How many of you are fans of Japanese food, tiktakers? You might remember that a while
ago we talked about sushi, but lately we discovered another Japanese dish that is becoming pretty
popular. If we tell you this is Naruto's favorite dish, would you know what it is? That's right,
it's ramen!
But the truth is that this dish didn't originate in Japan, but in China. In fact, at first
it was called Shina-soba or Chuka-soba, which literally means "Chinese noodles soup". The
term "ramen" originated in the mid '50s, and it probably came from the Japanese pronunciation
of the Chinese characters "la", stretch, and "mian", noodles, referring to the artisan
way to make them.
Ramen started to be served in restaurants in Guangzhou and Shanghai at the beginning
of the century, as a cheap and easy to prepare dish: A noodle soup made with few ingredients
in a broth based on salt and pig bones. It was precisely how cheap it was that made it
popular among workers who would order them from street vendors, who would use a musical
horn called a shawm to attract the workers' attention.
After World War II ramen made its jump to Japan: At Hokkaido's capital, the famous island
north of the country, the "Sapporo ramen" became quite popular – so much so that in
1958 the food company Nissin Foods launched its "chicken ramen" to the market: The first
ever instant noodle soup.
In the '80s and '90s it went from being a simple garnish to a main dish that was quick
to make and easy to eat – they even made entire TV shows dedicated to it! It was just
a matter of time before ramen was exported to the rest of the world.
But how do you prepare ramen, exactly? Well, it has three main ingredients: The first ones
are the "men", or noodles, which are made by hand with wheat flour, salt, and kansui,
which is a mix of water with potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, and phosphoric acid.
The broth is what differentiates the different kinds of ramen:
The most traditional kind in Japan is the Shōyu ramen, which is made with chicken,
soy sauce and rayu, a kind of red pepper extract.
Then there's the Tonkotsu ramen, which is thicker since it incorporates pig meat.
There's also ramen made with miso, a paste made of soybeans.
And we also have the Shio ramen, the simplest and lightest of them, with the most Chinese
influence.
The last ingredient is the "gu" or garnish added to the ramen. Here we have a world of
options to choose from! The most popular garnishes are:
Boiled eggs
Bamboo or menma sprouts
Nori or wakame seaweeds
Chashū, which are slices of roasted pig
Kimchi made with Chinese sprouts
And the famous and colorful fish paste called naruto. Do you understand the reference now?
Hmm… isn't your mouth watering now, tiktakers? Because now we're gonna run to our favorite
Japanese restaurant and order a good bowl of ramen! And what about you? Have you tried
ramen before? And if so, which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!