To Ramen Or Not To Ramen

Posted on 04/15/2022 Last updated on 04/15/2022

Here at MUSUBI, we love ramen. We like it a lot. So here’s yet another article about ramen, with a slightly different perspective (and hopefully some new facts)!

Ramen is a Japanese food that many around the world are acquainted with. Almost everyone with an interest in Japanese cooking has or will have it at some point in their lives. Yet few know just how deep the culture of ramen truly runs. It goes well beyond the plain packed instant noodles, with many varieties and flavors. And, much like cultural dishes in many countries, various parts of Japan developed their own local styles.

What Is Ramen?

Ramen is Chinese-style wheat noodles in a thick, hearty broth. It has various toppings such as chashu (pork), nori (sea weed), menma (lacto-fermented bamboo) and naruto (fish cake). There are endless variations of toppings, broth types, and even how soft the noodles are. It’s not incorrect to say that there is likely a ramen for everyone out there!

History of Ramen

Ramen was introduced to Japan in the late 19th century or early 20th century by the Chinese living in Yokohama. The first ramen restaurant, called “Rairaiken” opened in Asakusa in 1910. Ramen was called shina-soba or Chinese Soba until about 1950, but nowadays it is known simply as Ramen.

Ramen became popular after World War 2. In 1945 there was a rice shortage due to a poor harvest and the Americans brought in wheat flour to help reduce the food shortages. This wheat flour was used to make bread and noodles, and the popularity of ramen increased. Up until 1950 wheat flour was rationed, but after that it became freely available. Many ramen shops started to open in the early 1950’s. In 1958, instant ramen was introduced by the Nissin Food company and its popularity boomed.

Nowadays, Ramen is an iconic part of Japanese food culture, and ramen shops are in every city, town and village in Japan.

All Kinds of Flavors

I was first introduced to ramen by a certain fun-loving ninja who just happens to share the first name of a popular ramen topping. Yes, that’s right: Naruto Uzamaki. By the way, Naruto is a really good manga and anime and I highly recommend that you watch it if you haven’t already.

When it comes to Ramen broth, four flavors of broth stand out as the most popular: Shio (salt-based) Tonkotusu (pork bone-based) Shoyu (soy-based) and Miso (miso paste-based). There are other others, such as curry and tomato, but those are the big four.

As I said earlier, many areas in Japan have their own distinctive variety. A couple of the most well-known are:

Sapporo Ramen – from Hokkaido. It has a broth made from miso paste and usually has seafood toppings. Hokkaido is famous for its fresh sea food.

Hakatta Ramen – from Kyushu. This tonkotsu type is made from pork bones and has a thick, rich and delicious broth.

Tokyo Ramen – the broth of Japan’s capital is made from soy sauce, and easy to recreate yourself.

The Yokohama Ramen Museum

Do you want to find out even more about ramen? Then I highly recommend a visit to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum in Yokohama. Its only 50 minutes by train from Tokyo Station. You can find out more about the history of ramen, and there’s 9 ramen restaurants, each one from a different region of Japan.

The museum is modelled to look like 1950’s Japan and has a really cool vibe. Each restaurant also serve mini portions so you can try out each type of ramen. Admission is 380 yen and it’s open daily from 11 am to 10 pm. The website also has an English option.

I hope that when you’re in Japan, you’ll remember to check out some local ramen. It’s super tasty! Thanks for reading!

Image Credits:

Cover Image: YUTO@PHOTOGRAPHERさん on PhotoAC

Image 1 sai10さん on PhotoAC

Image 3 zousanさん on PhotoAC

Other images courtesy of the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

All other content provided by the original author