Ramen is made of soup, noodles, and toppings.
And ramen noodles are made of wheat flour, kansui, and water.
1. Does it sound simple?
10 PM on the day of December when I was 9 years old, I heard the sound of a horn. It was a sign of a ramen food truck in my neighborhood.
I asked my dad if we could eat ramen.
He was tipsy and feeling happy because of the beer.
And said to me "Sure".
We brought 2,000 yen and 2 soup bowls to the street...
2. Ramen is the Power Rangers' giant robot
Let’s say… Red ranger is the soup, green ranger is the noodles, yellow ranger is chashu, blue ranger is narutomaki, and pink ranger is the ramen egg.
And their giant robot is ramen.
The robot is made by combining cars or airplanes that each ranger has.
So the harmony of these elements is very important for ramen.
3. Ramen soup is made out of broth, oil, and sauce.
The soup is essentially the soul of the ramen.
It is made of these 3 elements.
Broth is made up of water and a combination of pork bone, beef bone, chicken, bonito, konbu (kelp), mushroom, or scallops.
You boil the ingredients for many hours to get the flavors to transfer into the soup.
The broth is the building block of ramen soup.
Because it has the most important element of "umami."
Seasoning oil(koumiyu) gives ramen its flavor. In addition, using koumiyu keeps the ramen hot.
Because it covers the surface of the soup, trapping the heat inside.
Some types of koumiyu include chicken oil, pork fatback, and bonito.
The other element is sauce(tare). The purpose of sauce is to give the soup a salty taste.
There are many types of sauce - soy sauce tare, salt tare, and miso tare.
Soy sauce tare is in a liquid form,
Miso tare is a paste,
And salt tare is a powder.
4. Ramen noodles are made of flour, kansui, and water.
I will explain each ingredient in detail. Keep reading and you will find out...
Ramen noodles are made of flour but… Do you know there are many different kinds of flour?
There is cake flour, all-purpose flour, and bread flour.
And they have different amounts of protein.
Flour that is used for ramen noodles contains the amount of protein between all-purpose flour and bread flour.
Kansui is an alkaline solution (usually sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate).
Kansui makes noodles...
Yellow,
Chewy, and
Gives it its distinct ramen noodle flavor.
Amount of water that you mix with flour is very important.
In weight, 30 to 35 percent of ramen noodles are water.
If you use less water to make noodles, the noodles get dense.
And if you use more water, the noodles get chewy.
5. Use chashu, ajitama, green onions, and nori as toppings
1. Chashu
Chashu is a thinly-sliced piece of braised pork.
Imagine this:
Umami-rich, melt-in-your mouth, tender, marinated thin pork slices on top of a piping hot bowl of flavourful ramen.
2. Ajitama
Ajitama is a marinated ramen egg.
This ramen egg is famous and well-loved for its firm and seasoned egg whites, coupled with a soft and succulent egg yolk.
3. Green onions
The green onion’s nice flavor enhances the taste of your ramen soup.
4. Nori
Japanese sun-dried seaweed is an excellent supporting character of ramen.
Which do you like? Eating your crispy nori or dipping it into the soup and enjoying it with a taste of the broth?
Due to Covid, a lot of good ramen restaurants have closed
It makes me feel very angry.
I used to eat ramen out frequently,
But in this situation,
Ramen shops have started to shorten the hours, limit the number of customers, or even closed their shops.
It has affected the industry so much.
I am afraid good ramen will be gone
But meanwhile, you still can enjoy ramen in the comfort of your own home.
Here are some of my recommendations for ramen lovers.
1. Sapporo Ichiban Shio Flavor
MY THOUGHTS OVERALL ★★★★☆
In truth, Sapporo Ichiban delivers a good quality shio ramen experience.
Actually, it is very difficult to find good shio ramen.
Do you know why?
Because it is very difficult to make it since it is very simple.
There are many good shoyu and miso flavored instant noodles out there.
But I feel specifically, the shio flavor market is monopolized by Sapporo Ichiban.
Think about this for a moment having good shio ramen for your dinner with your favorite ramen toppings.
Now, you want some, don’t you?
2. Nissin Raoh Shoyu Flavor
MY THOUGHTS OVERALL ★★★★★
It is nearly impossible to make restaurant quality noodles at home without the right tools and equipment.
How can you beat that?
Using Raoh’s shoyu flavour will help you achieve this easily. This is top-notch ramen hands down!
One pinnacle of instant noodles is the soy sauce flavor. It is expensive compared to regular ones but let me tell you, it deserves every single penny.
In a nutshell, I loved every bit of it.
...And I am sure you will too.
3. The problem here is that no toppings come with these packets.
Here are some topping options and recipes for you.
Green onion
4. Have you ever faced these issues...
A lack of large, high-quality soup bowl sets at home?
Are you still struggling with...
😢 ...small bowls that aren’t large enough for soups, noodles and toppings.
😢 ...spillage every time you eat out of your bowl.
😢 ...low-quality tableware and utensils that don’t compliment your food.
Look no further,
Our best-selling bowls are here to fix all the issues you face with small, inefficient tableware.
After struggling with spillage and leakage during dinner time,
We decided to introduce APEX S.K’s large soup bowls to the market.
Want to hear why some people absolutely love our ramen bowls?
"These are perfect for homemade ramen soup nights! The bowls we have at home are not large enough and my wife has been trying to look for larger bowls. I'm so glad I stumbled upon these. They made a great Christmas gift for the whole family. Everybody was so excited and we can't wait to put them to use on our next ramen night."
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"The shape, the color, and the overall appearance of the bowl was exactly what I was looking for - the shape, the color"
Check our sets on Amazon..
About the Author
Kei is a self-proclaimed ramen lover, blog writer and founder of "Apex S.K. Japanese tableware".
"I am from Ibaraki, Japan.
Ramen is great! It can bring you a sense of happiness and satisfaction that no other food can. I have been eating ramen for 30 years.
If there is no ramen, my life would be miserable.
Ten years ago, I worked as an office worker. The job was really stressful - excessive working hours, low wages, unpaid overtime work, and constantly being yelled at by my boss.
I was new and alone, no girlfriend, no friends, and felt very lonely.
My only oasis was the ramen shop near the office. For me, the ramen chef there was literally an angel. I saw a halo on his head. (No joke)
Tonkotsu shoyu ramen was my all-time favorite. He made ramen with broth chock-full of umami flavor, nice chewy handmade noodles, and tender chashu.
My greatest dream is connect people with ramen through my blog. I want to share a lot of interesting and funny stories and ramen trivia with you.
Knowing more about ramen can help you appreciate your ramen and make it taste extra delicious."
Did you know that we offer more than just a ramen blog?
We also have an exclusive collection of ramen-inspired t-shirts and hoodies that any true noodle lover will adore.
Head over to ApexRamen and check it out for yourself
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