Ramen!! People usually think sushi is the most popular food eaten in Japan, but ramen is the one that holds that stake! Ramen is a Japanese cultural icon and is loved by all Japanese and beyond. We've seen the Japanese ramen craze the last two years over here in Toronto with noodle joints popping up everywhere! Regional ramen came into being as Chinese noodles disseminated throughout Japan, intermingling with the food, climatic and natural environment of each region. There are at least 30 or more distinct, regional ramen in Japan, and comparing the different tastes adds to its fascination- each has their own speciality recipe from the choice of noodles, ingredients for the broth, and the myriad of possible toppings. Even the type of serving ware- bowls and spoons are carefully selected to complement the ramen. A real odyssey for the ramen aficionado!
My brother's family bought us gift packages of instant ramen noodles on their return from Japan. This is not your typical cheap and cheerful dried fried block kind. Noodles are packaged in loose strands and cook up fresh with no need for refrigeration, and the convenient pouches of real concentrated soup stock tastes just like the real deal once diluted with boiling water.
Noodles are typically made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water, and kansui, a type of alkaline mineral water. Kansui in noodles lends them a yellowish hue as well as a firm texture, which is sometimes substituted with eggs. Ramen comes in various shapes and lengths-thick, thin, ribbon-like, as well as straight or wrinkly.
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| Tonkotsu (pork bone) soup base. |
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| Look at the real fatty soup surface! |
The noodles were the real inspiration for making this Pork Shoulder Roast with Chinese Spices. I mean, it was the least I could do when I had everything else ready-to-cook on hand. Next time, I will make the extra effort to cook the soup from scratch but for now, halfway homemade surely hits the spot!
Served with toppings of bamboo shoots, black mushroom fungus, green onions and thick slabs of roasted fatty pork shoulder, here is my resulting bowl of hot steaming ramen!
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| Seriously delicious and as authentic-tasting as you can get coming from convenience. |
Other ramen inspirations during my annual trip to Japan from 2004 to 2006:
Japanese Insider TIP: When you're done your noodles and there's that bit of soup leftover, add a touch of table rice vinegar to the broth to refresh it and to add a tangy dimension to rewhet your taste buds for the last few sloppy slurps! Shops in Japan also offers a bowl of rice so you can add some to your remaining broth to finish.
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| Chinese ramen noodle in Yokohama's Chinatown. |
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| A bowl of shoyu ramen in a Tokyo district. |
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| Tonkotsu-based ramen in Osaka! |
Homemade ramen, assorted pickles and sashimi breakfast at my brother's Yokohama home. I miss those times!
You can just walk into a Japanese book store and know just how much the Japanese love ramen! There's scores and scores of magazines devoted to the various restaurants in the country, with meticulous accounts of the regional differences and each shops' specialities.
The key factor to ramen is in the soup and how various ingredients go in to bring out the umami element. The four primary soup bases are shoyu (soy sauce), shio (sea salt), miso and tonkotsu (pork bone). The texture of the soup could be clean and thin, thick and hearty, with or without liquid fat on top (usually chicken or pork). After basic preparation, ramen can be seasoned and flavoured with any number of toppings including but not limited to: chashu (sliced barbecued or braised pork), green onions, seasoned poached soft egg, bean sprouts, menma (lactate-fermented bamboo shoots), kakuni (braised pork cubes), roasted pork belly or shoulder, nori (dried seaweed), natto (fermented soy beans) and kamaboko (formed fish paste). The possibilities are limitless...
Onto some ramen food porn for the eyes (credit pages from CREA mag Spring '04 No. 2). For a closer look, click on images to enlarge:
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| This one cracked me up!! |
Yokohama Ramen Museum was founded in 1994 as Japan's first food-theme amusement park with rotating featured regional ramen shops setting up in a 1958 street-scape replica... it was also the year instant noodle was invented. Really super awesome and a must visit! http://www.raumen.co.jp/english/
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| The long queues to sample a bowl! |
Slurp the noodles and drink it all up... and do it loud and proud to show the chef your gratitude! OISHII!
Lovely, mouthwatering pictures! You are inspiring me to make ramen at home. Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteSmita, thank you! Ramen is definitely a comfort favourite- I could eat it three times a day including small bowls throughout as snacks! Next time, I will have to take in the pleasure of cooking up the soup from scratch with all its layer of flavours and the welcoming added fat on top I enjoy! Happy cooking!!
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