ARLINGTON, Texas — For chef Jesus Garcia, a good bowl of ramen boils down to two very simple things.
“First thing I do, I slurp the broth, taste the noodles. If it's al dente, it’s got that right texture of the broth, nice seasoning, that’s where it’s at,” Garcia said.
Not familiar with this bowl of hot soup?
“It’s kind of when you look at Mexican cuisine ... if you can get a tortilla and a salsa right, that makes everything else,” Garcia said.
Garcia’s path to ramen was first inspired by his love for seafood, which he describes as a “luxury item.” That fascination led to a career as a sushi chef, working in Tarrant County.
“I look at the Japanese culture, and I'm enamored with everything that they do. The patience and time that it takes to do and create and better their craft,” Garcia said.
But Garcia noticed his peers in the kitchen weren’t eating the sushi themselves because it was “expensive.” Instead, they were making ramen for staff meals before their shifts at the restaurant.
For Garcia, the hot bowl of noodles was approachable and, in a way, familiar.
“The first time that I had tonkotsu ramen, the pork ramen, it instantly reminded me of pozole. Like that's what I thought of,” Garcia told WFAA.
Garcia – whose family is of Mexican and Honduran descent – said he grew up eating pozole, a traditional Mexican stew.
“(My first bite of tonkotsu ramen) just hit home. And then I was like,' man, this is what I want to cook and do and learn,'” the chef said.
Garcia went to Japan to study ramen. Later, he was part of the team that opened Oni Ramen, which has locations in Dallas and Richardson.
After leaving Oni Ramen, Garcia founded Kintaro Ramen out of a ghost kitchen in Fort Worth during the pandemic.
“A lot of my recipes have chili de árbol and different kinds of dried Mexican peppers,” Garcia said. “I wouldn't say that what we serve is 100% authentic just because my background just pushes me to explore and push those boundaries.”
The Fort Worth ghost kitchen has turned into Garcia’s production kitchen, which now powers the restaurant’s Fort Worth and Arlington locations. Specials at Kintaro Ramen have included birria ramens and menudo ramens.
“This is America. It’s Texas. We're a melting pot of flavors,” Garcia said. “We're just not going to quit trying to better ourselves and the cuisine that we're investing in.”
Garcia hopes to open a third location of Kintaro Ramen soon.
“I might not have grown up doing ramen, but I'm very passionate about it.”