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Ramen is a noodle soup dish that originally made its way from China to Japan when the country reopened its borders during the Meiji Restoration. The dish has been refined and improved to such an extent over the last century that it has almost overshadowed its original Chinese cousins on the world stage. The world of ramen is quite complex, and this article will systematically classify the different styles of ramen common in Japan along with their various soup flavors, broth types, meats, and accompanying toppings.
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hio Ramen. Shio means salt, and this is traditionally how ramen soup is flavored. All Western broths would be considered of the Shio type. Salt does not alter the appearance of the broth, so Shio soup tends to be light and clear in color. Shio-flavored soup tends to be a bit saltier than other types.
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hoyu Ramen. Shoyu means soy sauce, and this is the next oldest flavor type. Instead of salt, a sauce made from fermented soybeans is used to season the broth. This sauce is not regular table soy sauce but usually a special sauce with additional ingredients prepared according to a secret recipe. Shoyu broth is the only type that tends not to contain pork. Shoyu soup is also usually clear but is darker in color and sweeter than Shio soup.
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iso Ramen. More recently, miso paste has also been used to give ramen broth its savory flavor. If miso is used, it is immediately obvious because the soup will be opaque. Shio or Shoyu flavored soups merely enhance the underlying broth flavor, while miso leaves a fuller and more complex taste in the mouth as it also has a strong flavor.
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onkotsu Ramen. Technically, it is not a true flavor since it contains salt or soy sauce. It is made by boiling ground pork bones (ton = pork, kotsu = bones) for 12-15 hours until all the collagen has dissolved into the broth as gelatin (details here). The result is a rich, milky soup distinct enough to consider Tonkotsu as a fourth separate flavor of Ramen. To be clear, using pork bones does not automatically mean the soup is Tonkotsu type. If pork bones are boiled whole for a relatively shorter period, the result is just a normal pork broth.
