Food & Drink
Ramen
ラーメンらーめんrāmenA Chinese noodle soup that became a Japanese obsession
Ramen is a noodle soup of Chinese origin made with wheat noodles containing alkaline water, served in a meat, fish or vegetable broth seasoned with soy sauce, salt or miso. Adapted in Japan from the early twentieth century, it has developed dozens of distinct regional styles.
Ramen came to Japan with Chinese cooks in the port cities opened in the late nineteenth century and was long known as shina soba or chūka soba, 'Chinese soba'. A Chinese-style noodle shop that opened in Asakusa, Tokyo, in 1910 is often cited as the first to serve it to a Japanese public. After the Second World War, cheap imported wheat and returning soldiers who had eaten noodles in China turned ramen into a mass food.
What makes ramen noodles distinctive is kansui, alkaline mineral water that gives them their yellow colour, springiness and firm bite. The rest is a combination of broth, seasoning base (tare), fat and toppings, which every region and shop varies.
Broth and seasoning
A bowl of ramen is built from separate components. The broth is made from pork bones, chicken, seafood such as niboshi and kombu, or vegetables, simmered for hours. The tare, a concentrated seasoning, goes into the bowl first and defines the style. Aromatic oil, noodles and toppings complete the bowl.
Ramen is commonly classified by its tare, while tonkotsu refers to a cloudy, emulsified pork-bone broth; many shops combine them, for example tonkotsu-shōyu.
Shoyu ramen
醤油ラーメンshōyu rāmenSoy sauce seasoning, usually with a clear chicken or pork broth; the original Tokyo style.
- 塩ラーメンshio rāmen
Salt-seasoned, pale and delicate; associated with Hakodate.
- 味噌ラーメンmiso rāmen
Rich miso-based soup, often with stir-fried vegetables and butter or corn; created in Sapporo.
- 豚骨ラーメンtonkotsu rāmen
Milky broth from pork bones boiled at high heat; the signature of northern Kyushu.
Regional styles
Local ramen (gotōchi rāmen) has become a point of regional pride and a reason to travel. Styles differ in broth, noodle thickness and shape, and toppings. Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture is credited with the first cloudy pork-bone broth in the 1930s, from which the Hakata and Kumamoto styles developed.
- 札幌ラーメンSapporo rāmen
Miso ramen with thick, curly noodles and a layer of lard that keeps the soup hot in winter.
- 旭川ラーメンAsahikawa rāmen
Shōyu soup from a double broth of pork and seafood, with firm, low-moisture noodles.
- 喜多方ラーメンKitakata rāmen
Wide, flat, wavy noodles in a clear shōyu broth, from a small town in Fukushima Prefecture famous for eating ramen for breakfast.
- 家系ラーメンiekei rāmen
Pork-bone and soy broth with thick noodles, spinach and nori; diners choose noodle firmness and oil level.
- 尾道ラーメンOnomichi rāmen
Soy broth with fish stock and pieces of pork back fat floating on top.
- 徳島ラーメンTokushima rāmen
Dark, sweet-savoury pork broth topped with simmered pork belly and often a raw egg.
- 博多ラーメンHakata rāmen
Creamy tonkotsu with very thin, straight noodles; extra noodles can be ordered into the remaining soup.
- 熊本ラーメンKumamoto rāmen
Pork-bone broth with medium-thick noodles and fried or blackened garlic oil.
Noodles, toppings and variations
Beyond soup ramen there are dry and dipping forms. Tsukemen serves cold or warm noodles beside a concentrated dipping soup, and abura soba or mazesoba has no soup at all, only seasoning and oil mixed into the noodles. Hiyashi chūka, cold noodles with vegetables and a sweet-sour dressing, is a summer dish.
Chashu
チャーシューchāshūBraised or roasted pork, sliced over the noodles.
Ajitama
味玉ajitamaSoft-boiled egg marinated in soy-based sauce, with a jammy yolk.
Menma
メンマmenmaFermented and seasoned bamboo shoots.
Kaedama
替え玉kaedamaA second portion of noodles added to the remaining soup, a Hakata custom.
Tsukemen
つけ麺tsukemenThick noodles dipped into a separate, concentrated soup.
Instant ramen
In 1958 Andō Momofuku, founder of Nissin Foods, launched Chicken Ramen, pre-seasoned noodles flash-fried to dry them so that they could be prepared with hot water. In 1971 he followed with Cup Noodle in a polystyrene cup. Instant noodles spread worldwide and are now made in many countries. The Cupnoodles Museums in Yokohama and in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, tell the story.
How ramen is eaten
Many ramen shops are small counters where customers buy a ticket from a vending machine at the entrance and hand it to the cook. Some shops ask for noodle firmness, from very firm (barikata) to soft. Ramen is eaten quickly while the noodles are at their best, and slurping is normal: it cools the noodles and draws in the aroma.
Noodles are lifted with chopsticks and the soup is sipped from a spoon (renge) or from the bowl. Finishing the soup is a compliment but not expected, since it is rich and salty. Lingering at the counter after finishing, when others are waiting, is considered impolite.
Timeline
1859 onwards
Chinese communities form in the treaty ports of Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki.
1910
A Chinese-style noodle shop in Asakusa, Tokyo, popularises shina soba among Japanese customers.
1930s
Cloudy pork-bone broth is developed in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture.
1950s
Postwar wheat imports make ramen a staple; miso ramen emerges in Sapporo.
1958
Andō Momofuku launches instant Chicken Ramen.
1971
Cup Noodle is introduced.
1994
The Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum opens, a sign of ramen's status as culture.
Frequently asked questions
Is it rude to slurp ramen?
No. Slurping noodles is normal in Japan; it cools the hot noodles and brings out the aroma. Loud eating in general is still best kept moderate.
What is the difference between ramen and udon?
Ramen noodles are made with wheat and alkaline water, giving a yellow colour and springy bite, and are served in rich broths. Udon are thick, white wheat noodles without kansui, usually in a light dashi broth.
What are the main types of ramen?
Ramen is usually classified by seasoning: shōyu (soy sauce), shio (salt) and miso, plus tonkotsu, a cloudy pork-bone broth.
Is ramen Japanese or Chinese?
It derives from Chinese wheat noodle soups but was developed in Japan into a distinct food with many regional styles. In Japan it is regarded as a Japanese dish of Chinese origin.
Is there vegetarian ramen in Japan?
Most ramen uses pork, chicken or fish broth. Vegetarian and vegan ramen exists in larger cities, but in ordinary shops even vegetable-topped bowls usually have an animal-based broth.
Related
Sources
- 1.新横浜ラーメン博物館 (opens in a new tab) — 新横浜ラーメン博物館
- 2.Cupnoodles Museum (opens in a new tab) — Nissin Foods
- 3.Japan National Tourism Organization – Official travel guide (opens in a new tab) — JNTO