Popular Types of Ramen: What are the Different Types of Broth and Which is the Best for You?
By Lisa Bot | Published 17 October 2023
The Ultimate Ramen Guide
What is Ramen?
Let's chat about Ramen - the hearty Japanese noodle soup, with a gourmet twist. This dish, a real ramen specialty, features wheat noodles of varying thickness and texture simmered in a robust meat, vegetable, or the uniquely light base assari broth. Perfectly garnished with an array of toppings such as delicately sliced pork, fragile soft-boiled eggs, or crisp scallions, this cuisine adds to the vast ramen variety.
Ramen dishes are diverse, with their tare (seasoning) categorising them into shio (salt ramen), shoyu (soy sauce ramen), or miso (fermented bean paste ramen). This complexity brings a unique experience, one you can also delve into through a ramen tasting food tour in Tokyo for a true taste of the local culture.
The History and Origin of Ramen
Ramen is a symphony, with its overture originating back in 19th-century China and crescendoing into the hearts of Japan. Traced back to its roots, ramen originated in China as chuka soba, commonly known as 'Chinese noodles'. The first act of its story took off when Chinese immigrants introduced this buckwheat soba noodle-based meal to Meiji-era Japan.
Can you guess the first restaurant to serve ramen? It was Yowaken in Hokkaido, pitching it as 'Chinese soba'. As it ascended into the limelight, ramen, like a delectable baton, was passed from region to region, each crafting their soba noodles into a unique medley of flavours, such as the special Okinawa soba, which intriguingly doesn't utilise soba (buckwheat) noodles, despite its name.
Exploring the Basics of Ramen
Understanding Ramen Ingredients
In the show of culinary arts, Ramen is an act of three fundamental props:
- Soup: The backbone of Ramen, the soup can be a delicate whisper or a rich, full-mouth flavour blast, largely thanks to the chicken bone broth. Simmering animal bones, like chicken or pork, forms the core of soup broth by integrating umami-rich ingredients like seafood, dried seaweed, and charred vegetables. The chicken bone broth teams up with dashi broth—a popular addition—, creating the famed chintan or paitan styles. A symphony of sauces, termed as 'Tare', orchestrate the essential flavours, fine-tuning the composition with salt, soy sauce, or miso.
- Noodles: Cast dramatically into the hot soup, the wheat-flour Ramen noodles burst forth. Crucial to their character is the 'kansui', mineral water that lends the noodles their iconic yellow hue and the much-coveted elasticity. These could be straight or wavy and even come in varying thicknesses!
- Toppings: The final act of the Ramen performance, toppings range from pork slices to ramen eggs to bamboo shoots. They perform a beautiful dance on the dish before submerging into the rich, hearty broth.
Read our full guide to learn more: What Is In Ramen? Everything You Need To Know About This Popular Japanese Noodle Soup
What Makes a Good Bowl of Ramen?
What makes a good bowl of Ramen? Harmony. It truly is an expert balancing act of texture, flavour, and toppings, to achieve that fusion ramen effect. Can you hear the slurping? It's the symphony of perfectly cooked, chewy noodles bathing in a deeply satisfying broth. The soup should gently tease your palate, warming your soul, broth intricately woven with the subtlety of tare flavours. Throw in a little fusion there, maybe a blend of Japanese curry and noodle, like in Kare Ramen.
And then, the crowning glory - the toppings. In tune with the fusion theme, they should offer contrast, yet blend seamlessly with the main dish, each bite unveiling another layer to the narrative. Whether it's succulent pork, soft-boiled egg, or a splash of exotic spices, it should strike that perfect chord of flavour. When done right, it's quite the symphony, isn't it?
Read our article to learn the proper way to eat ramen: How To Eat Ramen: The Proper Way To Eat Noodles With Chopsticks In Japan
Diving Deep into Ramen Broth Types
Unraveling Shoyu (Soy Sauce) Ramen
Let's step into the limelight, the most universally recognised Ramen of all - Shoyu Ramen. Originating in Tokyo, this ramen is more than a dish; it's an experience where a harmonious blend of chicken ramen shoyu or a vegetable-based broth is flavoured with soy sauce. As the flavours blend, they create a clear, brown broth that offers the perfect balance of tanginess and savouriness. Each spoonful whispers a deeply savory note, as luminous as a candlelit serenade.
