Ramen in Japan is More Than Just a Bowl of Noodles, it is an Experience and a Tourist Attraction

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TOKYO (AP) — Spicy, steamy, juicy ramen might be everyone’s favorite Japanese food.

In Tokyo, long lines circle around city blocks and it’s normal to wait an hour for ramen. What awaits you may just be a dive, but a hot bowl of ramen always hits the spot.

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The noodle dish, often made right in front of you behind dingy counters, starts here at around 1,000 yen ($6.50) and comes in a variety of flavors and local versions. There is salty soy-based “shoyu” or “miso” paste. Maybe it’s red-spicy with a pinch of chili. Sometimes there is no soup at all, but a sauce for dipping the noodles.

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The curly noodles are lighter than the darker buckwheat noodles “soba” or “udon,” which are also usually flatter or thicker.

GLOBAL SUCCESS

Ramen is also growing in popularity in the United States, South Korea and other countries. Retail sales in the United States have increased 72% since 2000, according to NielsenIQ, a sales tracker. In the 52 weeks ending April 13, Americans purchased more than $1.6 billion worth of ramen.

Versions that go beyond the traditional soup are popping up in restaurants, said Technomic, a restaurant industry research and consulting firm. For example, Del Taco, a Mexican chain, recently introduced Shredded Beef Birria Ramen.

Packaged ramen that can be easily cooked at home in hot water is called instant noodles; It is pre-cooked and then dried. The story of how Momofuku Ando invented instant ramen in a backyard shed in 1958, when food was still scarce, is legendary in Japan. He then founded the food giant Nissin Foods.

Although convenient, instant noodles are not the same as the ramen served in restaurants.

THE EXPERIENCE

Some Japanese visit ramen shops two or three times a week. They emerge, covered in sweat and smacking their lips.

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“I’m probably a talking bowl of ramen,” says Frank Striegl as he leads a dozen American tourists through the back alleys of Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya district to what he calls “the ultimate ramen experience.”

The crowd is led behind a shabby door, sometimes up a narrow staircase, to a dimly lit table where ramen is served in tiny bowls practically the size of a latte cup, or about a quarter of a regular ramen bowl. This means guests have enough room in their stomachs to try six different types of ramen, two at each location during the tour.

One restaurant, Shinbusakiya, offers “Hokkaido classics” from the northernmost main island, while another, Nagi, offers “Fukuoka fusion” from the southern main island of Kyushu. This includes a green ramen, similar to pasta al pesto. Syuuichi, which means “once a week,” offers curry-flavored ramen.

“Of course, it’s not just about eating delicious ramen, but also about learning about it,” said Striegl, a Filipino American who grew up in Tokyo. He calls ramen “people’s food.”

“Many countries around the world have their own version of ramen in some ways,” he said. “That’s why I think it’s a dish that’s easy to understand. It’s a dish that’s easy to get behind.”

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As tour participants enjoyed their noodles, Striegl shared a brief history of ramen: Its roots go back to the samurai era, when a shogun became interested in Chinese noodles, starting the localization journey for ramen that continues to this day.

Katie Sell, a graduate student on Striegl’s tour, called ramen “kind of a comfort food, especially in the winter. Get together with friends, eat ramen and just enjoy it.”

Kavi Patel, an engineer from New Jersey, said he was glad he included the simple ramen on his trip to Japan, along with more established attractions like the ancient capital of Kyoto and the wildlife park in Nara. “I’m having a lot of fun,” he said.

ADAPTING TO CHANGES

While ramen has never been more popular in Japan, ramen joints are struggling due to the pandemic, the weakening Japanese yen and the higher costs of wheat imports and energy, according to a study by Tokyo Shoko Research.

One beneficiary of the pandemic is a home delivery service for frozen, professionally prepared ramen. It’s called takumen.com and has around 500,000 subscribers in Japan.

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Another Tokyo operation, Gourmet Innovation, has signed up 250 of the country’s top ramen joints to sell packaged versions of their soup, noodles and toppings, heated in boiling water and served at home.

Co-founder and CEO Kenichi Nomaguchi, who wants to expand his business abroad, says ramen and animation are Japan’s most successful exports.

Why ramen? Unlike noodles or curry, ramen is difficult to make at home, he said. To make it from scratch, broth must be simmered for hours with pork, beef or chicken, various fish or bonito flakes and “kombu” seaweed. Some stocks use oysters.

MANY VARIATIONS

In addition to the different soup broths and flavors, onions, grated garlic, ginger or sesame oil can be added for extra oomph. Toppings can include bean sprouts, grilled pork, boiled or raw eggs, seaweed, fermented bamboo shoots called menma, chopped spring onions, cooked cabbage, sugar snap peas or corn.

Some say that a bowl of ramen isn’t complete without a piece of narutomaki, a whitefish cake with a pink spiral pattern.

Unusual varieties include coffee ramen and ramen with ice cream or pineapple.

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Jiro-style ramen, named after a legendary restaurant in Tokyo, consists of heaps of vegetable garnishes, huge steak-like grilled pork and spicy, grated garlic soaked in a fatty pork broth.

“Impact is important. So the pork has to be big to make it truly memorable,” says Kota Kobayashi, who serves Jiro-style ramen at his chain Ore No Ikiru Michi, which translates to “The way I live my life.”

Kobayashi is a former professional baseball player with the Yokohama Bay Stars and played for the minor league Cleveland Guardians before moving on to his ramen business.

“When I quit baseball, I chose ramen as my lifestyle,” he said with a smile.

He can wax philosophical about ramen. One cultural difference he’s observed is that Americans tend to skip the noodles and drink all the soup, while the Japanese tend to do the opposite.

And taste is only part of what makes good ramen. You also have to provide entertainment, said Kobayashi.

In his restaurants, the chopsticks sit in a box on a shelf, so first-time visitors ask where they are. Regular customers go directly to this box. Kobayashi shouts “Welcome back,” making customers feel connected even if he doesn’t remember anything about them.

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Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this story from Detroit.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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