Name: How Japan Perfected the Art of Ramen
Uploaded: 2025-04-01T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 7 min 6 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Everyone loves ramen, but I bet you've never tasted the infamous black broth, visited the most remote noodle shop, or tried instant ramen.

Adverbs of manner

Oh, you probably have had that one, actually.

Come with us as we explore the joys of this beloved dish.

There's a ramen shop on Rishiri Island off the northern tip of Japan.

To get there from Tokyo, fly two hours to Sapporo.

From there, take the train to Wakane, the northernmost city in Japan.

You then catch a ferry to Rishiri Island.

Make your way to the western part of the island, and once you're there, let's hope you're on time.

It's only open two and a half hours a day.

But the trip is worth it, because the place is said to have some of the best ramen in all of Japan.

When it comes to ramen in Japan, there are a few places whose names will draw people from all around the world.

Ramen Miraku is one such place, and visitors come for this special charred soy ramen, made with local kombu seaweed broth.

And this is no instant ramen, making the dish takes hours.

The question, of course, why do you think people come all this way?

Some people associate instant noodles with broke college students, but instant ramen wasn't created for a bunch of hungry 20-year-olds.

The man who invented them was much more ambitious.

He set out to solve a hunger crisis in Japan.

After World War II, food shortages plagued Japanese cities, so the U.S. supplied wheat flour and encouraged the Japanese to make bread.

One man named Momofuku Ando didn't understand why his people would make bread instead of noodles, something that was already part of their culture.

Ando decided to take matters into his own hands and create a new ramen made to last.

He spent a year trying to figure out how to preserve the noodles.

He needed a non-perishable, tasty, and easy recipe, but it was a challenge to maintain the robust flavors and unique texture that most people were accustomed to.

It wasn't until his wife was making dinner one night, and he threw some noodles in a bowl of hot tempura oil, that he realized flash-frying the noodles was the answer he had been looking for.

This method not only dehydrated them, it left small perforations that allowed the noodles to re-cook quickly.

Instant ramen noodles became an instant success.

Ando's products gained notoriety when he introduced the packaged ramen in the 1950s and later cup noodles in 1978.

His company began selling upwards of 40 billion units every year, and Momofuku Ando became a culinary icon in Japan.

So the next time you heat up a cup of instant noodles, remember, you're slurping down a little piece of history.

And this dish in particular is a five-time national champion.

But its origins came from a restaurant a few paces down the road, here.

Toyama is a coastal city in the northeast of Japan.

It is known worldwide for one thing in particular, and that is its signature Toyama black ramen.

The recipe originated back in 1947 from one man.

Traditionally, ramen broth is made from pork or miso.

When these were not available, Mr. Aoki looked to what was around, and that was soy sauce.

Mr. Aoki looked to what was around, and that was soy sauce.  Mr. Aoki looked to what was around, and that was soy sauce.

First of all, I think it's because the color is really black.

We don't use any coloring or anything like that.

It's a blend of five types of soy sauce, and there's a secret ingredient in it, and it just so happens to be black.

If you want to try Toyama black ramen, you have to go to Toyama.

And one of those is ramen Iroha, whose black ramen, as we said earlier, is often heralded as the best ramen in the country.

The first impression is very important.  My characteristic of Toyama black ramen is that it looks rich and salty, but it's actually very mild.

Basically, everything is handmade, from 1 to 10 from the noodles, soup, and the char siu and eggs.

This signature dish of the region draws in crowds from around the country and the world.

And the claim of best ramen in Japan makes the draw that much more intense.