What are the different types of ramen?
Ramen, a dish made with broth, egg, chives, pasta, and a variety of toppings, has recently taken the world and is taking up more and more room at meals shared with friends and family.
In this short article, we will answer the question “What are the different types of ramen?”
by outlining the various varieties of ramen you can get and making it simpler to select a new flavour.
What are the different types of ramen?
The types of ramen you can find are:
- cold ramen
- miso ramen
- tantly
- tonkatsu
- Shio ramen
Let’s explain each of them:
Cold ramen
Known as Hiyashi Chuka, the cold version of ramen is as tasty as it is refreshing. Prepared with the noodles and a variety of cold ingredients that can be those that are already in your fridge (cucumbers, carrots, radishes, kanikama and others).
With easy preparation, in addition to finding different combinations in restaurants, you can also test them at home on hot days. The tip is not to abuse the sauce, so you guarantee a more balanced flavour between the ingredients.
Miso ramen
With a miso-based broth, this ramen is a little thicker than other types, making it a heavier dish and suitable for very cold days. The noodles used are a little thicker (futomen), following the style of the broth.
This version is easily found in restaurants and ramen houses, with the texture of the broth varying slightly to more or less full-bodied, but always with a strong flavour. See below how to prepare it:
Ingredients:
Part 1
- Boiling water
- 450g chicken wings and bones
- 4 pieces of dried seaweed
- 5 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon of Sake
- 1/2 cup Katsuobushi (fermented and smoked dried fish flakes)
- Pork (ingredients for preparation)
- 1 tablespoon of canola oil
- 450g pork loin
- A piece of peeled ginger
- 1/4 cup of sake
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar
- Water
Part 2:
- 900g bone-in pork
- 3 tablespoons miso (Miso (or miso) is a concentrated dough, created by the Japanese, and usually made from fermented soybeans and rice, with salt. )
- 6 sliced steamed shitakes
Cover:
- three chives
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1 and 1/2 cup sesame oil
- 2 boiled eggs without the shell
- 4 servings of chukamen (specific noodles for yakisoba)
- Kamaboko
- dried algae
Preparation method:
- Start by boiling a pot full of water. Place the chicken bones and wings in a colander and pour half of the boiling water over the top.
- Turn the bones and pour the rest of the water.
- In another pot, add the dried seaweed, chicken bones and wings, 5 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of sake.
- Bring the water to a boil, then lower the temperature and let it boil for 30 minutes in the uncovered pot.
- Remove chicken bones and add katsuobushi. Boil for 2 minutes, then strain into a large bowl.
- Heat the canola oil in a pan and fry the pork loin on all sides. Cut the chives into 3 pieces, discarding the white part and add to the pan.
- Add the ginger, sake, soy sauce, icing sugar and water, just enough to cover the pork, then bring to a boil, uncovered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Turn the pork every 15 minutes or so.
- Place the pork (on the bone) in a large pot and add the previous broth, then add just enough water to cover the pork.
- Bring to a boil and leave uncovered for 1 hour. Scoop the foam and fat out of the broth.
- Cut the green part of the chives finely. Place a pan on high heat.
- Finely cut the white part of the chives and add to the heated pan with bean sprouts.
- Saute for a few seconds to remove moisture, then add ½ tablespoon of sesame oil and ½ of sake, and saute for another 1-2 minutes.
- Put in a bowl. In the same pan add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and sauté the shitake mushrooms for about 4 minutes until soft.
- dd the mushrooms to the boiling broth (do it when the broth has been boiling for an hour), then cook for another 5 minutes.
- When finished, strain the broth into another pan and keep boiling over low heat.
- When the pork is ready, remove the broth and cut the pork into thin slices, add the eggs to the pork broth and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, when done, cut in half and slice.
- Take the miso and place it on top of a sieve. Dip it halfway into the broth and using a whisk, stir the miso so that it slowly dissolves into the broth.
- Start cooking the chukamen. When ready, serve in bowls.
Tantly ramen
With a more marked and spicy flavour, tantanmen is a version of ramen adapted from the Chinese version with the presence of stronger flavour ingredients such as pork and layu (spicy sesame oil).
In the preparation of the photo, the ramen has moyashi (bean sprouts), chives, wakame, menma, slices of pork, ground pork, tahini (sesame paste) and layu, the broth has a stronger reddish tone and a little more greasy.
Tonkotsu
Because it has a thicker and more opaque broth, tonkatsu ramen has a strong and full-bodied flavour. Tonkotsu broth is prepared with the fats, collagen and marrow from the pork bone that is slowly cooked for approximately 12 hours.
Several restaurants have come up with their ways of preparing it, but the main basis remains the same, involving the slow preparation of the broth for use in the dish.
Shio ramen
Shio flavours are commonly found in homes and ramen and restaurants and are easily confused by newcomers to this universe.
Shio ramen is seasoned with a soy sauce-based broth, while shio is seasoned with salt and white soy sauce, making both options lighter and well-balanced in flavour.
Conclusion:
In this short article, we answered the question “What are the different types of ramen?”
by outlining the various varieties of ramen you can get and making it simpler to select a new flavour.
