50 Fun Facts About Ramen

The origins of ramen are traced to the Chinatown of which Japanese city?

Most Chinese settlers there were Cantonese, which is why ramen descends from southern Chinese noodle soups rather than northern hand-pulled lamian.

The word ramen borrows the Chinese word lāmiàn, which literally means what?

Ironically, ramen noodles are cut rather than pulled, and the dish has no direct link to lamian at all.

Who invented instant noodles in 1958?

Ando was the Taiwanese-born founder of Nissin Foods; a Japanese poll later named instant ramen the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century.

Tonkotsu pork-bone ramen is the signature style of which Japanese island?

Hakata ramen from Fukuoka is the best-known tonkotsu, with thin straight noodles and a milky broth.

Miso ramen was invented in which Hokkaido city?

It reached national prominence around 1965 and is built for Hokkaido's snowy winters, often topped with butter, sweetcorn and garlic.

The Hokkaido port of Hakodate is famous for ramen in which flavour?

Shio (salt) is the oldest tare; Hakodate's version is light and clear, often with straight noodles.

Kitakata ramen pairs its pork broth with which small fish?

Niboshi are the sardines; Kitakata is also famous for thick, flat, curly noodles and has Japan's highest per-capita number of ramen shops.

What is the name for the lacto-fermented bamboo shoots used as a ramen topping?

In Japan the topping was formerly known as shinachiku, a name dropped after the war for its imperial overtones.

The word ramen first appeared in Japan in a 1928 cookbook by which author?

Yoshida was describing genuine hand-pulled lamian; the word was not applied to the noodle-soup dish until 1947.

Early Chinese noodle soups in Japan were lumped under a name meaning 'Nanjing noodles'. What was it?

Nankinmachi (Nanjing Town) was the common Japanese term for areas where Chinese people settled.

What was the name of the first specialised ramen shop, opened in 1910?

Its Japanese founder employed twelve Cantonese cooks from Yokohama's Chinatown and adapted the dish for Japanese customers.

The first specialised ramen shop opened in 1910 in which Tokyo district?

Founder Kan'ichi Ozaki grew up in Yokohama, where he had seen Chinese noodle dishes thrive while most Japanese looked down on them.

Kan'ichi Ozaki staffed his 1910 ramen shop with twelve cooks from which Chinese regional tradition?

One of them, Fu Xinglei, opened a second Rairaiken in Meguro in 1933.

In which year did the original store of Japan's first specialised ramen shop close?

Ozaki's grandson and great-great-grandson revived it as a pop-up inside the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum in 2020.

In which year was Nissin Chikin Ramen, the first instant noodle, released?

Its launch is what spread the name ramen nationwide; before that most people said shina soba or chūka soba.

Japan's ramen museum, in Kōhoku-ku, opened in which year?

The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum sits in Kōhoku-ku and has hosted revivals of historic shops.

Tsuta, the ramen restaurant that received a Michelin star in 2015, is in which Tokyo district?

Tokyo alone has around 5,000 ramen shops, with more than 24,000 across Japan.

Roughly how many ramen shops does Tokyo alone contain?

The larger figure, over 24,000, is the count for the whole of Japan.

What is the main purpose of tare in a bowl of ramen?

Tare also carries umami; shio, shōyu and miso are the three main families.

Besides wheat flour, salt and water, what alkaline ingredient goes into chūkamen noodles?

Kansui contains sodium and potassium carbonate; Japan has no natural source, so such noodles were hard to make before the Meiji era.

Alkaline jiǎnshuǐ water gives ramen noodles a firm texture and what colour tint?

The alkaline water is said to originate in Inner Mongolia.

What is the term for a clear ramen stock, skimmed of foam as it simmers?

The word comes from the Chinese qīngtāng, 'clear soup'; it is the most common kind of ramen stock.

A creamy white ramen broth made by boiling chicken bones is known as what?

Paitan broths get their milky look from bones emulsifying into the soup during hours of hard boiling.

In shio ramen, sliced pork is sometimes replaced with which topping?

