Ramen Guide – Types, Curiosities, and Recipes

In this complete guide, we will see everything about ramen, its types, ingredients, curiosities, recipes, composition, noodles, and everything you need to know about the traditional Japanese noodle in the broth that has conquered the world.

Ramen [拉麺] is a Chinese dish enhanced in Japanese cuisine, having different ingredients and recipes but maintaining the same preparation base. This noodle soup is one of the most popular and consumed dishes in Japan.

What is ramen?

Ramen is a simple dish that consists of a noodle soup with a variety of ingredients and flavors. Usually, restaurants make their own noodles used in the dish, just like soba and udon.

There is an infinite variety of ramen types. They can have beef, seafood, miso soup, vegetables, and some go further and are prepared with exotic ingredients. There is even charred and black ramen.

Difference between Lamen and Ramen?

Ramen or Lamen, which is the correct name? – In Japan, there is no letter “R,” so the traditional Chinese name lámian kind of turned into ramen when exported to Japan. There is no right or wrong, so we use both forms randomly in the text.

In Portuguese, it is more common to find lámen. But we believe that ramen is the more correct way to refer to the Japanese dish. Lamen, in general, refers to the Chinese preparation method, but both are bowls of hot broth with noodles.

The name “ramen” means stretched dough [拉] (la) and noodles [麺] (men). It is, therefore, the protagonist of the dish. Wheat flour, egg, and water are the three basic ingredients that produce this variety of noodles.

History of ramen in Japan

Some claim that ramen was introduced to Japan by Chinese immigrants at the end of the 19th century. A simple noodle with broth and sliced pork in the Chinese style. It is not known if this idea was used before.

It was only at the end of World War II that the dish truly became popular in Japan. The scarcity of food, along with the abundance of wheat flour and lard, led to thousands of ramen restaurants emerging throughout Japan.

Ramen was sold at food stalls called yatai for low prices, becoming a great post-war salvation. By 1980, it was already a craze, with each region of Japan having its own ramen.

In Brazil, the dish also became popular around this time with the immigration of Japanese people to Brazil. In São Paulo, there were already ramen houses since 1950. It is a shame it did not spread to other regions without a large concentration of Japanese.

How is ramen made?

Ramen is usually made as a specialty; there are even experts who investigate ramen restaurants across the country in search of the perfect flavor. Its preparation consists of two important things: the noodles and the broth.

What is the noodle of lamen like?

An important characteristic is that it uses wheat flour as raw material instead of buckwheat like soba. In addition, an alkaline salt solution called kansui is added, which differentiates the dough from other traditional ones in Japan and the West.

Generally, the noodles in ramen houses are homemade; some use machines to cut and make them, but some are entirely handmade, while others are industrialized. However, true ramen factories make them in a homemade way.

The noodles can also be classified according to thickness as “thin noodles,” “medium thin noodles,” “medium thick noodles,” “thick noodles,” and similar. The crimping of the noodles is also considered.

The main dough is generally made from wheat flour, salt, and water, where the shapes vary in thickness and texture. You can also use hosomen (thinner), somen (made with only wheat and water), soba (made with buckwheat), and udon (thicker).

If you are interested, we recommend reading the article about types of Japanese noodles.

What is the soup of lamen like?

The soup of ramen is called “suupu” [スープ]. The soup is a very important factor that determines the flavor of ramen, and most lamen houses use a well-crafted and time-consuming soup. The soup is usually made with various ingredients.

Generally, vegetables, soy sauce, bonito flakes and shavings, chicken bones, pork, beef, trimmings, seaweed, leeks, ginger, and garlic are used. Everything will depend on the type of ramen, but the possibilities are vast.

The sauce to be seasoned has a fragrance that floats and changes flavor when heated for a long time, which is why the dashi and the sauce are prepared separately. There are also commercial soups that allow speeding up this sauce production process.

