Then there are more offbeat, strange museums. In Japan there are, of course, many large, prestigious museums; but it also, for whatever reason, seems to have a ton of really unusual, weird museums. Some of these are major institutions, but many are run out of peoples’ houses, labors of love to their strange, but fascinating interests.

Here are some of the stranger museums you can visit in Japan:

Sex Robot Museum

During Koichi’s first season of TofuguTV, he visited a sex robot museum (鬼怒川秘宝殿) in the town of Nikko. Not a museum about sex, not a museum about robots, but a museum featuring both.

The footage remains in the TofuguTV archives, as it’s a little inappropriate for TofuguTV for hopefully obvious reasons, and presents many challenging editing problems.

Wow mister tengu, your nose sure is long!

Even if the footage never sees the light of YouTube, here’s Koichi’s impression on the museum:

Technically an animatronic sex museum and not a robot one (robot sounds cooler, though), this gem of a place is located in Nikko, which is mostly known for its hot springs, not “hot springs,” if you catch my drift. When I went we were greeted by a friendly older (and presumably extremely perverted) older gentleman who asked us to take as many pictures and video as possible, something I’m not usually used to. It makes me wonder if he knew this place was on its last legs, so he wanted as much of it preserved on people’s cameras as possible. I could be wrong, but I doubt that it’s still around (and if it is, it probably doesn’t have long to go). It will probably make for a stellar haikyo someday, though.

The museum itself had several “exhibits,” most of them including animatronic naked dudes and ladies doing unspeakable things while the full volumed sound system made sounds like “ohhh Ohhhh OHHHHH” – *machines whirring* – “IYAHHHHH.” They would awkwardly slide/move around in their predetermined paths doing their predetermined things, and each exhibit was surprisingly different . . . yet not so different. Upon exiting the museum part, there’s a gift shop full of *ahem* “interesting” things, a theater for watching, uh, you know, and a half-naked statue of Marlyn Monroe. I think this was their most prized possession as it seemed to be the best taken care of (though unfortunately it didn’t move).

All in all, the hot springs probably would have been a better choice to visit, but I can safely say that this definitely is the weirdest museum I’ve ever been to, so at least I can take away that much from the whole experience.

Trick Art Museums

Whether it’s trying to decipher an M. C. Escher illustration, or getting lost in Akiyoshi Kitaoka’s mind-bending creations, optical illusions are incredibly fascinating puzzles that almost everybody seems to enjoy.

Fortunately, there are not one, not two, but at least three museums in Japan that specialize in optical illusions or, as they call them, “trick art.” Each has its own different theme: the trick art museum in Tokyo seems to favor an Edo-era style of Japanese supernaturalism, while the Takao museum focuses more on Egyptian and Western-style art.

You’re not a real sushi chef!

Many of the exhibits at both museums are interactive, or at least present some kind of photo opportunity for visitors. Even though these museums don’t teach visitors about fine art, natural history, or any of the normal subjects covered by museums, any one of these trick art museums sounds like a lot of fun to visit.

Takao Trick Art Museum – http://www.trickart.jp/

Tokyo Trick Art Museum – http://www.trickart.info/

Nasu Trick Art Museum – http://www.trick-art.jp/index.html

Meguro Parasite Museum

Located in Tokyo’s Meguro district, the Meguro Parasite Museum claims to be the world’s only parasite museum: a claim that surprised me, but haven’t been able to refute.

The Tofugu team got the chance to visit the Meguro Parasite Museum earlier this year, and were blown away by this unique collection.

Despite its small size, The Meguro Parasite Museum boasts an impressive collection of preserved parasites of all shapes and sizes. Among its specimens are frighteningly long tape worms to organisms that had been infested by parasites—I remember seeing a sea turtle’s decapitated head floating in a jar of what I assume is formaldehyde. The museum also features interactive learning exhibits, and a very cool parasite codex (see header image).

The gift shop is great too! After trying to decide between a phone strap and some stickers, I ended up buying an official Meguro Parasite Museum tote bag as a gift. If you know somebody who loves parasites, I can’t recommend a better gift.

