Ramen Near Me

In recent years, Ramen has truly taken the American culinary landscape by storm, surging in popularity in big cities and suburban towns. Ramen is a traditional Japanese dish consisting of Chinese style wheat noodles, which are often served in a meat or fish based broth which is then flavored with soy sauce or miso. Toppings included on ramen include sliced pork, menma, dried seaweed and green onions.

Are you interested in finding a ramen restaurant near you? You’re in luck! Simply browse ramen near me on the map below and find a list of restaurants selling ramen near you. Need a bit more information on ramen? Read on for interesting facts, trivia, and more!

Ramen Near Me – Find it on the Map

Ramen Near Me – Ramen Trivia

What are the origins of ramen?

Over time the history on many food dishes becomes convoluted, often falling victim to folk lore and word of mouth stories that can easily become tangled from one generation to the next. Ramen is no exception. Most historians are unclear as to where ramen first originated. Some sources say that ramen is actually of Chinese origin while others believe that it was invented in Japan sometime in the early 20th century. The word ramen is a Japanese borrowing of the Chinese term “lamian.” Up until the 1950s, ramen was actually called shina soba, which literally meant Chinese soba. Today it is referred to as just ramen in most regions of the world. In the early 1900s, restaurants serving Chinese cuisine from both Canton and Shanghai were offering up a simple ramen dish of noodles that included few toppings and a meager broth flavored with salt and pork bones. Many Chinese citizens living in Japan sold the noodles at portable food stalls, they also sold dumplings to workers in the surrounding areas. By the mid 1900s, these stalls used a type of musical horn known as a charumera to advertise their location, others retained a loudspeaker to make their presence known. The first specialized ramen shop in the world is believed to have opened in Yokohama in 1910. As you search ramen near me, consider how history can become distorted as legend is passed down. What will the history of our food look like in 50 or 100 years?

Nothing beats a bowl of fresh prepared ramen.

What are ramen noodles made of?

One thing you’re likely aware of if searching for ramen near me, is the major presence of noodles in every kind of ramen. In fact, noodles make up the most substantial part of the dish. But what exactly are ramen noodles made of? Well, they’re rather simple. Most noodles are made from four very basic ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt, and kansui. Kansui is a type of alkaline mineral water that contains sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. In some cases, they will also contain almost trace amounts of phosphoric acid. It is the kansui that sets ramen noodles apart from other types of noodles. This ingredient first originated in Inner Mongolia, where many lakes contained massive amounts of these minerals and whose water was rumored to be the perfect ingredient for making noodles. Making noodles with the ingredients in kansui lends them a yellowish hue and a firm texture. Some modern noodle shops have taken to substituting eggs for kansui for the same effect. Most noodles these days are made with neither eggs nor kansui and are only used for yakisoba rather than ramen. They have a weaker structure and tend to soak up too much moisture when served in soup.

Ramen Near Me – Ramen Facts

Broth Flavors

Of course, noodles aren’t the only thing to consider when searching ramen near me, there are also many broth choices to be considered when ordering your next bowl of ramen. Ramen comes in four distinct broth flavors. Shoyu, which means soy sauce, is the oldest of the four broths. It is a clear brown broth based on chicken or vegetable stock and infused with plenty of soy sauce. The results are a broth that is tangy, salty, savory, and light on the palate. Shoyu ramen typically comes with curly noodles as opposed to straight ones. It is often adorned with green onions, nori, bean sprouts, or marinated bamboo shoots. Shio is another type of broth common in ramen. It is a pale, clear, yellow broth made with lots of salt and a combination of chicken, vegetable, fish and seaweed. Sometimes pork bones are used, but not often. Miso is another common broth, but it is relatively new to the ramen scene. It first reached prominence in 1965 This uniquely Japanese ramen was first developed in Hokkaido and features a broth with copious amounts of miso, which is blended with oily chicken or fish broth to create a thick, hearty soup. Miso ramen broth is both robust and tangy, meaning it stands up well to flavorful and spicy toppings such as spicy bean paste. Finally, curry ramen is quite common in many American restaurants, having first been created in Hokkaido in 1965. Curry is mainly made with pork bones and vegetables that have been seasoned for a length of time with curry. This type of ramen involves thick and curly noodles. Toppings common on curry are bean sprouts and wakame.

Common Seasonings

Now that you know all about toppings and broths while searching ramen near me, it’s time to talk seasonings! The most common seasonings added to ramen are black pepper, butter, sesame seeds, chili pepper, and crushed garlic. There are of course other spices and methods of preparation, but those tend to be closely guarded secrets. Most Tonkotsu ramen restaurants offer a system known as kae-dama where customers who have finished their noodles can request a refill for a few hundred more yen to be put into their remaining soup. This is so your chosen seasonings can be used up and implemented in more than one dish of ramen.