Basic aromatic seasonings (miso, salt, soy sauce), spices, and seasonings (sugar, salt, umami, mirin, sake, vinegar), and other ingredients (vegetables, seaweed, fruits, a mixture of paste and powder or meat extract) are also used.

Flavoring oils that emphasize richness and umami can also be used. Garlic-based oils, spicy oils, lard, chicken oil, shrimp oil, vegetable oils with strong characteristics like olive and sesame, herbs, and flavors.

Differences between lamen and instant noodles

Instant noodles are an industrial instant noodle that promises to bring the flavor of lamen to your home. The truth is that even being very popular, instant noodles fall short when it comes to ramen, which is a handmade noodle.

Handmade ramen takes hours and hours to be ready, while instant noodles are made in just 5 minutes. And even if we add ingredients to instant noodles, it will never come close to a ramen.

The ramen has a completely different texture, aroma, and flavor, a completely unique sauce and not that seasoning packet that comes with instant noodles. Not even Cup Noodles comes close to a ramen.

There are lamen sauces that take about 20 hours to be ready. A professional lamen cook needs to graduate if they want to make a perfect lamen. Never! Never compare a lamen with instant noodles.

Types of Ramen

There are types of lamen found in different restaurants. Although each place has its unique flavor, we can categorize the main ones as:

Shoyu ramen

Shoyu ramen [醤油ラーメン] or soy sauce soup lamen is considered the basic flavor of ramen. Depending on the broth that is combined, it is divided into a wide range of types, from light and refreshing colored soups to thick and murky soups.

There are many types of ramen that reflect regional characteristics, as seafood-based soup broth and soy sauce are sometimes simmered together with mirin. It is flavorful without being overwhelming. One of the main types of ramen in Japan and the most balanced.

The soup broth is made by boiling chicken and other ingredients for several hours, but there are several ramen shops that also use pork or beef bones as ingredients for the soup broth. Most local ramens are soy sauce-based.

Shio ramen

The shio ramen [塩ラーメン] has a salt-based broth. But don’t imagine that it is simpler than the others. Although salt is its base, the flavor goes far beyond, and the amount of ingredients as well.

It is likely that the characteristics of the soup broth appear more than in the lamen with soy sauce, because the sauce itself has a lighter flavor than the others; its soup is not murky because it does not boil strongly like the others.

The soup is generally seasoned with chicken sauce and pork bones. As the name suggests, its base is salt, so expect something salty, but nothing that Brazilians are not used to. Some add pepper and even soy sauce.

Miso Ramen

The miso ramen [味噌ラーメン] or miso soup lamen is characterized by the aroma of miso and more depth in the broth. There are several types of miso; many have a rich flavor, while others even use roasted miso.

The miso ramen was invented in Sapporo in 1955 by Morito Omiya, the owner of the restaurant Aji no Sanpei in Sapporo. It is very likely that other miso ramen appeared in Japan without the influence of Sapporo.

Other classifications of Ramen

We saw the 3 main classifications of lamen in Japan, but there are many other types that we will summarize briefly. It is also worth clarifying that ramen can be classified by ingredients, meat, and even the type of broth (we saw the broth base).

White hot water soup – paitan [パイタン] – Presents a murky color and can use pork or chicken meat, along with vegetables and fish bones. The white broth is called sayu [白湯] while the traditional broth is shoyu [清湯].

Soup broth – jingtan [チンタン] – Clear dashi soup, using egg white to remove the murkiness. It usually has a more refreshing flavor compared to white hot water soup broth.

Curry soup – karedashi [カレー出汁] – Ramen specialty shops often use seasonings to match with curry. Many have claimed to create curry-based lamen broth, but its origin is uncertain.

Remembering that the soups and broths above are used along with a base broth that can be salt, shoyu, or miso. There are other types of ramen or noodle recipes that can be mentioned below:

TanTan Men – Lamen that originated in China, well seasoned, for those who like stronger and spicier flavors. Tanmen is a salty noodle soup made by boiling the soup and noodles together with other base ingredients.

