together, right? Yeah. So like what give you that, that idea, that concept of like, hey car. Yeah.
All these like staples of, of Mexican menus. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah.
And I actually, I have a thing about Kaka for you. Okay. Uh, later. Um, but this is, um, so you know, again. They, they approached me to open Ram del Barrio in like October of 2022. Okay. And we opened February of 23. And from that time when they approached me, the, was the only bowl I had ever done.
Mm-hmm. In the, in the Mexican spectrum of Fusion Ramen. Mm-hmm. But I knew that if I were to open a concept around that. I would need multiple bowls. I would need, you know, when you have a fusion concept Yeah. Any restaurant really, you’re trying to project this idea.
Mando Rayo: Mm-hmm.
And you’re trying to do it through multiple facets.
The food, the visuals, the music, you know, all of it. Yeah. And the more niche your concept is, the more that empowers you to explain it. And the more thoroughly explained your, your vision is right. The more real it becomes the people in it, which is why the decorations of ramen and barrio matter so much.
Yeah. Why I specifically choose vulgar rap. And ska and, and rock. Right. And things that, that are specifically projecting,
Mando Rayo: you mean e you mean EE The young kids call it e for explicit.
I heard. Yeah. Um, you know, all of those things brought together. Um, so the, the caritas in the tsu, you know, the, the standard bowl of tsu ramen is going to present this creamy, thick, viscous white broth,
Mando Rayo: uhhuh.
And I knew that the mulu was not that it’s red, right? I needed to showcase. In one of these bowls that we were gonna be putting out this perfectly emulsified, creamy pork broth.
Mando Rayo: Mm.
And when you think about that, you’re kind of getting back down to simplicity.
Mando Rayo: Mm-hmm.
So then I look at the Mexican side of things.
I’m like, what is the most simple thing? Mm-hmm. Yet obviously intricate and, and and complex thing that, that, that. That Mexican culture does with pork. And that’s caritas, right? Yeah, Caritas. Right, right. You know, it’s an art form at this point. Yeah. I have some chef friends back in Mexico that have broken it down to like a scientific method of making caritas and, and it’s really, really cool and there’s so many different ways to go about it, but it’s, it’s truly, you know, I, I love to, to, to talk about it.
Yeah. And, but. I think TSU and Caritas are kind of like the culminations of what two societies have done with pork. Nice. Within their own spectrums. Right. Right. So,
Mando Rayo: so for our listeners that may not be too familiar with tsu, give us a definition of that.
Right. And
then, and then for some of us that don’t, that think that they can make Caritas not an instant pot.
Yeah. Give ’em that definition. Yeah, sure. The real definition, right? The real, yeah. The truth beneath this. Yeah,
absolutely. Go for it. So tone close through translates to pork bone. Uh. Broth. And then the word ramen actually was translates to wheat noodle. Okay. So you have many different kinds of ramen. So is one specific kind of ramen and that refers to one that’s made with a pork bone.
Um, it can be a clear broth or a cloudy broth, um, and ramen terminology. A. Xan is a clear soup, which you could make with pork bones, and it would still technically be a tsu. Mm-hmm. But the TSU that we in America are very familiar with is a pie or a creamy emulsified soup. Mm. So all of that fat, the collagen has all been blended together to create this really thick body.
Mando Rayo: Okay.
And then caritas, for those of you that. Have been pressure cooking it for some reason. Um, it’s kind of like this hybrid cone fi slash fry Yeah. With your pork, right. You’re gonna have, in our case, and I think in the case of any, you’re gonna break down a whole pig, you’ll have lots of different cuts they’re gonna be throwing into lard.
Cartas is like the whole, it’s the whole pig. Right. And, and, and if you’re truly doing it right, which we do, you have a mother lard that you use over and over and over again. Right. Because if you’re truly, you only have so much lard to work with. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And you’re gonna be, you know, reusing it.
But, you know, um, we throw in bay leaf, uh, Mexican, Coca-Cola, garlic, clove, Cory, um, cinnamon. And, um, you know, there’s a lot of different ways to do it. Yeah. But the sugars and the coke as the, you start with this braise process essentially. Mm-hmm. And eventually the liquid from the, the coke evaporates.
