By Ariana Chomitz
If you’re still thinking of ramen as the lowbrow default of college cuisine, it’s time to adjust your expectations. This endlessly customizable, deeply comforting soul food seems to have been lost in translation on its way from Asia to the rest of the world. Luckily, foodies across America are expressing their love for ramen — from authentic-style to fusion — from coast to coast.
If prepared correctly, the star of ramen is not the noodle, but the broth, which can be stewed for hours or even days to create the perfect texture and flavor. The soup varies based on regional tradition, but in general, the big four are tonkotsu, a golden, fatty pork bone base, shoyu, a lighter brown soy sauce base, miso, a clear seaweed and oily chicken, fish broth or lard base, and shio, a traditional salty base. T
The noodles are a combination of wheat flour, salt, and sometimes egg, but the crucial ingredient is alkaline water, giving the noodles their trademark yellow hue and satisfying chewiness. The noodles are added to the broth right before serving, followed by delicious toppings such as grilled meat, seafood, egg, seaweed, bean sprouts, scallion, and corn. As ramen gains popularity around the world, fusions with local cuisine mean that this Japanese icon may just become everyone’s favorite comfort food.
What makes ramen even better is the etiquette attached to enjoying your noodles correctly, which can be summed up as: eat fast, eat loud, and eat big. Many chefs insist that freshly made noodles are at their best in the first five minutes, so don’t waste time Instagramming your bowl. Slurp it up quickly! And the more noise you make, the better you’re saying the food is. Finally, ramen should never, ever be shared… and you should always finish all contents in your bowl. So make sure you can walk the talk before ordering extra chashu!
Here are some places where you can get your ramen fix without booking a flight to Japan. If we missed your favorite, let us know in Comments.
Toki Underground, Washington DC
Rock and roll noodles. This tiny, funky-cool place became notorious for its three-hour lines after opening in a ramen-deprived city. Patience is rewarded, though; the menu features Taipei-style tonkotsu ramen with add-ons like pulled pork and “Endorphine Sauce,” or homemade Sriracha. Wrapping up an already cozy meal, you can have warm cookies and milk for dessert. Come here for the hip comfort food.
Daikokuya Ramen, Los Angeles, CA
Pleasantly grungy, this perpetually overcrowded spot in Little Tokyo has people raving about its shoyu-tonkotsu fusion broth, and its popularity has given rise to four other locations around the city. A cheap, cash-only establishment, Daikokuya is the spot for late night cravings.
Ramen Tatsu-ya, Austin, TX
The two chefs of Tatsu-ya are also hiphop DJ’s, which explains the swag vibe bursting from this necessary noodle stop in Austin. The long lines outside the joint only add to the cool music club feel. Inside, the menu is an awesome mélange of traditional and unusual –on top of your Tokyo-style tonkotsu, you can add on Parmesan cheese, sweet corn, and fried Brussels sprouts. Come here for the street cred.
Yume wo Katare, Cambridge, MA
With zero frills,Yume feels like a ramen shop in Japan that also happens to be in Porter Square. Its menu goes beyond efficient, serving only one kind of ramen, one of two ways: with two pieces of pork, or with five. They’ll speak to you in Japanese, their website is one page mostly written in Japanese, and they are only open five nights a week. Come here for an authentic, fast and generous meal.
Ramen dojo, San Mateo, CA
Noodles this good make the trip to the shop’s location in a strip mall outside the city totally worth it. Order the garlic pork ramen, but be warned that the dishes description of “spicy” is exactly what it implies. Rumor has it that Japanese businessmen plan their layovers through San Francisco just to stop by. Come here for a quick bite and a fiery kick.
Oiistar-Chicago, IL
If ramen decided to go on vacation to Europe, the results would be the inventive ramen options at Oiistar. Starters feature haricots verts with pancetta and daikon, and the international ramen toppings range from steamed mussels to chicken masala. For dessert, how could you not order the creme brulee with espresso caviar? Come here for a quick trip around the world.
Noodle and Pie- New Orleans, LA
Ramen bowls and pecan pie make sense together, right? Both noodles and pies are handmade at this New Orleans spot, with unique touches, like brisket in your ramen and finishing up with satsuma pumpkin pie for dessert. The restaurant decor is part rustic farmhouse, part modern Asian cafe. None of this should work, but it does. Come here when you can’t decide between savory and sweet.
Ariana Chomitz is a writer, photographer, and traveler from Washington, DC. She graduated from Kenyon College, where she received a B.A. in Anthropology and experimented with her passion for digital storytelling in both academic research and personal expression. A strong proponent of experiential education, Ariana spent her gap year in India, studied abroad in Indonesia and Brazil, and currently works for a high school study abroad organization as a program leader and social media creator. She believes that travel should challenge, that art should delight and inform, that people will surprise you, and that bubble baths should cap off the best and the worst days.
Photo by thatwelike