Tsuke Men – Ramen where the noodles are served separately, and you have to dip them in the thick sauce while eating.

• Chāshūmen [チャーシュー麺] noodles with a lot of chāshū, pieces of roasted pork;
• Wantanmen [ワンタン麺] wonton noodles popular in other countries;
• Paakoomen [パーコー麺] with fried ribs or fried meat; some serve boiled ribs;
• Chanponmen [チャンポン麺] made with fried meat and vegetables with eggs;
• Amatsumen [天津麺] made with crab balls served with thick bean paste;
• Gomokumen [五目麺] from the Kanto region that uses various ingredients;
• Kantonmen [広東麺] uses Cantonese noodles;

Typical Ramen Toppings

Besides the broth and noodles, we have other traditional ingredients that are present in almost every ramen dish. Below is a list of main ingredients that serve as toppings for lamen:

Menma (fermented bamboo shoots)

Menma are fermented bamboo shoots. Their pleasant crunch provides an additional textural element when eating ramen. Some restaurants also make their own menma.

CharSiu (slices of pork)

Charsiu or chāshū are slices of roasted or boiled pork, usually seasoned with soy sauce. It is one of the main ingredients that attracts meat lovers and is present in most ramen dishes.

Kamaboko and Naruto (fish cakes)

Naruto-maki are steamed cakes made from processed fish paste, shaped like a swirl when cut into cross-sections. It is said that its name comes from the swirls that form in the Naruto Strait, in Tokushima Prefecture.

These fish cakes are also called kamaboko or surimi and can have different shapes and colors, but naruto is the most commonly used. It is the same as that kani that we find in Brazil.

Moyashi (bean sprouts)

These edible legumes are artificially cultivated without being exposed to sunlight, creating nutrient-rich vegetables like vitamin C. The bean sprouts from western Japan are thin and long, while those from eastern and northern Japan are thick and crunchy.

Wakame and Nori (seaweed)

Nori are thin, edible sheets of seaweed. Their crunchy texture and aroma are also used in sushi. They provide high mineral and nutrient content and a sea smell. If you want to know more, we have an article about nori.

Wakame is a variety of seaweed that is quickly boiled and used as a topping for ramen. The wakame has a firm texture, pleasant fragrance, and high nutritional value. There is also kuki wakame ramen, which uses wakame stems as a topping.

Beni-shoga (pickled ginger)

Beni-shoga, or pickled ginger, is essential in any bowl of tonkotsu ramen, providing a contrasting layer of flavor. The ginger is preserved in salt or dried in the sun and then in plum vinegar.

Kikurage (sliced mushrooms)

These black mushrooms grow on fallen trees and dead branches from spring to autumn. They are mainly eaten in East Asia and as a topping for ramen bowls in Japan.

Besides the mentioned Japanese ingredients, we also have:

• Onions;
• Leeks;
• Boiled eggs;
• Corn;
• Butter;

Gourmet Lamen – Learn to make your Ramen

You will find plenty of ramen recipes on the internet, but it is difficult to make a perfect ramen like the ramen restaurants in Japan. It is also very hard to find a lamen restaurant in most cities in Brazil.

Thinking about this, the Gourmet Lamen course was created, which teaches the creation of professional lamen for personal consumption or to set up your own restaurant or expand the menu of your sushi bar. Whatever your intention, we recommend Gourmet Lamen!

The Gourmet Lamen course will teach you to make the 5 most popular types of ramen in Japan. You will learn to make Shio Lamen, Shoyu Lamen, Miso Lamen, Tantan Lamen, and Tsukemen.

The course will teach step by step from choosing ingredients, initial preparations, and ideal accompaniments. As a bonus, it will also teach you how to make the famous karaage, unique Japanese fried chicken.