Mm-hmm. And then the sugars that are left behind from the Coke start to fry and caramelize onto the pork and that. So you get that deep rich, I love amber color that. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, we do that fresh every morning. Wow. In the shop we make our, our caritas fresh, we use, um, pork shoulder for that classic, uh, whole pork fibers feel.
We use che or pork stomach, which is one of my favorite meats. I’m an or man, I’m an organ meat guy. Yeah. I think their textures are so much more interesting than fibrous cuts of meat. Yeah. So much more. Che
Mando Rayo: man. It’s, it’s, it’s, you don’t see it a lot like as I force people to do that for fur Further, you go from the border.
Yeah. The less che you get.
Yeah. Yeah. No, 100%. And like I really, really. Again, like organ meats, their textures are so much more interesting. And for me, you know, I feel like you get a lot of people telling you, you know, you have to serve what the people want. You have to like, you have to cater to certain expectations.
I’m like, no, you’re eating pork stomach. This Ramen, when we first launched the store, I actually had like Carita, CIA, and mixes. Okay. You could get shoulder only, right? Both for logistic reasons and pride reasons. I said, nah, y’all are eating the stomach. Don, you’re, you’re, yeah, I’m, I’m not gonna do this.
Because also I think, you know, like, again, as Ramen Delrios game has improved. One aspect of it as the caritas, maybe I didn’t feel as strong about my caritas back in the day. Yeah. And I was like, when you mix it all together, the fats and the collagen from the Chen Rito Uhhuh provide moisture back to that pork shoulder if I feel like I haven’t cooked it quite, quite.
Right.
Mando Rayo: Right, right, right, right.
So mixing it all together just provides a better juicier experience.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. At
this point, doesn’t matter how it’s done, I’m still making you eat all of it. And that third one was the qui, the skin, the s Yeah. Yep. You gotta do it right? Yep. Yep. I, I saw this, I saw this one. Maybe out in California, Uhhuh, I’m sure this is done all over the place.
Sure. Just, you know, taking a slab of quero. Yeah. As the tortilla. For, oh,
Mando Rayo: okay. As a tortilla. Just, just meat on meat. That’s it. Meat on meat. That’s fine. Meat, fat on fat. I’m sure it’s not good for you,
but it, yeah, I am, I am a glutton for heavy flavors and I know I couldn’t do it, but I would do it. Yeah. Yeah, I would, I would eat that for sure.
You, you’re
Mando Rayo: gonna need a lot of, uh, uh, a lot of like esche to cut that fat down. Yeah. That’s a lot
of, a lot of fat. You’re gonna use some acidity there for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Mando Rayo: Your staple, I would assume it would betas, right? Yeah.
Just because it’s really, you know, it’s, it’s representing both cultures right away.
Mm-hmm. It is the closest thing we have to a true Japanese bowl of ramen with that clean, creamy, white broth. Mm-hmm. That allows us to showcase right away, Hey, you know. There’s nothing wrong with Ria Ramen coming from food trucks. It’s a delicious evolution of Mexican Yeah. Cuisine into the fast casual environment.
Mm-hmm. But that’s not what we’re doing. Yeah. This is what we’re doing.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Sure.
And it’s, and it’s, and it’s core, it’s Japanese, right? Yeah. We, we are taking it seriously. Mm-hmm. And then we are providing Mexican flavors and, and, and purpose for being around that.
Mando Rayo: Right. And then some lean more Japanese and some lean
more Mexican.
Right. Absolutely. Right. Yeah. So, whereas, you know, um. Because not everybody eats ulu. Yeah. A natural evolution for that bowl. It’s
Mando Rayo: an acquired taste like guy. It is, it, it is. You know, you got, you know, if you didn’t start like young, you know, after the quinceaneras and the boas, you know, like, it, it definitely is an acquired taste.
Yeah. The, the,
the, the honeycomb. Tripe is, is an acquired taste and texture, right? Yeah. Like, not everybody’s down for. What I love about Oregon beef is that spring you chew, you don’t have to chew
Mando Rayo: it, you just let it slide down that throat. Hopefully they didn’t cut it too,
too big. If we’re gonna go that way, that’s good.
