In the coldest of the winter season, craving for soup and noodles is no wonder. The Japanese ramen is one of the tastiest noodles that sweeps the world by storm. The cheap and easy to make ramen has an ability to adapt to different ingredients making it an exciting food to serve on cold days.
The Japanese ramen is very similar to Chinese mami basically because the ramen was brought to Japan by some Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s. They craved for food from home and so, the first ramen was served from a stall in Yokohama’s Chinatown. It has since then evolved to suit the taste of the Japanese.
Japanese Transformation of the Ramen
A prominent change that marked the evolution of ramen is that the noodles became closer to the Japanese soba noodles. It was more familiar to locals with soy sauce added to the soup stock. They also added dashi, a flavoring or type of sauce rendered from dried anchovy or bonito.
Ramen has become a life-saver during the lean years following World War II. Countless stalls cropped up in the rubble of bombed-out Japanese cities. People were very patient in waiting for their turn to buy ramen, notwithstanding 20 to 30 meters of people in line before them.
Noodles for Every Season
Though it is still of very recent origin, ramen has evolved to encompass an array and variety that is best for different seasons. The differences of the ramen varieties can be sorted according to broth type, noodle, preferred flavoring and other ingredients.
Noodles are usually made with four ingredients: water, salt, wheat flour and kansui or alkaline mineral water that gives the characteristic firmness and yellowish tinge of the noodles. Raw noodles should be boiled separately from the soup stock because the alkalinity of the raw noodles could affect the taste of the broth.
The noodles rarely vary in makeup but the thickness does. The Chinese-style noodles are always thicker to go with thicker sauces.
Broths. The soup is rendered from chicken or pork bones or both. There are times when dashi is added as well as niboshi or dried baby sardines, kelp, miso, soy sauce or sea salt are also added.
Ramen has also different flavorings now:
–shio or salt resembles the ramen’s Chinese ancestor with its clear broth flavored with seaweed, fish, salt and chicken bones
-tonkotsu or pork bone uses thicker broth rendered from pork bones, fat and tendons
-shoyu or soy sauce blends a clear brown chicken stock with its namesake flavoring
-miso derives from miso paste
Meats and Toppings
Ramen is a food realm that the Wagyu beef rarely touches. Ramen is seen as a pork mainstay as Chashu remains its standard meat accompaniment. If pork is not something you like, opt for other favored toppings such as ajitama or soft-boiled egg with soy sauce, kamaboko or pink-veined fish cake or fresh seafood. There are also popular garnishes to choose from.
