Do you know what's ramen? Yeah, I'm not talking about instant ramen. I'm talking about REAL ramen. Let me teach you about the basic components of ramen and how one of my favorite dishes is assembled.
Ramen I made from scratch last winter (including the noodles)
Brief Introduction to Ramen
Ramen is a dish which has Chinese roots. Originally called "lamian", ramen is introduced to Japan before World War 2 (just to be clear, ramen and lamian are not the same, ramen is a dish derived from lamian). Since then, multiple restaurants with ramen on it's menu were open, which started a revolution in food. Eventually the instant ramen was invented, which is the one we most know but not all love.
As more and more people started making and eating ramen, more styles and recipes were developed. Right now there are multiple shops in Japan were you can find traditional and fusion recipes.
What is Ramen
Ramen is a dish which consist of the following 5 elements:
- Broth: It's the base of the ramen soup. There are various types of broth you can use like: Dashi, Chicken, Pork, Vegetable, etc.
- Tare: It's the seasoning which adds flavor to the soup. It can be as simple as salt or soy sauce, or as complex as a mix of multiple seasonings (soy sauce with sake, mirin, miso, etc)
- Oil: It's used to enhance the flavors, aroma and texture. It can be an aromatic oil or just fat.
- Noodles: There are multiple types of noodles: dried, fresh, somen, udon, etc. This add a lot of texture to the dish and are usually chewy.
- Toppings: Consist of proteins and vegetables used to make a better presentation of the dish, as well as to add flavor.
That's pretty much it. Most ramen recipes will have all 5 elements. However, there are a wide variety of ingredients you can use in your ramen.
Eat some ramen and spread the word!
Now that you know the basics of ramen you can get an idea of how elaborate this dish is. Don't be afraid to start experimenting with your common instant ramen. You can start by adding an egg to your instant ramen, maybe some scallions or chicken.
I will recommend you to visit an Asian supermarket and look for one of the Asian instant ramen. These are better in quality (broth, topping and noodle), but are a little more expensive. Give it a try.
Now that winter is coming, I want to do some more ramen at home. I will share some recipes in the future (including how to do noodles from scratch). Sometimes these recipes are complicated and take a lot of time to prepare and make, but the end result is worth it.
Anyway, I don't want to make this post super long. I hope you've learned the basics. It is truly a great dish!
Remember to upvote this post if you like it. Also you can follow me if you want to read more content related to my life, food I make (or just eat) and other content I like. You can also ask me questions if you have any, and I'll try my best to answer them (or just chat about ramen ha ha).
Until next time!