This is about educating you on many of the terms that you will encounter as you move up the ramen learning curve.
What does a bowl of ramen look like?
I think this is the first picture I ever took of ramen. This is where my education of ramen began. This was the first truly authentic ramen bowl I had. It’s from a place called Tonchin ramen in Ikebukuro.
What are the basic types of broths?
Shio (Salt)
Shoyu (Soy sauce)
Miso (fermented bean paste- my personal favorite)
Tonkotsu (pork) – don’t confuse this with TonkAtsu. Tonkastu is a deep fried pork cutlet. Delicious, but has nothing to do with ramen.
Instant Ramen – many of us grew up on this stuff. Or at least consumed as a struggling college student. I used to drain the broth and dump a bunch of cheese in with the noodles. It was a guilty pleasure. This was the go to brand for me.
https://www.maruchan.com/products/ramen/
What are the basic terms?
Chashu – Marinated braised pork belly
Naruto – Fish cake – this is usually looks like a little white disk with a pink swirl in it
Menma – Fermented bamboo shoots
Miso – Fermented soybeans with salt and koji – my favorite
Nori – Seaweed
Tamago – Seasoned medium – soft boiled egg
Tsukemen – dipping noodles. Instead of putting the broth and noodles in the same bowl, they are each in their own bowl. You dip the noodles into the broth.
What are the noodles made of?
Basically wheat floor, salt, and water. If you read the ingredients of instant ramen noodles, you’ll find many more additives. Good noodles are SIMPLE.