Shoyu Ramen is accompanied by a variety of garnishes such as green onions, bamboo shoots, fish cakes, seaweed, boiled eggs, and carrots, often highlighted with a dollop of chili oil or chili sauce for that extra zing. But the crown jewel of this dish is the thin, curly noodles wafting with steam — a nod to the timeless art of Japanese cuisine. A bowl of Chicken Ramen Shoyu is like a culinary ballad, soothing yet exciting, masterfully delivering the authentic taste of Japan in every gulp.
Delving into Miso Ramen
And swooping into the next verse is Miso Ramen — a ballad that hails from the land of Sapporo, the northernmost island of Hokkaido. Here, we encounter the uniquely palatable Miso Butter Corn Ramen, a variant featuring luscious corn kernels gently combined with rich and flavourful butter. But what makes Miso Ramen standout? It's that broad, full-bodied broth enriched with Miso, a fermented soybean paste, that's sometimes combined with a mushroom broth, adding an umami twist that acts as a counterpoint against the chilled, harsh winters of Sapporo. This gives Miso Ramen a uniquely deep, nutty flavour that's aromatic, warm, and soul-soothing to the last slurp.
Accompanied by a medley of toppings — rich pork slices, sweet corn, delicate bean sprouts, garlic, mushrooms, and sometimes local seafood — it augmented even further with the umami-rich mushroom, creating a grand spectacle of gastronomy. The width and thickness of the noodles used in Miso Ramen is another element that adds to its distinct persona, making every bite one to remember.
Exploring Tonkotsu (Pork Bone) Ramen
Now, let's lift our spoons towards Tonkotsu Ramen. Prepare your senses to dive into a bowl of this milky-white tonkotsu-shoyu blend, a joint delight hailing from both western and eastern Japan. Born in the city of Hakata (present-day Fukuoka), the heart of tonkotsu-ramen restaurants is their broth: made by boiling pork bones for hours or even days, a method similar to that of tonkatsu broth. The heat extracts all their nurturing collagen, creating a creamy, heartily indulgent soup that coats the palate with pure umami goodness.
Home to the light but al dente thin noodles, tall slices of roasted pork, a sprinkle of garlic, and loyal companions such as sesame seeds and pickled ginger, you're at a gala of gastronomy, stirring in your bowl. Fancy an encore? Don't hesitate to order a tonkotsu ramen offering, a second helping or 'kaedama'. Surrender to the decadently rich and addictive nature that is characteristic of tonkatsu ramen!
Savouring Shio (Salt) Ramen
Let's set our sights on Shio Ramen. As a staple dish in ramen restaurants, Shio Ramen - translating to "salt ramen" - combines tradition and nostalgia in equal measure. With its origins rooted in shio soup, which is one of the two most popular ways to serve a clear assari broth, it blesses your palate with a clear, light broth that imparts a subtly salty taste. This form of ramen is usually seasoned with a tare, giving the pale, yellowish broth a range of understated flavours.
Taste the elegantly dressed straight noodles as they relax into the shio soup, mingling with handpicked selection of seafood and vegetables such as seaweed and chicken. Each careful slurp is not only a satisfying taste experience, chic in its simplicity, robust in its depth, but also a tasting of the soup itself. But be aware - despite its delicious taste, Shio Ramen may not be the best choice for those on a low-salt diet. Each bowl of Shio Ramen is an invitation to stir, slurp, and savour the rich depth of taste, peppered with a dash of history thrown in.
Ramen Toppings: The Cherry on Top
Popular Meat and Seafood Toppings
Ramen is a culinary canvas where toppings play a starring role. Among them, meats and seafood don a costume that's both flavourful and enticing, making every ramen shop a stage for these diverse and appetising actors. The show-stealer is undoubtedly Chashu — slow-braised pork belly or loin sliced into silky tendrils that dissolve on the tongue, a signature at many ramen shops.
