Ramen has always brought pleasure to millions of mouths. They are the best Japanese noodle dish though they belong to China. The dish was imported to Japan from China. It began with the end of Second World War when the Japanese soldiers brought home the Chinese street delicacies. Today Ramen and their traditional types find their routes to Japan with different broth, seasoning, toppings and noodles. Every single type can be found at https://www.yuzuramenthailand.com/en.
Though there are many varieties all the ramen can be categorized based on their major ingredients as follows
Based on the Broth
- The Broth is the major ingredient of the Ramen. The ingredients of the broth are simmered to make the soup of the Ramen
- It ranges from animal bones like pork, chicken, beef or fish to dried seafood.
- Ramen also consists of onions, garlic, leeks and mushrooms
- The most common broth is the Tonkotsu. It is made from boiled pork bone. It is milky and golden in color.
Based on seasoning
- Seasoning is the salt used to flavor the soup
- It is directly mixed with the soup base. However, one can also add them after the soup is served according to his or her choice of customization
- Following are the different seasonings
- Shio- It is the sea salt and is the oldest form of seasoning
- Shoyu- It is the most popular seasoning. It is also called Japanese Soya sauce. It is prepared from chicken or sea food. The Tonkotsu pork broths are always flavored with shoyu
- Miso- It is most often paired with sweet corn or pork belly and bean sprouts
- Oils and other- some finish the ramen with a ladleful of flavored oil. Pork fat is also used as seasoning. Dried bonito and tahini style sesame paste are also added as seasoning at the end
Based on the noodles
There are many types of noodles like straight, narrow, thick, wavy, wide, flat and thin. However the Ramen chefs select the noodles based on the following
- Their bounciness
- Ability to cling to the broth
- Texture in the mouth
- The noodle that will interact harmoniously well with the soup in the bowl
The taste adding noodles last only for 5 minutes in the hot broth after which they become over cooked and mushy. Therefore it is highly important to eat the noodles as fast as possible. The noodles alone are served for the second time on to the leftover broth. They call it the kaedama
Toppings
Toppings often define the characteristics of the soup. It can be simple vegetables to complex meat. The toppings to the Ramen as follows
- Chashu pork – Pork made in sweet soy and mirin sauce
- Kakuni – It is made of pork belly and it comes in chunks
- Bacon
- Shredded pork
- Ground meat – some add bean sprouts and cabbage to it
- Sea food – shrimp, crab, mussels etc
- Kamaboko – red fish cake
- Eggs – They can be poached or boiled
- Fresh vegetables – corn, cabbage, scallions, etc.