What is ramen

In other places where seafood was a more common ingredient, soups using niboshi dried anchovies , katsuobushi bonito flakes , or a combination of both became popular. These broths are mixed with the soy-sauce soup base or miso soup base. In Japan it is common to see ramen named after a region i.

Yamagata ramen, dosanko or Hokkaido ramen, Tokushima ramen because the regional chefs used ingredients that were more available to them. Aside from the soup and broth, ramen consists of usually three types of noodles.

They are egg noodles called chijiremen , thin noodles hosomen and thick noodles futomen. Egg noodles are usually served for chicken broth ramen like shoyu or shio because it contains for noodle flavor and go well with the light flavored sauce. Thin noodles are served with Hakata style tonkotsu ramen and thin noodles became popular because of short cooking times.

Hakata-style ramen was also served at Yatai and thin noodles allowed chefs to boil the noodles in less than a minute. It was designed as the Japanese fast food. Thick noodles came with the Hokkaido style miso ramen, and later spread to various thick broth soups. The thick surface of the noodles, when slurped, would bring in more fat and soup along with the noodles.

Another popular form of ramen is the tsukemen. It is served on a rather flat plate with egg noodles, toppings and a ponzu like sauce poured over the noodles.

In recent times there have been sesame sauce and other sauces used in the hiyashi chuka, but the traditional style is to have a vinegar-taste in the sauce. Ramen today has many variations. A ramen consists of the soup base, broth, noodles and toppings. In Japan, ramen is divided by the type of soup base, while broth does play a large role as well. Among the soup, bases are different variations depending on the origin of the ramen. The major soup bases are miso, shio salt , shoyu soy sauce , and tonkotsu.

The soup base differs and so do the noodles. There are thick noodles, thin noodles, thin wavy noodles, and more. Everyone has their preference, but what makes one noodle different from the other?

Here is some interesting data from a survey we did to ramen lovers in the United States. Did you know that ramen is the second most loved Japanese cuisine in the U. The bold and full of flavor broth is good any day. Noodles and the soft boiled egg have to be cooked perfectly.

Real comfort food right there. The noodles taste delicious in the broth and warms us up. I was taken to this country village outside of Tokyo by one of my coworkers, to her family run restaurant. I compare all ramen to this place. The broth to the noodles, it was like butter and I can hardly find a close second. The soup in this type tends to be pork bone forward. But it really depends on the shop. One of my favorites in Tokyo uses pork bones, kelp, high-grade dried sardines, mackerel flakes, and shiitake mushrooms.

This Kyushu West Japan ramen is all about boiling pork bones until you have a rich, collagen-heavy soup. The seasoning is sometimes soy sauce. Hakata Fukuoka style is best known, with its ultra thin noodles and noodle refill system. They change things up in other styles, whether blending chicken bones into the soup or employing thicker noodles. Ramen noodles are basically 4 ingredients — wheat flour, water, salt and kansui. Kansui is alkaline mineral water. This is a critical ingredient, giving the noodles extra bite and springiness.

Ramen noodles come in all shapes and sizes. Shops typically have to consider what noodles will best match their soup. For example, thick noodles would go better with a thick and nutty miso ramen soup. The top green portion of the stalk is milder in flavor. The bottom white part is more oniony. As a topping, negi can come in big chunks, or be thinly sliced or even diced. Back in the day, ramen eggs were mostly hard-boiled.

It was only in the early s that runny, soft-boiled eggs became the norm. Staying in the protein department, pork slices are a key ramen topping. Pork belly, ribs, and shoulder are popular cuts. But nowadays, boiled pork is most common.

Other ramen toppings include:. Certain regional styles will have their own toppings too. For example, in Sapporo miso ramen we saw earlier , corn and butter are popular. Ramen doesn't have as many rules as other Japanese foods like sushi.

But here are some things to keep in mind:. When done, place your Chopsticks on top of the Bowl not inside. Say "Gochisousama deshita" Thank you for the meal when you leave. In the future, I'll cover even more ramen styles and other ramen tidbits! Consider this part one, Ramen All Posts Ramen Tokyo Tsukemen. Aug What is Ramen? Ramen Recent Posts See All. The world of Ramen is vast and varied, with passionate devotees like our frequent contributor Kenji Lopez-Alt and enthusiastic fans like myself.

We're not talking Cup 'A' Anything or magic flavor packets here--these are incredibly rich, complex bowls of goodness, requiring several hours of simmering and most likely a ramen master stirring the pot.

So, what is ramen, anyway? Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup dish, with Chinese-style wheat or egg noodles served in a very rich broth along with cooked sliced pork, fresh scallions, and a maybe slightly-more-than-soft-boiled egg.

The dish differs from Vietnamese pho, which has a lighter broth, rice noodles, and beef rather than pork.