Oct 6, 20239 min read

Different Types of Ramen

Japan is a beautiful country for which there are a countless number of reasons to visit. For me one of the major reasons as a food and travel blogger though is, of course, the amazing food. While I am a sucker for sushi I am probably equally as excited to have ramen in Japan!

In Canada I think I have had some pretty good ramen, but options are usually pretty limited and there are a lot of chain ramen restaurants as opposed to the more local family-owned joints that I usually look for. In preparation for my visit to Japan I wanted to learn a little bit more about ramen and the different types of ramen so that I can try to seek out as many variations of this phenomenal dish as possible!

A ramen from the famous Japanese ramen chain Ichiran Ramen... this is a pork broth but they also have pork-free ramen at some locations!

The Origin of Ramen

Ramen, like many other dishes around the world, is the product of significant changes made to a dish introduced from another country. In this case, ramen comes from the Chinese dish lamian which is a Chinese soup with hand pulled noodles. It is thought that lamian was first introduced to Japan in the 1880s by immigrants coming from the Guangdong region of China to Yokohama, particularly Yokohama’s Chinatown.

Along with ramen the dish was also commonly referred to historically as shina soba and chuka soba but these names have apparently fallen out of mainstream use due to the sinophobic connotations of the terms. In the 1910s, Japanese restaurants started serving this dish due to its popularity amongst laborers and students but with the addition of extra ingredients like roasted pork and increased richness of the broth. This then quickly spread in the 1920s-1930s across Japan due to how cheap, filling and tasty ramen is, with regional varieties arising around the country.

These different types of ramen can vary in what animal, if any, is used to prepare the broth (shiru), how much baking-soda infused water (kansui) is used in the preparation of the noodles, if at all, and what toppings are added.

Additional seasoning is also added in the form of ramen tare (flavour/sauce/stock), with popular options being shio (salt), miso (fermented soybean paste), and shoyu (soy sauce). Instant noodles/ramen is also common in grocery stores around the world and uses flavour packets to try and mimic authentic ramen flavour, sometimes even coming with meat and vegetables. Now let’s look at some of the different components of ramen that give rise to the various regional varieties that are seen in Japan today.

Lamian Noodles — Chinese Beef Lamian from which ramen loosely originates

Common Components of the Different Types Ramen

Broth

The broth is the most essential component of ramen and is often prepared over many hours. The type of ramen you get may also be named after the type of broth. For example, tonkotsu broth is a pork bone based broth and you can often find “tonkotsu ramen” on restaurant menus. If you don’t eat pork though then don’t worry, there are also some classic chicken and vegetarian based ramen broths!

Chicken broth can be found clear (tori chintan) or creamy (tori paitan) and is made using chicken feet, wings and bones. For vegetarians, there is kombu (kelp) dashi (stock) and shiitake (mushroom) dashi but more common than each of these is awase dashi which contains kombu and bonito flakes (smoked and fermented tuna). Broths can also be made with a combination of chicken and pork bones and in certain instances beef bones may be included as well but I believe this is relatively uncommon.

Tare

After you have the broth, one of three main flavours is added to the ramen (although in rare cases I believe tare may be omitted). These are, as I mentioned in the introduction, shio, miso, and shoyu. You may find that as with the broths many shops (at least here in Canada) will have ramens named by these three different tares. There may be additional tare though, such as tantanmen tare which is used for tantanmen ramen, a spicy ramen based on the Chinese dish dandanmian. Furthermore, there are many different subtypes of each of these tares. For example, mushroom shoyu tare, sake-based shio tare, and kara (spicy) miso.

Toppings

Toppings are added to turn a delicious broth into a full-on meal. One of the most classic toppings is the iconic perfectly soft-boiled egg. These eggs are called ajitsuke tamago and are often added to a brine for hours after soft-boiling to impart added flavour to the eggs. This brine generally consists of soy sauce and mirin, giving the egg a darkened exterior colouration.

