Not all noodles are ramen, unless you are a dumbass. Yeah, I am speaking to the fringe of influencers that think putting Chinese bok choy, enoki, and “Asiany” things thrown on instant noodles makes it ramen.
Originally posted: Aug 27, ’20. Updated Jan 20, ’24
I had no clue that within the Denver metro area, they had bison roaming about, although I brought that up because many call them buffalo, but they are not. They mistakenly get called that because early settlers had thought they looked like the Asian Water buffalo or the African Cape buffalo.
In the US, American food producers think ramen means instant noodles. They do not know they are a type of Japanese noodle, so they will call Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, or Korean noodles “ramen.”
Ramen is a type of noodle simply made of wheat flour, kansui, water, and salt.
Decades later, Americans are doing the same thing to ramen (we love misnomers) because many food producers are now calling any and all instant noodles, ramen.
What is ramen
Ramen is specific type of noodle (men (麺) means “noodles”) and in Japan it is paired with regional soup stocks (pork, chicken, fish).
Most Americans think of ramen as an instant product, but ramen restaurants in Japan involve multi-hour soup stocks, hand-made noodles, braised and sous-vide cuts of pork, and several regional and proprietary ingredients/toppings (here are 18 of the most common ramen toppings).
In Japan, there are several Michelin-level ramen restaurants.
Fresh ramen noodle ingredients
Without kansui, you don’t have ramen because it gives the noodles it’s distinctive yellow hue and chew.
- Wheat flour
- Water
- Kansui
- Salt
Ramen in Japan is like the burger in the United States and the instant kind only came about post World War 2. Due to Momofuku Ando and his invention of instant (flash-frying and dehydrating the noodles) ramen.
Chicken Ramen was his first product lauched on August 25, 1958.
Kansui is an alkaline (mineral) water which typically contains:
Without kansui, you have regular Japanese noodles like somen (thin white wheat noodles) or udon (thick white wheat noodles) noodles.
- Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)
- Potassium carbonate (К2СО3)
“According to Japanese food industrial standards Ramen – both in name and substance – belongs to a class of ‘Chinese noodles’ (中華麺) which by definition has to contain Kansui.
– Yamato Noodle “Ramenology 101: Types of Ramen noodles (by ingredients, shape, hydration)”
The 5 elements of ramen
The stock, tare, and aroma oil make up the overall ramen broth.
- Broth: pork, chicken, fish
- Tare: soy sauce, miso, salt
- Aroma oil: pork/chicken fat, seed oil
- Noodles: ramen (thick, thin, wavy, natural)
- Topping: pork, mushroom, bamboo, green onion, and more.
Types of instant ramen noodles
Deep-fried noodles have a soft sponginess to it that does not have the chew of a fresh ramen noodle.
- Deep-fried noodles: nothing reminds you that you are poor, other than eating deep-fried noodles.
- Non-fried noodles my favorite type because these noodles are air-dried and the closest to fresh.
“Ramen noodles do not contain eggs by default”
– Yamato Noodle “Ramenology 101: Types of Ramen noodles (by ingredients, shape, hydration)“
Additional ingredients found in some instant noodles/ramen:
If you want to know which each one of these ingredients do, you will have to go to Wikipedia.org for their in-depth article.
- Oil: Palm oil is a commonly used for fried noodles in the dehydration process for instant noodles.
- Starches: Potato starches are commonly added to enhance gelling properties.
- Polyphosphates: Added to improve starch gelatinization during cooking (rehydration).
- Hydrocolloids: Guar gum are widely used to enhance water binding capacity during rehydration and shorten cooking time.
Sidenote: I have seen numerous home chefs bake baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to increase the PH to produce a kansui substitute, and I recommend this article by the NY Times and one of my favorite YouTubers, French dude, Alex.
How Japanese instant ramen brands compare by ingredients
The best brand out of them all is Sun Noodles because they are the best of the best.
Not only can you purchase Sun Noodles at your local specialty store, but they also supply restaurants.
| BRAND/PRODUCT | RAMEN INGREDIENTS |
|---|---|
| Maruchan Ramen Noodles | Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced Iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: canola, cottonseed, palm), preserved by tbhq, salt, potassium carbonate, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), sodium phosphate, sodium carbonate, turmeric. |
| Myojo Chukazanmai | Wheat flour, starch (potato and tapioca), salt, palm oil, sodium carbonate, sodium metaphosphate, potassium carbonate, alginic acid, sodium tripolyphosphate and guar gum. |
| Sapporo Momosan Noodles | Wheat flour, modified starch (potato, tapioca), salt, sodium carbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate, mono-and-diglycerides, sodium pyrophosphate, tocopherols. |
| Sapporo Noodles | Wheat flour, modified starch (potato, tapioca), salt, sodium carbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate, mono-and-diglycerides, sodium pyrophosphate, tocopherols. |
| Nissin Raoh Noodles | Wheat flour, modified food starch, salt , calcium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, and sodium tripolyphosphate (*not sure if this is all the ingredients just for the noodles). |
| Nissin Top Ramen Noodles | Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, potassium carbonate, sodium alginate, sodium carbonate, and sodium tripolyphosphate (*not sure if this is all the ingredients for the noodles). |
| Sun Noodles | Wheat flour, water, vital wheat gluten, salt, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, riboflavin (vitamin B2). |
| De Cecco (Italian pasta) | Durum Wheat Semolina, Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Iron (Ferrous Lactate). |
Don’t be stupid, stupid
There is a clear difference between ramen, instant ramen, noodles (pho, bun bo Hue, chow fun, pad thai, dan dan mian, mul-naengmyeon), and instant noodles, although a lot foo’s will continue to blur lines between all the various types of noodles, especially the Asian ones.
I will never forget the time I had microwavable White Castle burgers/sliders. It was one of the grossest things I have ever eaten, yet decades later, I do not go around calling every burger a White Castle.
As a Murican, I know my sliders, burgers, little donkey’s, hot pockets, and pizza rolls from one another.
Yet they will not call dry pasta (ground durum wheat and water), instant ramen, or instant pasta because people have no issue making a clear distinction between Europeans and Asians.
