Ramen - Types

I guess today is ramen day.

There are four basic types of ramen, and some types are more prevalent in certain areas of Japan (Shio is big in Tokyo, but not so big in Osaka). So lets go through them, shall we?

Shio Ramen (Salt-based):This ramen is one of the lightest and easiest to make, and comprises maybe about 20% of the ramen market. Its a little more popular in Tokyo, and is made by taking a secret mix of bones, veggies, and salt and slowboiling or simmering it over night to make soup. I don't like to eat shio unless it's highly recommended by some magazine - it tends to be thin and while many Japanese love it because of the subtlety of its taste, I usually will end up dunking garlic or shichimi (a type of spice) in it to make it taste better. The soup is usually a thin color.

Shoyu Ramen (Soy sauce-based):


Shoyu is the same boiling process for the soup with less salt to compensate for the salty soy sauce, and the soy sauce is added either in the soup-making stage or right before the noodles are put in. As far as I've seen, this type is quite popular and has about a 35% share in the market. Its got an easy to distinguish brown color.

Miso Ramen (Bean paste-based):


Now we're starting to get into the thick stuff, and miso really brings a lot of thickness to the soup. Some miso can actually get almost chowdery with viscosity, and this makes miso ramen a very powerful weapon against winter colds (and cold itself!) Green onions and garlic compliment this ramen very well. Notice the lack of seaweed as well, you don't see it that often in miso ramen.

Tonkotsu Ramen (pig bone-based):

Tonkotsu is pig bones boiled with miso, shoyu, or salt to get all the fat in the bones out in the soup. During winter, this soup will literally force all the phlegm out of your lungs due to the warm fat that sits adjacent to your lungs - pulsating and loosening all the mucus in your lungs. Needless to say, this soup is very thick and if mixed with miso, can be almost like a cream based soup. This pic is of my favorite ramenya in Kyoto - Hakata Ramen Miyoshi.

There are several others:
Tantan men - hot noodles with ground beef as topping
Kimchi men - hot soup with a kimchi/miso base
Champon - seafood ramen
Butter ramen - usually miso/shoyu with a slab of butter on top.
Reimen - cold ramen