But you know, because not everybody eats mango, a very natural evolution of that bowl to kind of be more, um, uh, available. Platform was the po Oh, yes. Right. Because, um, we are, it’s the same red guillo base that we add to it, the same aroma, chili oil that goes on top of the bowl. Essentially, all I really had to do was swap out the protein.
And, and it also kind of works for us because ramen shops tend to be this large bulk prep program. Mm-hmm. It’s a ton of prep and it’s a ton of assembly. Mm-hmm. And then at the point of sales, it’s just building the bowls really quickly. Right. Yeah. Right. Not, um. You know, you’re not sauteing live in the moment.
You’re not, it’s not, it’s not a pan fried dish. It’s it’s assembly. All of the work comes on the backend, right? So, you know. In in the United States, or, sorry, I guess first thing, in Japan, rama shops tend to only serve one bowl of ramen, and they specialize in that.
Mando Rayo: Okay.
And then they’re all hyper competitive with one another on who’s doing the said dish the best.
Right? In America, we love the illusion of choice. Yeah, so we have very large menus. It’s like you have a lot of choices in this,
Mando Rayo: in this menu right here. Yeah.
Right. So, you know, you have to like, I don’t know how many ramen shops in America. I’m sure the, the Japanese transplants are true to that. But most ramen shops that thrive in America tend to have multiple options on their menu.
And we’re not necessarily. Specializing so much as a traditional Japanese drop wood. Mm-hmm. Because of that desirability, you know, everybody wants something different. You wanna feel like you chose it for yourself. Maybe you weren’t even, you know, just craving something specific to you. Right. Um, so, you know, for us that means the pozole, the moles, sc, you know, the chilaquiles, mixed noodle, all of these different dishes are, are options.
But, um, in that prep. Program of trying to have as many components that we can be cross utilized. I kind of came on the realization that our caritas, this house made fresh product should be our interpretation for our chashu, right? Mm-hmm. You go to Tatsuya, every single bowl still has that as, as long as it has chashu.
It’s the same chashu, right? Yeah. The miso may have ground pork, but, and you’re talking about ramen? Yeah. So here in Austin, right? Yeah. Just something familiar that you guys can, can hop on, right? Yeah. So essentially a ramen shop, tens if. If they’re, if they’re trying to get a large menu mm-hmm. Executed, they’re gonna try and find products that they can place across the menu.
So, you know, you typically have one chashu mm-hmm. For your menu, unless you’re truly putting in the effort to do different things. Right. Right. For us. I only know, I don’t know how many different ways we could interpret Chashu Yeah. Into the Mexican platform. And for me, you know, we’re making these beautiful, fresh, caritas every day.
Yeah. I don’t wanna do like a little costilla or or braised pork shoulder in the po. I think it makes so much more sense to just put that mound of beautiful caritas right on top. Right. And that’s our chashu for it. Okay. Got the, the menudo we still do on Sundays now. Yeah. Um, Lac, right? Yeah.
Mando Rayo: So, but you do have, like, uh, outside of ramen, you have ceviche, you have, uh, yeah. The tacos. Tell me about that. Yeah.
When you get into a fusion concept, you now have to prove to people that it actually makes sense. Mm-hmm. And should exist. Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah. Right. Because now you’re, it, it’s a novelty and you’re also messing with people’s cultures and you know, if you see.
Your culture butchered is probably going to offend you and probably justly. So, yeah, so you know, I’m, we are dealing with this product that has to truly encompass as many facets of something as thoughtfully as possible. Yeah. So the more. I reinforce the structure of the ramen with other fusion dishes around it.
Mm-hmm. Other aspects, the music, right? Like it’s, yeah. Yeah. The, the, the overall vibe of Ramen del Barrio is kind of a mix between like a cantina mm-hmm. And finding a Japanese ramen shop in some alleyway. Yeah. Yeah. Core, you know, dimly, lit, warm, comforting, rustic vibes. Yeah. Yeah. And, and all of it should reflect that.
Yeah. So the other aspects of the menu, you know. Whether it’s the tacos or the toss, or the AGU chiles, they all have fusion in some form. Mm-hmm. The tacos. Mm-hmm. We call Yaki tacos, right? Yeah. We essentially use Japanese robot grilling. We use bean choan as this kind of Japanese charcoal uhhuh, and we essentially make skewers and we grill them over this charcoal.