For the protein, chashu (pork belly) is typical but chicken is also sometimes available and some places may also have ramen containing seafood like shrimp, crab, mussels/clams or ground beef/lamb as well as other less typical meats/seafood. There are a variety of vegetables that may be included as well but some of the most common are menma (bamboo shoots), green onions, and mushrooms.

Oils and Fats

To achieve the desired richness and flavour, additional oils and fats are generally added to ramen. For example, both chicken and pork fat may be added. Other oils may be added to enhance a particular flavour as well though, such as rayu (chili oil), scallion oil, and mayu (black garlic oil). Apparently, some ramen makers also say that the addition of extra oil or fat makes it easier to do the iconic slurping of the noodles!

Noodles

Finally, the noodles, which are personally one of my favourite noodles do to their slightly firmer texture. In its simplest form, ramen noodles consist of water, kansui (the baking-soda infused water I mentioned earlier), and wheat flour. Kansui is specifically what differentiates ramen noodles from other noodles like soba noodles and is what causes their yellow colouration and firmer texture. This happens as a product of how the alkaline baking soda reacts with the gluten and flavonoids in the flour.

Elements of ramen — Summary of the elements of ramen

Regional Varieties of Ramen

Hokkaido

Sapporo Ramen

Hokkaido, the Northernmost major island of Japan, is famous for its ramen which perhaps makes sense considering that they have pretty harsh winters. I know in Canada I find myself craving soup when the weather is at its coldest, especially ramen!

Of the ramen varieties in this region, Sapporo ramen is the most famous and is generally considered one of the top three most famous regional varieties of ramen in Japan. Sapporo ramen is generally miso based and quite rich, often containing butter. The noodles are generally thick and firm while toppings seem to be pretty standard except for the notable addition of sweet corn which is local to Hokkaido. Sapporo also has a famous street lined with ramen shops called the Ramen Yokocho, I am not sure how touristy it is but I would love to check it out some day regardless!

Hakodate Ramen

If heavy/rich ramen isn’t your thing then Hakodate ramen may be for you. Hakodate ramen is less rich and fatty than Sapporo and Asahikawa ramen and uses a shio broth. The noodles are also generally thinner than others in the region. For toppings, aside from the usual, I have found conflicting information as to whether or not seafood/seaweed are common additions to the ramen but considering Hakodate is a port city if the ramen doesn’t end up fulfilling your seafood kick there is surely other amazing seafood dishes in the city.

Asahikawa Ramen

Rounding out the different types of tare most commonly used in the region, Asahikawa ramen generally uses shoyu tare. For the broth apparently it is common for it to be both pork and seafood based which isn’t as common elsewhere. Similar to the Sapporo ramen, this is considered a richer and more oily ramen, with there commonly being a thin layer of oil on top of the ramen. Asahikawa also happens to have an area dedicated to ramen called the Asahikawa Ramen Village, how cool is that!

Honshu

Kitakata Ramen

Kitakata ramen is not one that I had heard of until now but is supposedly another one of the top three most popular regional variations of ramen in Japan! Kitakata also apparently has the most ramen shops per capita out of any city in Japan and it is common for locals to have ramen for breakfast, sounds like a foodie paradise! This style of ramen is generally a shoyu based ramen with flat noodles that doesn’t seem to be too fatty/oily.

I have found that the broth appears to be another instance where it is common for it to be a combination of pork/chicken and seafood. Apparently, part of what makes this ramen special is the water that Kitakata receives from Mt. Lide, so I guess I need to visit one day to get the truly authentic Kitakata ramen experience!

Tokyo Ramen

You may think that Tokyo-style ramen would be one of the most famous considering how massive the city is but it seems it doesn’t crack the top three most popular regional varieties of ramen. Nevertheless, the ramen still sounds amazing and has grown to be a sort of stereotypical shoyu ramen. The broth is a combination of chicken and dashi or seafood and dashi based on my research and contains the classic ramen toppings. Sometimes simple can be super delicious so I can’t wait to try this style of ramen on my visit to Tokyo!

