Japanese Ramen

From Chinese noodles to a Japanese icon

Ramen arrived in Japan with Chinese cooks and traders in port cities like Yokohama in the late 1800s. Early bowls were called shina soba, Chinese soba. A Tokyo shop called Rairaiken, opened in Asakusa in 1910, is often named as one of the first places to sell it to a mass Japanese audience.

What sets ramen noodles apart is kansui, alkaline mineral water mixed into the wheat dough. It makes the noodles springy, gives them a yellow tint and keeps them firm in hot broth. After World War II, cheap imported wheat and street stalls turned ramen into everyday food, and regional styles multiplied.

The 1958 invention

Momofuku Ando, a businessman living in Osaka, watched people queue in the cold for ramen after the war and wanted a noodle that anyone could make at home with just hot water. Working in a shed behind his house, he experimented for about a year. The breakthrough came from flash-frying seasoned, steamed noodles in hot oil, which dried them and left tiny holes that rehydrate in minutes.

His company, Nissin, launched Chicken Ramen on August 25, 1958. It was considered a luxury at first, priced above fresh noodles, but it caught on fast. In 1971 Ando followed with noodles in a cup. Today instant noodles are eaten around the world on a staggering scale, more than 120 billion servings a year, and two museums in Japan celebrate his invention.

The four big styles

Shoyu ramen, seasoned with soy sauce, is the Tokyo classic. Shio ramen uses salt for a clear, light broth. Miso ramen, linked to Sapporo, is hearty enough for Hokkaido winters and often comes with corn and butter. Tonkotsu, from Fukuoka on Kyushu, is a creamy white pork bone broth boiled for many hours and served with thin, firm noodles.

How to eat it

Ramen is meant to be eaten quickly while the noodles are at their best. Slurping is normal: it cools the noodles and carries aroma. Classic toppings include chashu pork, a soft-boiled marinated egg, menma bamboo shoots, nori and green onion. Many shops let you order extra noodles, called kaedama, to drop into leftover broth.

Ramen culture runs deep: some shops sell tickets from vending machines, and many have only a counter and a handful of stools.

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