Today’s operators face a host of profitability challenges: increased competition, soaring food costs and continuing labor pressures, just to name a few. When looking to add profitability, it is important to understand that “value” goes well beyond what is on the plate. Value can be found in the perception of a dining experience.

It’s no surprise that cold beverage sales spike in the summer months. Temperatures peak and consumers look for refreshing, satisfying ways to quench their thirst.

New and exclusive products from Sysco that offer on trend flavors, labor saving solutions, and menu versatility. 

Simple and convenient Asian-inspired ingredients from Sysco’s Jade Mountain brand offer a refreshing and on-trend way to feature Asian elements and fusion-style dishes with endless options for operators to customize to their individual restaurant style.

With the products customers crave and the reliability businesses desire, House Recipe is consistently perfect, every time.

Foodie Magazine sat down with Paul Frintrup, Food and Beverage Director and executive Chef at the Country Club

Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup made of Chinese-style wheat noodles. It is typically served in a meat or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and garnished with toppings such as sliced pork, dried seaweed, and green onions. The first specialized ramen shop opened in Japan in 1910. It wasn’t until after World War II when cheap flour imported from the United States swept the Japanese market that it became more popular and many ramen restaurants were opened across Japan. Though eating ramen became popular it still required going out to eat.

That all changed in 1958 when Momofuku Ando invented instant noodles. Ando’s invention made it possible for anyone to make an approximation of the dish simply by adding boiling water. In 1970, the savvy Ando began exporting his instant ramen to the United States in easy-to-transport, easy-to-eat-from disposable cups.

Since coming to the United States, ramen has mostly been known as cheap packaged noodles that are a go-to meal for college students, but in the last decade it has become a passion of foodies and trendy chefs across the nation. Los Angeles and New York have so many quality ramen shops, restaurant critics create top 10 lists, opining on the tactile qualities of noodles and the viscosity of egg yolks. Ramen shops are opening up in major cities around the country including Boston, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Detroit.

Ramen restaurant entrepreneurs have deployed clever marketing strategies like using social media and food blogs to spark interest to create a cult following for this humble dish. By using ramen as the perfect canvas for culinary creativity, they play into the larger trend of elevating simple foods through craftsmanship.

Nearly every region in Japan has its own variation of ramen and adding new ingredients is seen as innovative. This trend has followed ramen to the United States with each new city it reaches creating its own style of the dish.

Jicama is a round taproot vegetable grown in many parts of Central and South America, South Asia, and the Caribbean. Jicama has a refreshing, crispy fruit-flavor. It can be eaten raw or cooked in a variety of sweet or savory dishes and is available year-round.

Jicama should be firm and feel heavy for its size. The skin should have a slight luster and not show any sign of bruises or cracking. Although it may be tempting to get the largest jicama available, the flavor and texture will be better if you choose medium-size roots that weigh less than four pounds. Keep jicama unpeeled in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

To prepare, remove skin with a sharp vegetable peeler, then cut the white flesh into cubes or strips. Because jicama does not brown or become soggy after cutting, it makes a nice addition to crudité platters, salsas, and salads. It’s also good added raw to sushi rolls in place of cucumber for crunch, or included in stir-fries as it performs best with quick-cooking methods that allow it to maintain crispness.

Although jicama tastes sweet, it has only one gram of sugar per half-cup portion. In addition to being low in calories, a half-cup serving of raw jicama provides 20 percent of your daily vitamin C and three grams of dietary fiber. A half-cup serving of jicama contains only 25 calories and no fat or cholesterol.