Hello all, I hope you learned a thing or two about Ramen in my previous post (check it out here if you have not @holmiumz/eatlikeasians-ramen-how-well-you-know-about-ramen-part-1 )
Now we are going to continue to share further on one of the key differentiator in a bowl of Ramen - and that is the broth! Let me walk you through the different type of broth for Ramen:
Shio is another type of soup base which cooked with combination of chicken, salt, vegetable, fish and seaweed (and at times, pork too). It is light, clear and yellowish in color, probably best served with Chashu (pork belly slice). It also noted that Shio is oldest soup based of all types.
Tonkotsu (and NOT Tonkatsu which is totally different dish in Japan) is the pork bone soup base which is whitish/creamy in colour. It is cooked over high heat for a long period of time to bring out the best of pork pone such as the fatty collagen which pretty nutritious. This is by far, most popular or at least our favourite type of broth.
Shoyu is soy source soup base which is usually cook with chicken with vegetable. It is light brown in colour and a tad salty while still light on the palate. Very often, bamboo shoots are served with this soup base (so take note if you are or are not a fan of bamboo shoots)
Miso which is last and newest variation of Ramen soup base. It is thick and has a robust tangy flavor thanks to the soy bean paste used to cooked with chicken and fish broth.
Kare is basically pork bone soup based with curry flavor. It is not that spicy and not commonly available, especially outside japan.
Besides the noodles and broth, the other key component in Ramen lies with its topping. It is huge list of toppings available and it varies from shop to shop, state by state and country by country. Common one are such as Chashu, seaweed and onsen egg. Whichever it is, it is still the combination of the soup and noodle that bring out the uniqueness of a Ramen. What's more, now you know each of the variation makes your next Ramen order heck lots easier and better to your preference.
