In terms of fabric, there are 3 types of Japanese ramen: Somen, Udon, and Soba. Soba noodles are light brown in color and have thin noodles.

From the side dishes, it is further divided into: barbecued pork noodles, wonton noodles, and pork ribs noodles.

In terms of soup, there are four main soup systems for Japanese ramen: soy sauce ramen, miso ramen, pork bone (tonkotsu) ramen, and salt-flavored ramen.

Soy sauce ramen: Japanese ramen has the most soy sauce flavor. Soy sauce is a sauce used to flavor ramen soup, and there are many different kinds: thick soy sauce, which has a rich color and taste, thin soy sauce, which has a light appearance, slippery soy sauce made from miso, white soy sauce, which is almost colorless, and processed soy sauce, which is made from raw soy sauce.

Miso ramen: The origin of miso ramen turned out to be a talented customer's request to add ramen to miso soup, and miso ramen has been around for about 60 years of ramen's 100-year history.

Pork Bone Ramen: The pork bone soup is simmered continuously for a long time, so the store has a pork bone odor. Those who are not used to it may find it stinky, but for those who grew up eating pork bone ramen, it wouldn't be pork bone ramen without this pork bone odor.

Salt-flavored ramen: Legend has it that the Chinese residents of Nankinmachi in Yokohama passed down ramen with a clear salt flavor. One set spread to the distant Hakodate, Hokkaido, and the original salt-flavored ramen has survived strongly ever since, indirectly contributing to the generally deep salty taste of ramen in the Hokkaido area.

What are the main differences?

The biggest difference between Chinese ramen and Japanese ramen is in the noodles and the soup.

The difference in noodles

In China, ramen is hand-pulled by chefs after mixing the noodles, while in Japan it's cut with a knife, and noodle presses are more common.

Moreover, Japanese ramen uses lye water to mix the noodles to increase their elasticity, while most Chinese ramen still don't use lye water. Lanzhou beef noodles also use lye water, but they seem to have a different texture, and aren't as strong as Japanese ramen.

Difference in soup

Chinese soup is mostly made from pork, beef or seafood; Japanese ramen soup is mainly made from pork bone broth with other flavorings, such as soy sauce, miso and so on.

The soup of Japanese ramen can be said to be the soul of Japanese ramen. There are three major types of ramen in Japan: Sapporo Ramen, Kita Ramen and Hakata Ramen.

1. Sapporo Ramen

When we talk about Sapporo ramen, we all think of miso. Sapporo is a must-visit ramen mecca for many travelers to Hokkaido, and it is also the origin of ramen with a miso soup base. In 1955, a customer at Ajinomoto Sanpei, a famous ramen restaurant in Sapporo, asked the chef to put some ramen noodles in his miso soup, which created this classic ramen flavor. In Sapporo, almost all ramen stores prepare three flavors: soy sauce, salt and miso. But miso ramen did spread from Sapporo throughout Japan.

Inserting a topic, there is also a miso ramen to be introduced, which students who like spicy food will love!

2. Yamagata Akatsuki Ramen

It's said that in 1960, the founder of Yamagata's famous Ryu Shanghai restaurant put a large dollop of spicy miso in the leftover noodle soup he brought home, and on the way home, the dollop of miso paste mixed with miso, chili peppers, and garlic slowly melted and seeped into the soup, making the Akatsuki Ramen what it is today. The spicy broth and chewy noodles are the best features of Akatsukudo Ramen.

3. Kitakata Ramen

The originator of Kitakata Ramen, which is said to be one of the three best ramen in Japan, was a young man who came from China between the end of the Taisho period and the beginning of the Showa period (1920s), and played the oboe (suona) and sold it along the street on a cart. The noodles are characterized by their smoothness and softness. A lot of underground water from Mt. Iimori is used to make the noodles soft and sticky with a lot of water. The soup is thickened with soy sauce.

4. Hakata Ramen

Hakata is the name of the center of Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture, the capital of Kyushu, and Hakata Tonkotsu is one of the representative styles of Tonkotsu, and of course, Hakata Ramen has been used in China for many years.

There is also the salt-flavored ramen with pork bone and white broth that originated in Kitakyushu.