As for ramen, China, a vast country, has fried noodles, Lanzhou beef noodles, fried noodles, dragon beard noodles, and dandan noodles and wonton noodles. It has a long history.

Therefore, the Japanese ramen that is so popular today actually originated from China.

This starts from more than a hundred years ago.

In Asakusa, Tokyo in 1901, a Japanese named Ozaki Kanichi opened a "Chinese restaurant" that was actually chef-operated by a Chinese chef, thereby officially introducing noodle dishes such as Chinese noodles and Nanjing soba noodles into Japanese food.

culture.

Due to the declining Japanese economy after World War II, ramen became one of the most popular dishes.

Later, based on Chinese ramen, Japanese cooks continued to improve and innovate, thus forming Japanese ramen with a unique style. Today, it has become the most popular and commonly eaten national delicacy of Japanese people.

When it comes to a bowl of Japanese ramen, there must be a reason why so many people like it.

This depends on the noodles, soup base, taste, and side dishes.

First of all, noodles can be roughly divided into two categories - "raw noodles" and "dry noodles".

The so-called raw noodles refer to noodles that are dried without heating after the noodles are pressed and formed.

The biggest feature of raw noodles is that the noodles contain a relatively rich amount of water, which ensures a elastic texture without absorbing too much soup and becoming sticky.

Compared to raw noodles, traditional dry noodles have been preserved because there are many areas in Japan that prefer ramen noodles that are thin, chewy, and are not suitable for raw noodles with high water content.

Therefore, "very fine noodles" and "thin noodles" are the more common dry noodles, while raw noodles are more popular in most ramen restaurants that use thick noodles.

When it comes to delicious Japanese ramen, in fact, compared to the noodles, the soup consisting of soup base, sauce and sesame oil is the soul.

For good soup, the soup base made from a mixture of various ingredients plays a vital role.

The soup base of Japanese ramen is roughly divided into three types: "chicken bone soup", "pork bone soup" and "seafood soup".

Chicken bone soup is more common in ramen with a light taste. The soup after cooking is very light in color, but it is slightly thicker than the chicken soup we usually drink, which is very suitable for people with a refreshing taste.

The pork bone soup, which is made from a mixture of pork bones and chicken bones, not only has a stronger pork bone aroma, but also looks milky white in color.

Finally, let’s talk about the seafood soup made from a mixture of “dried fish”, “scallops” and “dried bonito”.

This kind of soup base is reddish in color and smells very strong of seafood, even with some fishy smell. Therefore, ramen made with this kind of soup base is usually added to chicken bone soup or pork bone soup.

Some are made from dried fish, and, except in the Kanto region of Japan, ramen with seafood soup base is not common.

Japanese ramen relies on a pot of carefully prepared soup base to grab the stomach of diners, so whether it is a larger restaurant or a street stall, it has its own secret recipe.

The essence of Japanese ramen is not only the soup base, but also its side dishes.

Among the classic side dishes, from juicy barbecued pork to crispy dried bamboo shoots and fungus-flavored seaweed, one side dish that tests the skill of the ramen chef is definitely the "half-boiled egg."

Good soft-boiled eggs cannot be boiled eggs, they must be seasoned, and the egg white must be fully cooked, while the yolk must be undercooked and not flow out.

Therefore, Japanese ramen is becoming more and more popular, and more and more people like it.