Although possibly adopted from China’s “la-mien” Japan’s ramen has taken on its own culture and flavours. We in North America know a very little of actual ramen, passing it off as a cheap food. This is really a perversion of what ramen is. Before going to Japan for a year and a half I was an avid ramen eater and knew what we had was not the real thing, I was shocked by my first taste of shimmering broth and fresh made noodles. This had to be one of the best things I had ever tasted! So started my ramen journey in the land of the rising sun.
I will be covering a wide range of topics on ramen directly learned from the Japanese and my experiences eating at the top ramen shops of Tokyo. I have direct information for one of the better shops through a friend who worked there. I cannot however mention the shop’s name or the persons name. Recipes are secret!
First off, what is ramen? The basic ramen is a soup broth made from either pork, chicken or seafood then a flavouring for that broth, noodles hand-pulled or cut, and some toppings. Each with many different variations but with certain guidelines to achieve what would be considered “proper ramen”. Let’s tackle the different types of soup bases and flavourings. Keeping in mind there are set styles and trends behind making ramen but within those styles the variation are endless, out of the over 100 ramen shops (20 out of the top 30!) in Tokyo that I have eaten at not to mention the instant stuff from the kombini (corner stores in Japan), no two were truly the same. One thing is for sure there is always a ramen with your name on it!
Shoyuu ramen: “Shoyuu” is the name for soy-sauce in Japanese and one of the most popular flavourings to the broth. Broths for shoyuu ramen can vary from a mixture of chicken/pork/dashi. As per secret information passed to me by my ramen sources working in shops. The real trick to shoyuu ramen is finding the right mixes of soy sauces. One restaurant uses three distinct brands each with an individual strength to cover the weakness of the other the end result being a balanced soy sauce flavour.
Tonkatsu ramen: Pork milk bone ramen hailing from the Hataka area. Leg bones and trotters are boiled for about 12~20 hours to achieve the thick milky white to yellowish hue broth that has an oh so dilicious collengen that sticks to your lips!
One of the hardest and time consuming to make, also my favourite. Typically the broth is mixed with some “goma” paste, toasted white sesame seed paste similar to natural peanut butter in consistency, salt and fresh pressed garlic and depending on the thickness of the broth cut with a thinner brother. One of my favourite shops not far from Kiba Station in Tokyo added Shichimi tōgarashi (Japanese 7 spice) to add a slightly tangy spiciness into the mix, Yum!
Shioo ramen: Salt flavoured ramen. This may sound like this would be the saltiest of the bunch, while its actually the lightest broth of them all. Salt is added to a chicken/pork/dashi broth, leaning on the chicken broth side.
Miso ramen: Hailing from the Hokkaido area (A large island landmass in northern Japan), this rich and salty ramen is perfect for the colder climate. Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soybeans, rice and/or barley, with salt and the fungus “Aspergillus oryzae” kōjikin (麹菌), the most typical miso being made with soy. The most common toppings for miso ramen are finely chopped pork, bean sprouts, sweetcorn, butter, and garlic.
Topping explanations to come! Thank you for reading!