Equally crowd-pleasing are the delicate Kamaboko (fish cakes), often showcased as pink-and-white swirled Naruto in an array of ramen shops, adding a dash of visual delight to every bowl. Seasoned ground pork, or Soboro, is another hearty option, elevating the Ramen narrative with its succulent taste and favoured by ramen shop chefs from Tokyo to New York City.
Some even crown their Ramen bowls with seafood delights ranging from plump prawns to tender scallops. Such toppings are the dramatis personae of Ramen, each delivering a delicious soliloquy, uniquely offered in different ramen shops across the globe.
Varieties of Fresh Vegetables as Ramen Toppings
Are you veggie-lovers ready for your encore? Let's dive into the medley of fresh vegetables that can not only adorn a bowl of classic ramen but also a plate of abura soba. Have you ever tried a spoonful of ramen or brothless abura soba adorned with bok choy? The crunchy, refreshing notes will leave you asking for more. The beloved tradition of sprinkling green onions is another classic, its pungent savouriness amplifying the taste of noodles that are coated in oil and seasoned, just like in an abura soba dish.
Don't overlook the crisp bean sprouts, their delicate, earthy taste dancing beautifully with the hearty broth of regular ramen or mingling seamlessly with the bold taste of abura soba. Then, there's menma – or fermented bamboo shoots – infusing the noodles with a touch of sweet, tangy nuttiness.
Some prefer the theatrical flourish of beni shoga, or red pickled ginger. A topping that's as suitable for a spicy bowl of ramen as it is for a robust, Taiwanese flavour-inspired abura soba. Nori, or dried seaweed, rounds out our ensemble. The dark green, crunchy sheets adding a sublime marine touch to any noodle dish. And of course, no journey into ramen toppings would be complete without bringing up yasai ramen. Especially loved by vegetarian ramen-goers, it's a dish perfect for those who desire a symphony of stir-fried vegetables with their noodles.
But here's a little secret, from fast food chain restaurants, to small family-run restaurants, convenience stores, and even Michelin-starred establishments in Japan, every place may have their unique spin on these toppings.
Distinct Regional Ramen Variations in Japan
Tokyo-Style Ramen vs Hakata-Style Ramen
Let's unmask the nuances between Tokyo-style and Hakata-style ramen, two distinctive flavours that represent the pinnacle of ramen artistry. Tokyo-style ramen, often compared to Yokohama ramen due to their similarity, is a delicious monologue, its story built on the classic Shoyu (soy sauce) based broth. Typically paired with voluminous wavy, moderately thick noodles - think the signature noodles of Kitakata - Tokyo-style ramen paints a mouthwatering image. Gauge the umami-rich broth, heavier than that of Yokohama's and topped with succulent slices of char siu (roast pork), negi (scallions), menma (bamboo shoots), and a picturesque sheet of nori seaweed.
In contrast, Hakata-style ramen hails from Fukuoka, and much like Hakodate ramen, sails in a rich milky-white soup, a result of the long-simmered pork bone (Tonkotsu) broth. But what truly sets it apart are its thin straight noodles, resilient, capturing the broth in their crevices. The Hakodate influence is visible - Hakata carries the minimalist ethos, commonly presenting just four toppings - chashu (roast pork), negi (scallions), ginger, and sesame seeds. Both have their own uniqueness. Tokyo represents exciting complexity, while Hakata is a detailed personification of simplicity yet profound taste in the style of Hakodate.
The Unique Flavours of Sapporo Ramen
Welcoming you to the icy climes of Hokkaido, north Japan, is a hot, vibrant bowl of Sapporo Ramen. An interesting twist here, though, is serving the noodles separate from the broth, a technique known as Tsukemen. What's unique is that the noodles are cold, transforming your traditional ramen into a refreshing bowl of cold noodles! Still unleashing a culinary sonnet, the soup marries the umami-rich miso-based broth, amplified with added pork bone – a multifaceted culinary solstice of both brisk and heartwarming flavours.
