What is ramen?: The noodle bowl dissected in four parts (2024)
What is ramen?
At its essence, a bowl of noodles.
It's not, and you should go ahead and get this memory out of your head, the dried and packaged noodles consumed by broke freshmen. That packet of Top Ramen bought for a quarter at the grocery store is the mass-produced mutation of a heart-warming, rib-sticking original. True ramen noodles aren't that old, really. Japanese soldiers brought Chinese-style noodles home after World War II, and the first generation of ramen otaku (ramen obsessives) were born. Street peddlers served piping hot bowls of broth and noodles made from U.S. wheat. Now it's one of Japan's national pastimes. And the rest of the world is right behind them.
There are many geographic variations of ramen, and those styles have adapted further as ramen becomes hip and popular the world over. But at its most basic, a bowl of ramen has four parts, according to Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, authors of "Japanese Soul Cooking": soup, seasoning (or tare), noodles and toppings.
SOUP
Call it broth or soup, the brewed-for-hours liquid is how ramen warms your insides, maybe even your soul. Depending on the style of ramen, the soup sucks its flavor from pork or chicken bones, fish or seaweed. Ramen broth isn't made in an instant, but through overnight bubbling sessions on a hot stove.
This is the concentrated seasoning of the noodle bowl. Combined with the broth, it gives ramen its character. (Toppings are the one-liner zingers.) Miso tare, for example, can be made from that fermented bean paste, sake, rice wine vinegar, among other ingredients. A soy sauce tare is quite similar, replacing the miso with salty sauce.
NOODLES
We think of ramen noodles as those thin curly-hair-esque noodles from the plastic wrap. But throughout Japan, noodles vary greatly. They can be thick or thin, and straight like spaghetti. Ramen noodles are always made from wheat flour, as opposed to the rice noodles favored in Southeast Asian cuisines.
TOPPINGS
Toppings turn a simple bowl of noodles into a work of art. A protein of some sort in usually involved - pork belly or braised meats, slow-cooked eggs marinated in soy sauce - as are chopped scallions, squares of nori (crunchy seaweed). Everybody riffs on this, even in Athens. Catch 22 does beer-braised beef and green beans, Pulaski Heights does pulled pork, collards and an egg, and 5&10 does pork belly, sliced radish, bok choy and pickled scallion.
Ramen variations are limitless, which is what makes it perfect for a competition. Doesn't a barbecue competition, where everything is supposed to taste the same, just sound boring?
Contact arts and entertainment reporter André Gallant: (706) 208-2230, www.twitter.com/andregallant and www.facebook.com/GallantABH.
But at its most basic, a bowl of ramen has four parts, according to Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, authors of "Japanese Soul Cooking": soup, seasoning (or tare
tare
Tare is traditionally made by mixing and heating soy sauce, sake and/or mirin, and sugar and/or honey. The sauce is boiled and reduced to the desired thickness, then used to marinate meat, which is then grilled or broiled, and the final dish may be garnished with spring onions.
In our Ramen Guide article, we've talked about the basic components that make up a bowl of ramen, mainly the soup stock, tare (sauce), noodles, and toppings. Today, we're all about ramen toppings! If you are here for delicious ramen topping ideas, you've come to the right place.
Simply put, ramen is a Japanese noodle soup, with a combination of a rich flavoured broth, one of a variety of types of noodle and a selection of meats or vegetables, often topped with a boiled egg.
But the main way ramen is categorized is by its primary flavor, which comes from how its broth is made. There are four general classes of ramen: shoyu, tonkotsu, miso, and shio.
It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles (中華麺, chūkamen) served in a broth; common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including sliced pork (chāshū), nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions.
The broth is the most important part of the ramen — it's where most of the flavor comes from. Typically, ramen broth is a combination of pork or chicken stock and dashi. Dashi is a simple Japanese soup stock containing kombu and bonito flakes.
Chicken breast, pork tenderloin, or flank steak are all great candidates. I like to pick the pieces up one at a time and swish them back and forth in the hot broth until cooked while the noodles are simmering, then set the cooked meat aside and put it back on top right before serving.
But at its most basic, a bowl of ramen has four parts, according to Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, authors of "Japanese Soul Cooking": soup, seasoning (or tare), noodles and toppings. Call it broth or soup, the brewed-for-hours liquid is how ramen warms your insides, maybe even your soul.
While the word ramen means pulled noodles in Japanese when we talk about ramen we are also referring to the delicious dish that has become so popular around the world. Ramen mainly consists of the signature kansui noodles served up in a beautiful broth and decorated with different toppings.
The possibilities are endless, but some common additions include chashu pork (succulent pieces of braised pork belly), soft-boiled eggs (cooked in the pork's braising liquid), assorted vegetables and extra pork fat for good measure.
Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup that is popular both in Japan and worldwide. Even though there are numerous variations, the mainstay of ramen noodles is a broth base, long thin wheat noodles, and various toppings. In the US, ramen noodles are mostly associated with the dried content of the loud colored packaging.
Pho (pronounced fuh) is a light Vietnamese noodle dish with herbal broth and rice noodles, and ramen is a Japanese noodle dish with hearty broth and wheat noodles. If you compare the two soups side by side, the noodles in pho are soft and translucent, and the noodles in ramen are firm and chewy.
Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup with thousands of variations. Most ramens are tonkotsu, made by boiling pork bones, pork fat, collagen, and other umami-rich ingredients like kombu (kelp), mushrooms, and katsuobushi (tuna flakes) for hours until it's rich, creamy, and an absolute umami bomb.
“There are five basic elements to ramen: noodles, tare, broth, topping and aroma oil,” Sun Noodle's executive chef Shigetoshi “Jack” Nakamura says. “For a very long time people in Japan were very poor, so they couldn't eat regular proteins or meat.
You often see ramen categorized into four classes: shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso (fermented bean paste), and tonkotsu (pork), which doesn't make particular sense, as the first three are flavorings, while the fourth is the broth base.
But all ramen noodles are commonly made from wheat flour, water, salt, and kansui, an alkaline mineral. Kansui gives noodles their elasticity and chewiness. It also gives ramen its yellow color. For this reason, ramen noodles may sometimes be thought to have egg as an ingredient, but they do not.
Introduction: My name is Eusebia Nader, I am a encouraging, brainy, lively, nice, famous, healthy, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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