History of Ramen from Japan

History 
While the noodles in ramen come from China, the actual dish originated in Yokohama Chinatown, Japan. The name translates to "pulled noodles," and consists of Chinese wheat noodles served in a meat or fish broth, soy sauce and miso, and uses toppings such as pork, dried seaweed, menma, and scallions. Nearly every region of Japan has it's own version of ramen, such as tonkutso in Kyushu and miso ramen of Hokkaido.
Ramen is an adaption of Chinese wheat noodles and was said to first be created in the 1660's by Chinese scholar Zhu Shunshi. He was an adviser to Tokogawa Mitsukuni, who was said to be the first person to eat ramen. This story, however, is dismissed to be folktale. The more realistic theory is that ramen was introduced by Chinese immigrants in the late 19th or early 20th century and made its way to Japan in 1859. 

Recipe

Prep Time: 30 min Cook Time: 3 hr Total Time: 3 hr 30 min

Ingredients

For Chicken Dashi

• 8 cups 
  low-sodium chicken broth
• 30 g 
  kombu 
• 20 g 
  dried bonito flakes 
• 16 
  dried shiitake mushrooms

For Tare and Chashu

• 1 1/4 cups 
  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/4 cups 
  mirin
• 1/4 cups 
  granulated sugar
• 1/2 cups 
  sake
• 1 1/2 cups 
  water
• 1 lb 
  pork belly, skin on, cut into 2 inch wide strips
• 2 tbsp 
  packed brown sugar
• 1/2 inch
   fresh ginger, sliced
• 3 
  cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 3 
  green onions, halved

For Nitamago

• 4 
  cold large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups 
  reserved chashu-tare liquid

 For Garlic La-Yu

• 8 
  cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tbsp 
  ground chili or 1 1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp 
  sesame seeds
• 1/2 cups 
  canola oil

For Each Serving

• 4 oz 
  fresh ramen noodles
• 1 1/2 cups 
  chicken dashi
• 1 
  green onion, white and light green parts only, very thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp t
  are
• 2 
  slices chashu
• 1 
  nitamago, halved
• 2 tsp 
  la-yu
• 2 
  reserved shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• Nori (optional)

Instructions

Stock

1. 1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook chicken broth until it's simmering. Remove from heat, cool for two minutes. After it's cooled, add shiitake mushrooms and kombu and seep for 5 minutes. Then, add bonito flakes for another 5 minutes. Strain and save solids.
2. 2. Store dashi for up to a week in fridge.
3. Tare and Chashu

1. 1. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, bring all ingredients except pork to a low simmer. 
2. 2. In a separate pot on medium heat, bring pork and 6 cups of water to a low simmer. Drain immediately and gently rinse pork.
3. 3. Place pork in tare pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and continue to cook on low until tender, turning pork occasionally, about 1 hour 20 minutes.
4. 4. Let cool for 20 minutes, then strain and reserve liquid for serving. Refrigerate pork and remaining liquid separately. Slice pork before serving.

1. Nitamago
2. 1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring 6 cups water to a boil. Carefully prick rounded bottoms of each egg with a pin. Gently lower eggs into pot with a slotted spoon, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer eggs for 6 minutes. Drain.
3. 2. Transfer eggs to an ice bath and let rest for 5 minutes. Thoroughly crack eggshells very gently, knocking one egg against another, then return to ice bath for 10 more minutes. Peel carefully.
4. 3. Place eggs in a medium bowl and pour reserved chashu-tare liquid over. Weigh down eggs with reserved spent kombu to fully immerse in liquid. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, up to 12 hours.

1. Garlic La-Yu
2. 1. In a small saucepan over the lowest possible heat, simmer garlic in oil until tender and translucent, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Keep the heat level low enough to avoid frying the garlic.
3. 2. Remove from heat and immediately stir in chili. Let rest 2 minutes, then stir in sesame. 
4. 3. Once completely cool, store refrigerated in a closed container for up to 2 weeks.

1. When Serving
2. 1. In a pot of salted boiling water, cook ramen, stirring with tongs or chopsticks until al dente, about 1 minute. Drain well.
3. 2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm dashi and shiitake until simmering. Cook for 1 minute and remove from heat. Set aside.
4. 3. Add dashi, tare, and noodles to serving bowl. Top with chashu, nitamago, shiitake, green onion, a drizzle of la-yu, and nori, if using.
5. 4. Serve.

Analysis 

I enjoyed researching and learning about Ramen as the Japanese and Chinese culture interest me. I also found it intriguing at the variety of ramen, such as shio, shoyu, miso, and tonkotsu. 

If you're not a fan of sake, which is rice wine, you could leave it off. Even though it burns off, the flavor still lingers. I also added naruto fishcakes to my ramen once it was done, but that was my preference.