The noodles? Not only are they a delightful medium-thick, crinkled medley that promises to hold the rich sauce effortlessly, but when served cold, they present an unmatched textural experience, especially when dipped into the warm broth. Fan of toppings? Rejoice, for the co-stars of the show are local Hokkaido specialties, including bright yellow corn and a pat of melting butter. Interestingly, many Sapporo ramen restaurants also serve these cold noodle dishes and even allow customers to customise their ramen toppings, giving a personalised spin to your dish!
Each bite of Sapporo ramen, in its hot or cold noodles variant, is like stepping into Hokkaido in winter — filled with diverse sensations, warmth, and a unique taste story unspooling in your mouth.
The Modernisation of Ramen
Advent of Instant Ramen Noodles
Let's embrace the modern era with the advent of Instant Ramen Noodles. Rewind to the 1950s, a time when food scarcity hit Japan. Enter Momofuku Ando, a culinary maestro who introduced the world to a brand new way of enjoying ramen - through affordable instant ramen packets. Astonishingly, these hunger-busting noodles were initially pricier than fresh ramen from local street carts!
Quick to prepare and satisfying, Instant ramen soon won over hearts worldwide. The way ramen was consumed changed dramatically. In mere minutes, dried noodles came alive when doused in boiling water, and paired with a variety of aromatic seasoning packets. This simple yet ingenious invention didn't take long to become a global hit!
Whether enjoyed in its nostalgically basic form or reinvented as upscale variants like Tonkotsu or chili lime chicken, instant ramen has made its way into the fabric of food culture across the globe. Who knew that a humble packet of instant noodles could unfurl such a flavourful, comforting experience?
Illuminating Vegan and Other Health-Conscious Variants
Welcome to the world of Ramen 2. 0 where vegan and health-conscious variants are not only welcoming diversity but also spicing up the culinary scene. While traditional ramen invariably contains animal ingredients, there's been a paradigm shift rapidly steering towards accommodating diverse dietary preferences, but without compromising the signature spice that rayu chili oil or even straight chili peppers add.
Feast your eyes on the rising star, Vegan Ramen, where meat-based broths are replaced with flavourful and spiced-up vegetable stock. Can you imagine slurping on noodles swimming in a bowl filled with vibrant seasonal veggies, enhanced with the spice of chili oil? One such bowl is offered by Afuri, a renowned ramen chain, that specialises in using a plant-based, spice-infused chicken-style clear and thin broth.
Similarly, low-gluten quinoa noodles stir the perfect bowl of health-conscious ramen. You'll find a spiced, robust broth, as invigorating as the regular Shoyu base. The spice, however, comes not from overwhelming hot sauces but from mindful selections such as garlic, ginger, and green onions, true to the Japanese versions which aren't heavy on spices but present a richly-flavoured stew. You can also delight in Ramen Uzu, a one-of-a-kind vegan ramen that offers an artistically pleasing, spiced slurping session in every helping.
Vegan or health-conscious, we have a ramen for everyone. The versatility and the spice of this much-loved dish never ceases to amaze!
How to Choose the Right Ramen for You
Factoring in Personal Taste Preference
Choosing the perfect bowl of Ramen for you is like choreographing your taste performance. Are you swooning over that deeply soy-flavoured, clear broth? Then, Shoyu Ramen wins your heart. Or is it the rich, nutty Miso-based broth that stirs your senses? Or perhaps it's the thickness and indulgence of a vibrant bowl of curry ramen, that strikes your fancy? This fantastic fusion of Japanese curry and ramen noodles, known as Kare ramen, could add a delightful dimension to your ramen repertoire.
Remember, while traditionalist love affair remains with Tonkotsu Ramen, slurping Shio Ramen or savouring curry-infused ramen can promise a soothing, yet zesty performance. Also, toppings play a crucial role in your selection. Are you a carnivore enjoying thick meat slices and succulent soft-boiled eggs? Or a vegetarian favouring a colourful medley of vegetables floating in your curry ramen bowl? Play the part of your taste master while choosing ramen. Remember, your ramen bowl, such as a curry ramen, is a reflection of you.
