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Miso ramen is a flavorful dish made by cooking the miso base, broth, and vegetables in a wok. The concoction is then topped with bean sprouts, chopped pork, garlic, sweet corn, and (sometimes) local seafood such as crabs, scallops, and squids. The dish was invented in 1955 in Sapporo, when a customer in Aji no Sanpei noodle house asked the chef to put noodles in his pork and miso soup.
In the 1960s, miso ramen's popularity had skyrocketed, and Sapporo still remains a paradise for ramen lovers, taking pride in its Ramen Alley, with over a dozen ramen shops scattered through the street.
MOST ICONIC Miso ramen
View moreDistinguished by the use of salt as the main seasoning in the broth, shio ramen is one of the four main flavor-based ramen categories. Like other ramen varieties, it combines three crucial elements: flavorful broth, noodles, and various toppings.
Although pork is occasionally added, most versions employ seafood-based or chicken-based broths, which yield a light, clear soup with a strong, salty taste. The broth is usually paired with straight, thin noodles, and comes topped with Japanese-style pork belly known as chashu, scallions, hard boiled eggs, and wakame seaweed.
Since salt is the oldest known seasoning used in ramen, shio is considered to be the oldest version of ramen, and although there is no substantial evidence, many believe that it was invented in Hakodate, where it is still the prevalent ramen variety.
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Asahikawa ramen is characterized by its soy sauce-based broth filled with wavy noodles that are slightly firm to the bite. The broth is typically flavored with kelp, anchovies, pork bones, and chicken, and some of the most common toppings for Asahikawa ramen include pork, bamboo shoots, eggs, and spring onions.
In order to counter Hokkaido’s cold weather, lard is usually added to create an oily layer which prevents the ramen from cooling down too quickly. Interestingly, on the city’s outskirts, there are 8 famous ramen shops located beside one another, called Asahikawa Ramen Village.
MOST ICONIC Asahikawa ramen
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Muroran curry ramen is a Japanese curry-flavored noodle dish originating from Muroran. The dish was invented in 1965 at the Aji No Daiō restaurant. There are about 30 ramen restaurants that serve this curry ramen in Muroran, but Aji No Daiō is still the most popular and well-known.
The dish contains sliced roasted pork, green onions, cabbage, fried bean sprouts, dried seaweed, and thick and curly noodles made from Hokkaido flour, as well as the tangy and rich curry-flavored broth. And even though Muroran curry ramen is more than 50 years old, it gained massive popularity when both the restaurant and the curry ramen were endorsed by Natsumi Abe, a singer in the band Morning Musume.
MOST ICONIC Muroran Curry Ramen
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