They have different glazes and toppings to go on top of them. And then they all land eventually on a soft corn tortilla. Right. Different toppings as well, right? Yeah. All of that. Um, and then we deliver it to the customer as is, and then they simply pull the skewer out. Mm-hmm. And you have this taco combining Japanese grilling technique.
Yeah. So you get this beautiful, smoky flavors and we involve, you know, Ja. True Japanese grilling technique. So we have a ade mm-hmm. Which translates ort and Japanese translates to seasoning liquid of sorts. Okay. Yeah. Um, that can apply to both like ramen or grilling. Um, so you know, multiple t throughout our shop.
But a ade for Yaki toti, or, or grilling sake is kind of gonna be like a, a sweet soy glaze. Mm-hmm. You dip your skewers into it and then they go on the grill, they kind of caramelize and they, and they adhere. Mm-hmm. And then you dip it a few more times. So we do a, a, uh, our. Art has like pilon in it, the Mexican brown cane sugar, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. So that, add a really nice rustic note to it right there that you can pick up on right away, Uhhuh. Um, but all of the meats tend to be things that braise really well. Okay. Because then the idea is, you know, you have this tortilla mm-hmm. And skewer in hand. And if you’re trying to pull that skewer out, it has to fall out.
It has to fall off. It has to fall off. Right. The braised lingua, yeah. Sui octopus, braised pork belly, all of those things work really well. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. And then on the seafood side of things, really for me, you know, if you, if you wanna get into like Japanese seafood, it’s about simplicity, right. And in detail and just letting the seafood do the work.
And then Mexican agu Chilis and ceviches yeah. Are, are much more vibrant. But at, at the same time, you know, they always say.
You gotta say
Mando Rayo: no Pika. And so that, that way the lo it,
the seafood still has to shine, right? Yeah. And that’s still the case for, for, for Marico in Mexico. Yeah. Um, a huge inspiration for me. Um, ’cause even though I grew up in East Islam, Moez, which is off the coast of the Yuan. We have a lot of beautiful fresh fish and seafood.
Yeah. The ceviches there tend to be very simple. Okay. You know, like, and, and also that’s also kind of implying the, the, the homegrown. Mm-hmm. Ceviches, not necessarily the fancy restaurant ones. Sure. But ceviche I’m familiar with where I’m from in Mexico is very much kind of like. Fs, acidulated, fish and Pico, they got you mixed together, right?
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah.
Right. Yeah. But if you go to like Baja California and you get into the a Chiles and it’s spicy, right? You know, you’ve got so many different sauces going on, the, the green, the red, the negro, I love it. Yeah. All of those different things. So, um, in Mexico City and there’s a fantastic restaurant, Ava Uhhuh, and they are doing Sonora and ba ba and Baja style.
Maria an incredibly high level. And you know, they, they, they bring in blue tuna. Oh wow. And they’re breaking them down in the shop, like they’re a freaking Japanese restaurant or something. Wow. So they’re going the extra mile. And that to me was a huge inspiration. So the, the, the Ramen del Barrio take on the, on the seafood thing is simply Japanese quality sashimi products.
Yep. Using the Mexican delivery platform, which is the and is Right. You know, so just. Finding ways to let the seafood shine. Mm-hmm. Which is the Japanese doctrine, and then finding the more fun and playful ways of Yeah. Of the casual beach day in Mexico. Yeah. Yeah. Some, yeah. Yeah. With a, yeah. Yeah. Not, not yet.
I can’t serve alcohol in my Can’t wait. That’s true. That’s true. It is a misdemeanor to consume alcohol in my, in my building. Oh, okay. I have to tell people that
Mando Rayo: don’t drink there. People just, but you can slurp all day. Right. You can slurp and
just. Bring an unmarked container.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. There you go. I mean, I’m not surprised.
You know, you got the, the Michelin guide, uh, Biton, the B Yeah. Right? Yeah. What, what, what does that mean? Like how did you find out and what was that experience like? Um.