Ramen is not easy to prepare as some imagine. Sometimes it takes hours to prepare the ingredients, not to mention the difficulty of finding such ingredients. That’s why we recommend accessing Gourmet Lamen using the button below:

Miso Ramen Recipe

Making ramen is not an easy task. Some specialize for years to prepare the perfect lamen. Making ramen can be more complicated than becoming a sushi chef, so you might want to learn with the Gourmet Lamen course.

Recently, I decided to make my own ramen. While researching on the internet, I came across several different recipes, so I kind of ended up inventing my own recipe using the ingredients I had here.

If you want the exact measurements of suggested ingredients, right after this recipe, we will mention a Shoyu Ramen recipe. You can follow it as a base because both are similar. I will try to explain in my own words how I made it.

First, I sautéed the miso paste with ground meat (pork is recommended) until it became very thick, then I added water and other seasonings like onion, hondashi, ajinomoto, and a little soy sauce to taste.

I cooked this broth for over half an hour; it evaporated quite a bit, but its taste reminded me a lot of traditional ramens from Japan. The rest is to put the broth over the cooked noodles and add the ingredients that beautify the dish.

I didn’t have any slices of pork, nori, nor naruto or other traditional ingredients to add to the lamen. I just put slices of boiled egg and a kibbeh (lol). Even so, it was a simple, easy, and delicious recipe. If you don’t have the ingredients, invent!

What matters for the taste of ramen is the cooking time of the broth. That’s why there are restaurants that boil the broth for hours and hours; some even let the broth turn black, but surprisingly the taste is delicious and nothing related to something burnt.

Shoyu Lamen Recipe

Now let’s leave a recipe for you to try to prepare the most common type of ramen based on soy sauce:

Ingredients for the paste:

• 1/4 onion
• 4 whole garlic cloves
• 1 stalk of green onion
• 4 slices of ginger
• 1 stalk of celery
• 7 tablespoons of Kenko Mirin Sake
• 3 tablespoons of Sakura Light
• 3 tablespoons of Kenko Sesame Oil
• 1 tablespoon of Kenko Sushi Seasoning
• 2 tablespoons of chicken broth powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of fish broth powder
• 20 g of lard

Ingredients for the broth:

• 3 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon of fish broth powder
• 1 tablespoon of Sakura Light
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of the paste

Ingredients for assembly:

• 200g of cooked lamen noodles
• Chopped green onion to taste
• Kamaboko (fish paste) sliced to taste
• Boiled egg cut in half to taste
• Wakame (seaweed) to taste
• Moyashi (bean sprouts) to taste
• Fried green onion (green onion fried in a little oil) to taste

Preparation method:

1 – For the preparation of the paste, blend in a blender: onion, garlic, green onion, ginger, celery, Kenko Mirin Sake, Sakura Light, Kenko Sesame Oil, Kenko Sushi Seasoning, chicken broth, salt, black pepper, and fish broth. Then, take this mixture to the heat, add the lard, and boil for 5 minutes or until the broth becomes thick, a paste. Set aside.

2 – For the preparation of the broth, in a pot, heat the water, add the fish broth, Sakura Light, salt, black pepper, and the paste. Mix until dissolved. Turn off the heat and set aside.

In a large, deep bowl, place the still hot noodles, add the hot broth, and finish with green onion, kamaboko, boiled egg, wakame, moyashi, and fried green onion. Serve immediately.

To finish, let’s leave the recipe video below:

How to eat Lamen?

There is a whole culture behind the consumption of noodles in Japan; you need to slurp the noodles and make noise with pleasure to show that you are enjoying the dish. Of course, you are not to swallow the noodles; chew and enjoy the flavor.

Usually, the lamen bowl comes with chopsticks to pick up the noodles and with a spoon to sip the soup along with other ingredients like egg. You can also drink the lamen broth straight from the bowl without any problem.

Eating lamen consists of enjoying a bit of the noodles, the broth, and the ingredients that cover the dish. If it is a tsukemen, the noodles and the broth are served in separate bowls. Just dip the amount of noodles you will put in your mouth into the broth.