Pickled plums and kamaboko fish cake are also popular on shio bowls.

Around which year did miso ramen reach national prominence in Japan?

Its thick, nutty broth stands up to bold toppings like spicy bean paste, butter and corn.

Hokkaido's famous miso ramen is typically topped with butter and which vegetable?

Local seafood such as scallop, squid and crab also turns up on Sapporo bowls.

Narutomaki, the white disc with a pink spiral, is a slice of what?

It is a form of kamaboko, processed fish paste formed into a roll.

Before being called menma, fermented bamboo shoots were known in Japan by what name?

Shina, the old word for China, took on a pejorative sense after the war and was dropped from many terms.

What does a customer receive when ordering kae-dama at a tonkotsu ramen shop?

It costs a few hundred yen more and goes into the remaining broth.

Ie-kei ramen's standard toppings include pork, nori and which boiled green vegetable?

Ie-kei diners traditionally customise noodle softness, broth richness and the amount of oil.

Hakata ramen takes its name from a district of which city?

Its rise in recent decades has made it one of Japan's most popular styles, with chains nationwide.

Beni shōga, left on Hakata ramen tables for self-service, is what?

Crushed garlic, sesame seeds and spicy pickled mustard greens sit alongside it.

Tofu ramen is a speciality of the Iwatsuki ward of which city?

It is one of dozens of gotouchi, or regional, ramens that have emerged in recent decades.

Nabeyaki ramen, served boiling hot in an enamelled pot, comes from which prefecture?

A raw egg poaches in the bowl alongside spring onions and chikuwa fish cakes.

Despite its name, the very spicy 'Taiwan ramen' originated in which Japanese city?

It became famous in the 1980s during a fad for super-hot food.

Nagasaki champon is the Japanese take on a noodle dish from which Chinese province?

Its stir-fried, mostly seafood toppings are poured over the noodles in a starchy sauce that stands in for soup.

How is tsukemen served differently from regular ramen?

The diner dips the noodles in the soup, and the dish can be served hot or chilled.

Aburasoba replaces the soup with a small amount of what?

The name literally means 'oil noodles'.

Hiyashi-chūka, chilled ramen on a plate, was first produced at a restaurant in which city?

It is a summer dish with strips of omelet, ham, cucumber and tomato, and is called reimen in western Japan.

Tantan-men is the Japanese version of which Sichuan dish?

It comes in a reddish chili and sesame soup with minced pork, and is not to be confused with tan-men.

Vending machines selling warm canned ramen are a feature of which Tokyo district?

Each ramen kan includes noodles, soup, menma, pork and a small folded plastic fork.

The 1985 comedy Tampopo was billed as the first example of which genre?

The plot follows a trucker helping a widowed ramen shop owner perfect her craft.

In the 2008 film The Ramen Girl, an American woman is stranded in which city?

She trains to become a ramen chef under a dictatorial Japanese master.

Under what name did Nissin first export instant ramen from Japan in 1971?

A year later it was rebranded Nissin Cup Noodles in a foam container, and international sales took off.

What is the Korean variation of ramen, made much spicier, called?

Shin Ramyeon and Buldak Ramyeon are the famous brands; cheese, dumplings and tteok sometimes go on top.

Birriamen, a birria-and-ramen hybrid, is credited to a chef based where?

Chef Antonio de Livier's broth uses the consomé the beef, lamb or goat is cooked in; the dish later caught on in Los Angeles.

The 'Steaming Bowl' ramen emoji was approved for Unicode 6.0 in which year?

Most platforms draw it as ramen with chopsticks, though Emojipedia notes it can stand for any warm meal.

Portable ramen stalls advertised themselves with which musical horn?

The name comes from the Portuguese charamela; some vendors still play a looped recording of it.

Post-war ramen stalls began serving jiaozi dumplings, known in Japan by what name?

The Japanese name was likely adopted in Manchukuo and derives from the Manchu word giyose.

How old was the inventor of instant ramen when he launched Cup Noodles in 1971?

He got the idea watching Americans break noodles into paper cups and eat them with a fork.