Considering Dietary Restrictions and Health Goals
Are you watching your salt intake or aiming for a low-gluten diet? Or maybe you're vegan, seeking plant-based offerings? Don't worry, for not only ramen but also other Japanese noodles like udon are there to respect and help you meet your health goals.
It's best to be cautious with Shio broths, as they tend towards higher sodium levels. Instead, why not opt for a nourishing bowl of vegetable-based broth with fluffy udon noodles? As a healthier, low-gluten alternative, you could even choose quinoa noodles, which deliver just as much satisfaction as conventional wheat noodles used in ramen or udon.
Those who pledge allegiance to the 'Vegan' banner, breathe a sigh of relief. Enjoy the pleasure of tucking into bowls of ramen or udon noodles, overflowing with a myriad of veggies in a staunchly plant-based broth. Make your dietary preferences known, and you'll find that there's a ramen or udon that's tailored just for you.
Read my articles for more information:
Frequently Asked Questions about Ramen
What's the Difference Between Ramen and Pho?
You may be wondering, "What's the difference between Ramen and Pho? " They're both noodle soups, right? Yet, they originate from different culinary traditions, each with its unique charm. Ramen, a delicacy from Japan, often uses a thick, rich broth, sometimes flavoured with hearty ingredients such as dried bonito fish flakes, miso, and even soy milk. Pho, on the other hand, is Vietnam's flavourful reply to this worldwide noodle trend, characterised by its clear, aromatic, and traditionally beef-based broth, teeming with flat rice noodles and an abundance of fresh herbs.
Most noteworthy, ramen can exhibit regional variations like in Korea, where it's known as 'ramyeon', typically featuring spicy flavours of kimchi and gochujang in the fish broth. Ramen or ramyeon is generally heavier, whereas Pho, given its light nature, can be a comforting alternative. Ultimately, it boils down to your preference—whether you desire a hearty meal or a rejuvenating bowl of soup. Both, nevertheless, offer a delectable culinary voyage.
Read our full article to get the entire breakdown: The Difference Between Pho And Ramen: What Is The Difference Between These Asian Soups?
How Long Does It Take to Become a Ramen Master?
Aspiring to become a Ramen master? Buckle up; it's quite the journey—it’s like making pizza in the United States, every recipe is unique. It may look simple, but the art of crafting perfect ramen, especially a dish as specialised as Tsukemen, can take years to master. In Japan, just as diverse as pizza making in the United States, ramen chefs often work alone, spending countless hours perfecting the balance of ingredients and achieving consistency for their delicious broth.
Typically, you'll need to undertake several years of apprenticeship before you earn the title of 'ramen master.' But it's not just about cooking; you're steeping yourself in a rich culture and tradition striking bonds with clientele, understanding their unique ramen preferences. The United States has seen a proliferation of Tsukemen ramen joints, a testament to the special craft involved. If you're determined, you can break into the ramen industry after a short training period. From kitchen novice to a Tsukemen master in the United States— it's a journey worth embarking on!
What are the Different Kinds of Ramen Noodles?
When it comes to the noodles that dance in your bowl of ramen, diversity takes the stage. From thick to thin, straight to wavy, each type of noodle offers a unique sensation in your mouth.
- Thick Noodles: If you're digging into a flavourful Miso Ramen, you’ll discover thicker noodles that are adept at latching onto the rich, dense soup.
- Thin Noodles: These are usually showcased in Tonkotsu Ramen, designed to glide smoothly down one's throat alongside the creamy broth.
- Wavy Noodles: Ideal for capturing more complex broths, they are commonly paired with Tokyo-style Shoyu Ramen.
- Straight Noodles: Mostly served with Hakata-style Tonkotsu or Shio Ramen, these smoothly soak in the broth’s flavour and provide a contrasting texture.
To each their own style, and each variant carves a uniquely delicious ramen story.