You know, it was, uh, I think in early October I got a, I got an email from somebody and a message from someone, the same person over Instagram saying that they needed pictures.
Mm-hmm. That they were with the Michelin guide and that we were in consideration. And I was like, every chef friend I’ve ever spoken to says it’s completely, you know, silence, that they don’t tell you you anything. So I’m like, is this a scam? Am I being, yeah, yeah. Am I being messed with? Like, you know, ’cause they wanted me to click a link to submit the photos.
Yeah. Yeah. Is it legit? Like, uh, I’ve been told not to
Mando Rayo: click to quickly. Yeah. Don’t give them your bank account number. Yeah. Um,
but I, I, I don’t remember how, I think I actually contacted, like the Michelin guide. Like the person was like, oh no, yeah, you can contact this number, you’ll verify. Okay. So we sent them a bunch of pictures, Uhhuh, um, and then in November when the first guide came out, they, they invited us to Houston for this big gala.
I bought a suit the morning of the Wow. The event, because I had never had. Suit for anything before. That’s funny. Um, and I got to see a lot of people from Austin. Yeah. From all over Texas and it was really, really cool to get that award. And obviously we’re all shooting for the Star. Yeah. Um, and that’s still my goal for my brick and mortar because I know that the food that we serve, if.
If supported by the right environment. Right. You know, you’re not in an old quaint Asian market. Sure, sure. With some suspicious smells sometimes. Um, if, if you can truly like encompass Ram del Barrio in its own space, I know what it’s worth. Yeah. Um,
Mando Rayo: yeah.
But the, the, the Bib Goman is, is an incredible honor.
Um, and, and have you seen an uptick since?
Mando Rayo: Since,
so I’m gonna say yes, Uhhuh, but it was really funny because Uhhuh, we came, the, the ceremony was on a Monday and we’re closed Monday, Tuesday. Okay. So I come back from Houston Wednesday, and that same Monday it dropped like 30 degrees.
Mando Rayo: Oh dang. So busy season
hit regardless.
I don’t know exactly what uptake. I’m sure it’s significant.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Um, but like for me it was just like, oh, the bib goman, oh, the busy season’s here. Time to go. Just, it was just one big, you know, like inventory had to be increased by 30, 40%, like out of nowhere. And it was like, I think you’re right next to that Asian mart.
You know? Yeah.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
It’s, it’s very, I’m sure your sauce
Mando Rayo: is elsewhere, but
it’s, it’s, it’s very forgiving for my dried goods. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. If I need soy sauce, sugar, salt, MSG, all of those things. Right, right, right, right, right. Even cilantro ’cause their, their produce is still coming in fresh. Right.
But all of my bulk meats I get from a, from a larger company. Yeah. But, um, yeah. Um, and all of my, like my seafoods are, are imported from Japan and stuff like that. Yeah. Or like Baha.
Mando Rayo: So when somebody comes to Ramen del Barrio, give us kind of like this explanation of what they can smell and see and hear as they come into your shop.
Yeah. Um, loud music for sure. Drowning out everything else as best I can to make you forget that you’re in a market. Yeah. Um, you’re gonna smell some chili oils. You know, you mentioned burning chilies. Yeah, our habanero, uh, fire bomb. We’re roasting habaneros on open flame back there, so we’re all crying.
Yeah, yeah. Um, I’m not crying. You’re crying. Um, we are gonna, you’re, you’re gonna find definitely pork smells. Um, I think the grill. Is something that picks up the most because of the way the smoke carries its aromas. And that’s not something you expect coming into a ramen shop. But because we have that bean choan grill back there mm-hmm.
With the sweet soy, you know, charring on the, on the grit, on the grill grate, um, I. The al pastor store marinade the, the orange juice in that and the burning up onto the, onto the Blanca as well. Like, nice. All of that is going to be what you smell right away. It, it does smell good in there.
Mando Rayo: Okay. Uh, now, right now you’re in North Austin, uh, you are a destination, you know, so people go there, right?
Yeah, yeah. So, but what’s next after that shop are, are you looking to do something different?
So the, the first thing that I would really like to do, and we’re getting closer and closer to it, is a brick and mortar. I’ve outgrown the space. Yeah. Um, which is an incredible blessing to be able to say, but we’ve outgrown that space, you know?
