On Mondays through Thursdays, Chef Kuroda of Maekawa Bar in Seattle’s International District spends seven hours slaving over a chicken stock with onions, garlic and carrots that ends up as the soup for his shoyu ramen. Maekawa Bar is an izakaya, or a Japanese tapas bar, with an extensive menu, but Kuroda-san’s ramen is one of the highlights. Try the shoyu-butter ramen -- the tab of butter mellows the soup and changes the flavor profile a bit.  Kuroda says it’s popular with the bar’s American guests. And if you’re really hungry, go for the ramen with everything, which includes a whole host of ingredients including hardboiled egg, seaweed, green onions, bamboo and braised pork slices. Kuroda doesn’t serve the ramen on Friday and Saturday because the bar gets so busy, he can’t spend enough time on the soup, so make sure you drop by on a weekday to try a bowl.

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