Kyoto Ramen

Kyoto, another city I will have the pleasure of visiting on my trip to Japan, interestingly has a very rich broth with shoyu tare, the first such ramen on this list. One theory for why this may be is that the man that developed Kyoto ramen, Mr. Xu, adapted Tokyo-style ramen to local tastes and rich broth was potentially in demand due to the large number of students wanting cheap yet filling ramen.

In order to achieve a thick broth more easily, Kyoto ramen started out as a chicken or chicken and pork-based ramen because based on my research it seems it is actually easier to make a thicker broth from chicken as opposed to pork which really surprised me assuming this information is accurate. The combination of a rich and fatty chicken broth with shoyu tare sounds super interesting regardless and I cannot wait to try it!

Wakayama Ramen

Wakayama is a smaller city in Japan that is still well known for their unique style of ramen. The Wakayama style was apparently largely popularized by a famous restaurant called Ide Shoten which was previously named “Best Ramen in Japan” and is a local landmark, but interestingly the Google reviews aren’t the most positive. In any case, Wakayama ramen is a ramen that uses shoyu tare and usually a thick Tonkotsu broth. To me this sounds quite similar to Kyoto ramen except with a thick pork-based broth instead of chicken. Wakayama is also apparently famous for a side-dish called hayazushi which is a type of mackerel sushi that is often served with ramen, how interesting!

Takayama Ramen

Takayama ramen is yet another shoyu ramen found on the island of Honshu, I think we are starting to see a trend here. This ramen contains thin noodles and the broth is generally made from bonito, chicken/pork and vegetables. Interestingly, the broth and the tare as well as other seasonings are apparently all boiled together in Takayama ramen which is not the norm in Japan. I wonder how much this changes this changes the flavour of the ramen!

Onomichi Ramen

Onomichi is a port city near the famous Tomonoura Port, allowing for easy availability of seafood. As such, Onomichi ramen contains small dried fish, often sardines or anchovies, that are called niboshi. The niboshi accompanies a shoyu flavoured broth, with the broth being made out of some combination of pork with chicken and/or vegetables. The other defining feature of this ramen is the use of pork back fat to add additional richness to the dish. Despite the seafood found in the broth the toppings are still generally standard, with chashu being the protein of choice, while the noodles are generally flat noodles.

Shikoku

Tokushima Ramen

Tokushima ramen is known for a couple of things, one being the different coloured broths that can be found across Tokushima. This ramen can be white if prepared with a pork broth and light soy sauce, yellow if prepared with a chicken/vegetable broth and light soy sauce, or brown if prepared with a pork broth and light soy sauce. A raw egg and bean sprouts are also added and the ramen is usually served with rice.

While bean sprouts are pretty common in certain Southeast Asian soups its not as common in ramen and the eggs are usually soft boiled in ramen so a raw egg is certainly quite interesting. Sounds like a pretty unique bowl of ramen and in fact it only gained notoriety across Japan recently, in 1999, when it was represented in a ramen museum and received positive reception!

Kyushsu

Hakata Ramen

Hakata ramen reigns as what is probably the most famous ramen in Japan. This ramen, coming from Fukuoka, is the quintessential tonkotsu ramen of Japan and potentially where tonkotsu ramen was developed. This ramen is rich and creamy with usually only being seasoned shio tare but shoyu or miso seasoned Hakata ramen is also available. The noodles are thin, straight, and firm and along with common ramen toppings this ramen also often contains mustard greens which adds a unique flavour. In case you were wondering why it is called Hakata ramen and not Fukuoka ramen, this is because it comes from the district of Hakata in Fukuoka which actually used to be its own separate port town.

I hope you enjoyed this post and have a better understanding of what ramen is and what some of the famous regional varieties are! I definitely enjoyed researching this topic because now I feel I know what types of ramen to look out for when I’m in Japan! Checkout my other blog posts for more foodie content like this, recipes, and restaurant recommendations! Also make sure to check out my social media to follow me on my trip to Japan!