Um, so ultimately Del Barrio in its brick and mortar becomes an izakay uhhuh. Once we have that drinking, you know, a ramen shop tends to be a very quick turn and burn operation. Sure. When you’re serving. Just the one dish. Right. And especially the, the tradition there is in Japan you have these very small shops, limited seating.
Mm-hmm. The chef needs to turn covers in order to turn a profit to keep the lights on. Mm-hmm. So you’re gonna keep those seats moving. You’re expected to leave as soon as you’re done eating. In America, we are very leisurely with our time. You wanna sit down, have a more social eating experience, which. Is is the norm here.
So you know, that’s kind of okay with us because we already have more than ramen. Sure. We increase our guest check average. The average amount that a customer spends by having these appetizers, these shareables, that are just as intriguing to the customer as the ramen is because of the fusion element that, you know, your typical bowl of ramen may cost you from 14 to $17.
And then you may get, get, maybe get a drink on top of that. That’s that ticket that you need to turn really quickly because you, they’ve only spent about $21 or so. Right. But for us, because we have all of these shareables and appetizers, yeah. Yeah. The guest check goes up. Enjoy your
Mando Rayo: time, enjoy your time.
Right. We we’re, yeah. I love that.
And, and that’s where the, is Kaya truly comes into play for us because I want both, you know, I want Mexican and Japanese beer.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
I would love to have like a whiskey program from Japan because they excel at that. Yeah. Yeah. I would love to have a meca program from Mexico.
Yeah. And then you can do sca that you can spike with sake and stuff like that. Right. Love that. Oh, you know, you’re, you’re yuzu, jalapeno margarita or, or or sake in your, in your ha whatever the case may be. Um, so many different options and, and it’s just one more element of like what Ramen del Barrio needs to be to truly flesh out that concept.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Well it sounds like yeah, you’re really kind of taking kind of your own creativity and taking it to the next level.
Yeah, absolutely. Um, I. I, I think there’s kind of like two ways to approach food as far as creating or or choosing to represent something. And you can either kind of honor time, old traditions, essentially replication, right?
Say, you know, I’m gonna open a traditional dim sum restaurant dumplings, and I’m going to perfect the folds, the fillings, the steaming techniques, all of that. And I’m just opening and authentic. Traditionalist dim sum restaurant. And that’s a beautiful experience. And arguably, it’s what takes more time to master because you’re making someone else’s food and you have to make it to their standard.
Sure. And they cared about it just as much as you do, if not more, because they invented it, like it’s, it’s their product. So to replicate is essentially, you know. I, I actually do respect it as the, as the higher and more difficult art form of cooking. Mm-hmm. Is to make three aita, you know, back
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Caritas as good as they made it. Right, right, right. That’s probably really, really hard to do. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Or you can put your own spin on it and use your own creativity and, and honor tradition, but also. Do something new with it for you. Mm-hmm. And, and I, and I argue probably it’s, it’s easier to do that because that means you’re forsaking rules.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
But at the same time, it’s harder. ’cause then you have to be a truly creative person.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah. Totally. Yeah.
You have to actually be able to flesh these things out in a sense of way. ’cause. Speaking, honestly, there’s a lot of really crappy fusion out there. Yeah. Right. Fusion isn’t just, you know, slapping one thing on top of the other.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s building it from the ground up and that it makes sense to do so. Yeah. Yeah. So what
Mando Rayo: do you think about that word fusion?
You know, um, it kind of defines my life to sense,
Mando Rayo: right?
I had like the, in the, the, the inverse immigrant experience, I, I moved to Mexico from a really young age. Yeah.
I learned English at home and Spanish at school. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so. I, I have zero beef with the word fusion as long as it’s done thoughtfully because it’s, it’s really, really hard to. To not offend. And when I grew up in Mexico, I had probably the same experience that immigrants would have here getting the crap beaten outta you ’cause you look different or you’re not as social or don’t even know the language yet.
Yeah. Like the first words I learned was
like, please stop beating me up. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like some of the first things I learned. Um, but, you know, I, I kind of, for, for a, for a long period of time, I kind of rejected Mexican culture. Yeah. Because I felt attacked by it. Sure. You know, I was plucked from my elementary or preschool. Back in the States.
