Ramen: Far East Soup with Plenty of Ingredients

Ramen is simply a type of Japanese soup made with noodles called noodles. It is very popular not only in Japanese cuisine, but also in the Far East.
Ramen is the Japanese version of noodle noodles typical of Chinese cuisine. It has different types according to its content. The reason for this diversity lies in the difference in geography.

Content of Ramen

The main component of ramen soup is broth and noodle noodles. Noodles and soup are must-haves for ramen.

Ramen Noodle Noodles

Noodles; Contains wheat flour, salt and kansui. Kansui; It is mineral water containing sodium carbonate, mostly potassium carbonate, and sometimes a small amount of phosphoric acid.

Kansui is the distinctive ingredient of ramen noodles. Some lakes in Inner Mongolia contain large amounts of these minerals. For this reason, kansui is highly preferred in noodle making.

Noodles made with kansui are yellowish in color and firm texture.

Sometimes, eggs are also used with ansui. However, noodles without egg and kansui will be softer in texture. Therefore these noodles are only used for yokisoba. (Yikisoba is a dish made with noodle noodles.)

Noodles may differ in shape. It can be straight, curly, long, short, thick or thin.

Ramen Soup

Its soup is usually pork or chicken based. Apart from these; Tuna flakes called katsuobushi, dried sardines called niboshi, beef bones, shiitake mushrooms, onions or seaweed called kombu are also used.

In modern recipes, vegetable broth is also preferred for this soup.

Tonkotsu is made by boiling pork bone, fat and collagen for hours. It is a kind of broth. It has a white and transparent appearance. The milk is sauced with melted butter.
Torigara is made from chicken bones.

Ramen by Condiments

The main element that gives the soup its taste is the sauces and seasonings. It is possible to capture various flavors by using different combinations.

Shoyu

Shoyu is Japanese for soy sauce.

Shoyu ramen is soy sauce ramen. Soy sauce is a salty sauce. It has a dark brown color. It is obtained from soybeans. It is often used with chicken, vegetables, fish or beef.

Shoyu is usually made with curly noodles. It may contain marinated bamboo, scallions, carrots, fish cakes, seaweed, hard-boiled eggs or bean sprouts.

shio

Shio means salt in Japanese. Shio ramen is also the oldest type of ramen. A lot of salt is used in its production. It is made with combinations of vegetables, fish and seaweed. It has a pale, clear, yellowish appearance. Pork bone is often used for broth.

The noodles used are often plain.

Hakodate ramen is the most well-known type of shio.

miso

Miso is a Japanese food. It is obtained by fermenting soybeans, rice or barley, sea salt and koji mushrooms.

Miso ramen is a new variety alongside the traditional varieties. In its construction; miso, very fatty chicken or fish stock is used.
Miso has a very sharp and intense flavor. For this reason, it is often used in soup with spicy bean paste or tobanjan, butter with corn, leeks, onions, bean sprouts, pork, cabbage, sesame seeds, white pepper and chopped garlic.

The noodle used is thick and curly.

Square

Kare is the Japanese equivalent of curry. In making square ramen; noodle curry cooked in soup. Essentially, the soup made using pork bones and vegetables is flavored with curry.

The noodles used are thick and curly.

Instant Ramen

Ready ramen quickly found its place on the shelves in the markets. Ramen, which we can easily find in all markets today, started to be produced in 1971.

Nissin Foods, a Japanese food company, produced the first instant ramen under the name Oddles of Noodles.

Noodles are cooked with the sauce and hot water in the package. Because it is practical and cheap, it is frequently consumed in many countries.

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