To chart its different flavors is to embark on a journey along a road of influences and regional variations that has more twists and tangles than a mouthful of noodles.
Sure, there are the basic four ramen styles.
There’s Shoyu with its heavy soy sauce seasoning; it’s lighter version, shio; miso made with salty dollops of fermented soy beans; and tonkotsu, made by cooking pork bones overnight until the soup is creamy-white.
Venture out into the far reaches of the country, however, and the ingredients change — what started as a simple four can now be categorized into dozens of local styles.
Ramen emerged as a national food trend in post-war Japan as a growing train network took tourists to the country’s far reaches, where they soon began sampling local dishes.
Tokyoites raved about what they were finding on their weekend jaunts, demanding more and ramen shops were quick to cash in.
Hokkaido’s miso ramen
Nowhere did this with as much success as Sapporo, on the northern island of Hokkaido.
It was here that in 1955 a customer asked the chef at one eatery, Aji no Sanpei (Daimaru Fujii Sentral Building 4/F; +81 11 231 0377) to put noodles into his miso soup.
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Even Hachioji, a city less than 30 minutes from Ogikubo, makes their own style of ramen by adding freshly diced onions into the mix.
It doesn’t stop there.
New styles are constantly being created and forgotten as chefs try to conjure up the next big thing. Just when you think you’ve tasted them all, there’s always one more bowl to try…
More ramen recommendations:
Aji no Dai O, 138-3 Uenae, +81 144 58 3333
Kiraku, Dogenzaka 2-17-6, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo-to, +81 33 461 2032
Tengaiten, Anseimachi 2-15, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto-shi, Kumamoto-Ken; +81 96 354 8458
Brian Mac is a foodie who makes a living performing in children’s events around Japan. A San Francisco native, he’s called Japan home since 2006, and has ventured to almost 1,000 different ramen shops. Read more on his blog, Ramen Adventures.
