And when I say “made with soy sauce”, I don’t mean that soy sauce is merely added to the cooked broth. Shoyu ramen has broth made with soy sauce. Shio ramen broth is pale to golden yellow depending on what bones and vegetables are used, and in what proportion. Shio ramen’s broth is made with chicken or fish bones (pork bones are sometimes added too), vegetables and salt. Chinese-influenced ramen dishes are so varied that they deserve a separate discussion. Note that this list does NOT include Chinese-influenced Japanese noodle soups such as the spicy tantanmen. Tantanmen with grilled pork from Mentenshyou in Osaka
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How the broth is seasoned is largely influenced by its base. So, ramen broth can be made with pork or beef, chicken, fish or other seafood.
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Shoyu, shio, karē and miso are the seasonings rather than the base of the broth. So, we had been classifying ramen broth incompletely, if not incorrectly. Because her sister, Sam, is mostly vegetarian and an occasional pescatarian, Alex ordered seafood-based ramen for her. Shio ramen with grilled pork from Mentenshyou in OsakaĪlex excitedly announced that, at the shop, one could choose the base of the ramen broth. You guessed right, perhaps? About two hours later, Speedy and Alex (that’s my husband and younger daugher) walked to the ramen shop and came back with a ton of food and plenty of useful information. We reached our apartment and, for lack of anything useful to do, we scrutinized the brochures. We accepted them gratefully and noted that the ramen shop has delivery service. The guy understood and handed us brochures instead.
Devour bowls full#
We were so taken by the tarps displayed out front but, despite encouragement from the guy at the front door, we were still too full to go in and sit down to another meal. The ramen shop, Mentenshyou, is in Chuo ward (and not the one in the photo above).
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The base of ramen broth can be meat, poultry or seafood Then, one late afternoon in Osaka, we were walking back to our apartment and we passed by a ramen shop that completely changed my understanding of ramen. I’ve come across chicken ramen once in a while but that was rare. Understanding ramen brothįor the longest time, I was under the impression that ramen broth is made with pork or beef bones, or both. I’m just saying that, today, I understand ramen much better than I did three years ago. After all, ramen as a dish is always evolving as with the case of curry and miso ramen which are pretty recent incarnations of the Japanese noodle soup. I don’t know of anyone who knows absolutely everything about ramen (in fact, I don’t know of anyone who knows absolutely everything about anything). I’m not claiming though that this is the ultimate ramen guide. A more comprehensive classification of ramen broth that differentiates between:Ģ.
Devour bowls update#
It’s time to update the guide to ramen broth. And the journey to understand ramen even included a visit to Kyoto Ramen Street where ramen from every region of Japan is served. I’ve visited Japan twice since then and enjoyed countless bowls of ramen in Kyoto and Osaka. I originally wrote this guide to ramen broth back in December of 2016.
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But did you also know that, except for tonkotsu, the base of the broth can be meat, poultry or seafood? The restaurant in Dotonbori where Osaka tonkatsu ramen is claimed to have originated Tonkotsu (not tonkatsu) is made with pork hock and trotters. Shio broth has salt, shoyu broth has soy sauce and miso paste is added to make miso broth.