Sapporo Ramen, Hakata Ramen, and Kita Ramen are listed as the top three noodle dishes in Japan.

1, Sapporo Ramen

The Hakata Ramen, located in the center of Sapporo, is actually just a tens of meters of alleyway, but there are 17 ramen stores and no other stores at all. It has existed for 30 years, growing from an original 7 or 8 ramen stores and several restaurants, and then gradually turning into a specialized street where ramen stores gather.

Sapporo ramen is characterized by its miso flavor, with plenty of lard and garlic added to the rich miso broth, as well as sautéed vegetables, and most ramen stores use minced pork instead of barbecued pork.

The oil is rich and the flavor is saltier than anywhere else. It's also worth noting that what's often called hell ramen is actually made with spicy miso, a type of Sapporo ramen. It's so spicy and savory that you can't help but want to eat it the spicier it gets.

2. Hakata Ramen

Hakata Ramen comes from Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu, and how many people eat Hakata Ramen just for the mouthful of rich tonkotsu soup! The soup is made of 100% pork bone, which is very thick and sticky. Some people are crazy about this ultimate flavor, but some people with weak stomachs find it too oily to eat.

Most people prefer to eat Hakata ramen with red ginger and the ramen's side dish, kohlrabi, to remove the grease and enrich the flavor of the ramen. Those who are big eaters usually order an extra noodle (taiyoku) after finishing their ramen and consume the remaining broth along with the ramen in one go.

3. Kitakata Ramen

The Japanese ramen is famous in the area around Kitakata City in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The soup base is a mixture of pork bone and dried fish. The noodles are made with large, flat, curly noodles, giving them a unique flavor. In Fukushima Prefecture, Shirakawa ramen is equally famous.

Origin of Japanese ramen:

In the early days, the most common was the soy sauce flavor with the addition of barbecued pork and bamboo shoots, but nowadays ramen is becoming more and more diversified.

Japanese ramen originated in China. The earliest record of Chinese noodles in Japan was when Zhu Shunshui, a surviving courtier of the Ming Dynasty, used the noodles to entertain Tokugawa Mitsukuni, lord of the Mito clan, a daimyo of Japan during the Edo period, after he had been exiled to Japan.

There are various theories as to the origin of the name "ラーメン" (Japanese romaji: ramen). The most widely recognized theory is that it comes from the Chinese word for "ramen," which is why it is written as "ramen" in kanji. Other names include "lo mein" and "lo mein".

Ramen was a common food in Yokohama's Chinatown in the early Meiji era, and in the 1900s, Chinese from Shanghai and Guangdong sold cut noodles in a simple soup with toppings. During the Showa period, ramen became popular in Japan.

After World War II, cheap flour from the U.S. and soldiers returning from the battlefields of China made Chinese-style noodles popular, and in 1958, Chinese-Japanese (born in Tainan, Taiwan) Ando Momofuku (Chinese: 吴百福), who invented an instant noodle dish called ramen, founded the company Nissin Foods Corporation.

Ramen became a popular instant food. As a result, the word "ramen" was used more than any other name, and in the 1980s, ramen became one of the symbols of Japan's food culture, with local flavors being developed all over the country.

In recent years, due to the fear of mad cow disease, the consumption of ramen has declined significantly, and ramen has become the number one lunch choice for office workers, as another fast food "beef rice bowl" with the same customer base.