What is ramen noodles? Famous Japanese ramen noodles

What is ramen noodles? Famous Japanese ramen noodles

Speaking of Japan, it would be a big mistake if you don’t know about Ramen. This is considered a typical drink in the land of cherry blossoms and is loved by many countries around the world. If you do not know the information about this dish, let’s find out right through the Kitchen Tips section!

Quick view
1. What is ramen?
2. The main ingredients of ramen noodles
• Pasta
• Water use
• Side dishes
• Vegetable
• Boiled eggs
• Grilled chopped fish
3. Types of ramen noodles


• Shoyu ramen
• Shoyu ramen
• Shoyu ramen
• Tonkotsu ramen
• Tsukemen ramen
• Sapporo ramen
• Hakata ramen
• Kitakata Ramen
• Wakayama Ramen
• Onomichi Ramen
• Hakodate Ramen
• Kurume Ramen
• Kagoshima Ramen

1. What is ramen?

Ramen is a traditional dish in Japan. This dish consists of noodles made from wheat, broth is usually made from pork bones, chicken or fish bones, and is served with dishes such as thinly sliced ​​pork (char siu), dried seaweed (nori). , sour bamboo shoots (menma) and green onions.

Ramen

The origin of ramen is still an unsolved question. Many people believe that Ramen originated in China, but they do not know when it was introduced to Japan. Other sources claim that in the early 20th century, ramen was invented in Japan.

According to ramen expert Mr. Osaki Hiroshi, the first ramen shop was opened in Yokohama in 1910. Since the 1980s, Ramen has gradually become a cultural symbol of Japan and spread all over the world. In 1994, a small neighborhood in Yokohama officially opened a ramen museum with many exhibits about the birth and development of this dish.

ramen noodle history

2. The main ingredients of ramen noodles

Pasta
Ramen noodles are made from four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt, and ash water. Chinese ash water is an indispensable ingredient when making ramen noodles because it helps to increase the toughness, yellow color as well as the characteristic flavor of the noodles.

Ramen noodles come in many different shapes and lengths, it can be thin, thick, curly, straight or round, square depending on the place of production in each locality.

Ramen noodles

Water use
The broth of ramen is usually stewed from pork, chicken or beef bones, and combined with other ingredients such as: beef bones, shiitake mushrooms (shiitake), kombu (kelp), katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). grated dried), niboshi (dried baby sardines) and onions.

In addition, the soup is also tasted with other spices to create a unique flavor for the noodles such as salt (shio), soy sauce (shoyu) and miso.

Ramen noodle broth

Side dishes
To add more flavor to the noodles, ramen will be added to a number of accompaniments as follows:

Pork

Pork used in ramen noodles includes 3 main types: Chashu (char siu), Kakuni (meatballs stewed with soy sauce and mirin), Bacon (bacon).

Char siu in ramen noodles

Vegetable
Fresh vegetables including green onions, minced garlic, bean sprouts, corn kernels and cabbage,…

Dried vegetables include: enoki mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, seaweed, wakame (a type of thin kelp in Japan), beni shoga (Japanese pickled ginger, red in color).

Vegetables in ramen noodles

Boiled eggs
Eggs in Ramen – called Ajitsuke Tamago. Eggs will be boiled in peaches, then marinated with sweet wine and soy sauce for a few hours.

Ramen boiled eggs soaked in soy sauce or sweet wine

Grilled chopped fish
The fish cakes used in Ramen noodles are called Narutomaki or Kamaboko. Fish cake is made from fish with white meat, then minced, rolled, shaped and steamed. Each fish cake tree when cut will have a pink swirl in the middle.

Fish cakes used in Ramen noodles

 

3. Types of ramen noodles

Shoyu ramen
In Japanese, Shoyu means soy sauce, so Shoyu ramen noodles will have a characteristic brown color with a light aroma of soybeans. In addition, the noodles will be made in a small size to help the broth seep in and taste better when eaten.

The broth in Shoyu ramen is usually made from chicken cooked with vegetables and soy sauce. Besides, it is also served with green onions, seaweed, dried bamboo shoots, boiled eggs, fish cakes, …

This is one of the extremely popular noodles in Tokyo and is known in many countries around the world.

Shoyu ramen noodles

Shoyu ramen
Shio in Japanese means “salt”, so this type of Ramen is cooked from many different types of salt combined with chicken or fish, sometimes also using pork bones. This is considered the oldest broth in Japan and is quite picky.

Shio ramen has a light yellow broth, quite clear and has a strong salty taste. This noodle dish is usually served with char siu or pickled plums, fish cakes, boiled eggs and some other vegetables.

Shoyu ramen noodles

Shoyu ramen
Miro Ramen has only appeared since 1960 in Hokkaido. Unlike Shio Ramen, Miso Ramen has a slightly sweet taste along with an attractive characteristic aroma.

The broth of this type of noodle is usually cooked from chicken combined with fish, or sometimes also combined with pork fat cooked for many hours. In addition, Miso Ramen’s noodles are also thicker, curly and tougher than other noodles.

Shoyu ramen noodles

Tonkotsu ramen
Tonkotsu Ramen’s broth is quite thick and has a white color

What is ramen noodles? Famous Japanese ramen noodles

 

What is ramen noodles? Famous Japanese ramen noodles