Yeah. Go to Mexico. I don’t speak their language. Yeah. Yeah. Some kids are really, really nice to me. Yeah. But some kids are really, really mean to me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I’m, I don’t even have the language skills to ask them why they’re being mean to me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Other than Ingle, right? Yeah, totally.
That’s what it, what boils down to. Yeah. So I rejected Mexican culture as part of me Sure. For a very long time. Yeah. And I, at 18 I was, you know, trying to figure out where I was gonna go to college. It could have been like Wadi and Merida or Una in Mexico. I, I barely probably even had the grades to get into those places.
Yeah, yeah. But, um, my, my parents actually met two teachers from a CC, um, yeah. At a bar in East LA and they’re like, well, come check out Austin.
Mando Rayo: Okay.
So I did, and I came here and Awesome. And yeah, the, the, the, the, the number of events that had to like fall into place for me to be here. Yeah. Right, right, right.
Are ridiculous. That’s amazing. Um, but, you know, I come to Austin. You know, I said I wanted to leave Mexico and of all the places I chose Tejas. Right. That’s funny. Which was Mexico before. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So here’s how I barely left. Um,
Mando Rayo: so here’s my last question for you. Yeah. If you had to describe it, Ram del Barrio as a taco, what kind of taco would that be?
It would be a taco de caritas with a salsa rocha. The Chile cap.
Mando Rayo: Okay.
It would have a eel, it had eel sauce on it, and it would have chicharone ika, and that’s what I brought to the Taco Fest. Yeah. Uh, in Dallas just a few days ago. Right. So foodie ca this essentially like a a, a mix of different crispy, crunchy elements.
Yeah, yeah. Traditionally you would sprinkle it on your rice or something in Japanese food. It could be nori, you know, bonito, crispy, garlic, all of those things. We make one in house. By crushing chicharrones.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
And folding it with all of those Japanese elements together. You get this beautiful, smoky, fishy, porky, crunchy, love it.
Crispy mix. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Love it. And it goes beautifully on the Carita Staco, because Chicharron already gets crushed onto Carta Sometimes it works really well. Eel sauce, a little sweetness. Nice. It’s really good.
Mando Rayo: Well, Chris, it’s been such a pleasure having you on and thank you. You know, thanks so much for sharing.
Going a little bit deeper around like both cultures, I would say. Yeah, absolutely. You know, you know, I mean, and, and it’s, it shows that you have kind of the trust and, and you honor, uh, both traditions. Thank you. And kind of what you’re doing with their craft. So thank you so much for being on the show.
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Okay. We’ll see. Appreciate it’ll see you. We’ll see you out there. Awesome.
Well, there you go. Mete Fusion. It’s a thing between Mexican culture and Japanese and the Sares that come together, and I mean, I’ve had that firsthand experience from meeting those ka es, but not only that, but actually going to Ram del Barrio. The flavors are just like amazing, the smells and slurping up.
It just makes it so much fun. Whether it’s the Caritas or the menu noodles, it all kind of comes together. So I want to thank our guest chef Chris Krinsky from Ramen Del Barrio, hit them up in, in North Austin when you’re in town. And with that, I want to also give some shout outs to the. Fusion that you, you see across the state.
Koi Barbecue outta Houston. Chef Enrique Lozano does some popups in El Paso and Hot Pine Nas, sushi Bistro and Land Grill in Sugarland, Texas. This has been the Tacos of Texas podcast developed and produced by identity product. If you enjoyed today’s episode and are craving more taco content, go to our website@www.identity.productions or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at Identity Productions and United Tacos of America.
This is your host, Mando El Taco journalist.
On the next proximal Tacos of Texas, a deep dive into the intersection of tacos and tequila with tequila aficionado salcido.
Louisa Van Assche: The Tacos of Texas Podcast is presented by identity productions in partnership with KUT and KOTX studios. Our host and producer is Mando. Our audio is mixed by Nicholas Weden. Our story producer is me, Louisa Van, and our creative producer is Dennis Burnett.
Music was created by OSA in Austin, Texas, and King Benny Productions located in the Quinto Barrio of Houston.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