Meguro Parasite Museum – http://www.kiseichu.org/Pages/default.aspx

Suwa Lucandiae Museum

Beetles are, for whatever reason, are a prevalent theme in Japanese culture. Kids catch beetles to have them wrestle, sumo-style, in tiny rings; there are countless Japanese games about capturing and fighting with bugs; and there are several beetle characters in Japanese pop culture (RAAAWWRRRR MEGALON).

Try not to think about all of the beetles coming alive at once.

Given that, it should come as no surprise that there’s a beetle museum in Tokyo. The Suwa Lucandiae Museum (“lucandiae” is the scientific name for stag beetles) is the ultimate labor of love. The owner, the “Suwa” in “Suwa Lucandiae Museum,” runs the museum out of the ground floor of his house, using his personal collection of beetles to stock the exhibits.

It’s a modest affair, but if you’re not charmed by Suwa’s efforts, then maybe the impressive collection of invertebrates will win over your heart.

You can read more about the Suwa Lucandiae Museum on PingMag.

Hara Model Railway Museum

Model trains are one of those hobbies that seem to lend themselves to obsessive devotees. You might have an uncle who locks himself in his basement to carefully paint his miniature figures and set up replica towns for his model trains to pass through.

One man turned his obsession into a museum. Nobutaro Hara, model train afficianado, decided to take his impressive model train collection, built over his lifetime, and build the Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama.

Even if you have no particular interest in model trains, the Hara Model Railway Museum is impressive on its own merits. The care and attention to detail given to the miniaturized trains and landscapes are incredible, especially when you consider that it’s all largely the work of one man.

Read our earlier post for more details about the musuem.

Hara Model Railway Museum – http://www.hara-mrm.com/index.html

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum

Unlike most of the museums on this list, the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum is a fairly well-known large museum created by a major corporation, Nissin Foods.

Delicious, custom-made Tofugu ramen.

Outside of Japan, the Instant Ramen Museum seems like kind of a novelty, and is unlike any museum you’ve been to. You’re greeted at the entrance by a life-sized statue of the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando standing atop a giant container of Cup Noodle ramen.

It only gets better from there. From a hall of ramen where you can see virtually every single type of instant ramen Nissin’s ever made, to a make-your-own Cup Noodle factor, the Instant Ramen Museum is unique, and much more fun than a museum dedicated to flash-fried, pre-packed foods has any right to be.

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum – http://www.instantramen-museum.jp/

There are, of course, many more interesting and strange museums all across Japan; but these are the ones that really caught my attention. Am I missing your favorite museum on this list? Let me know in the comments!

As you might have guessed from my Ramen Survival Guide, between all of the different broths, styles, and toppings, you can find a ton of different varieties of ramen in noodle shops in Japan.

For most people, that variety is enough; but some ramen shops go completely off the map to push the limits of ramen and entice customers with novelty dishes. Strange toppings and unusual broths help noodle shops stand out from an increasingly saturated market.

The strangest thing of all? Most of these strange dishes are actually really, really good. Here are some of the strangest ramen dishes that Japanese noodle shops have cooked up in recent years:

Tequila Ramen

Unsurprisingly, Japan makes notoriously bad Mexican food, so I was a little apprehensive when I first heard about the tequila ramen at Kouno noodle shop (麺や河野). But against all odds, the Tokyo restaurant’s concoction of lime, a shot of tequila, and cilantro work well together.

Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that the combination tastes good—after all, Vietnamese phở also uses lime and cilantro as garnish, so maybe throwing in some tequila isn’t that radical after all.

Ramen Burger

Japanese fast food chain Lotteria is notorious for cooking up some strange, strange hamburgers; past hits have included the oversized shrimp burger named in honor of Japanese comedian Sugi-chan, and a nine patty burger to celebrate an anime movie.

More recently, Lotteria teamed up with ramen restaurant Menya Musashi to create a ramen burger. A batch of ramen is fried up in the shape of a patty, then pork and mayonnaise or added before it’s placed between two buns.

Not quite the traditional way that you see ramen served, but more or less par for the course for Lotteria.

Ice Cream Ramen, Colorful Broth

If you’re looking for strange ramen, look no farther than Tokyo ramen shop Kikuya (菊や). Kikuya offers unusual ramen dishes in all varieties, using all sorts of ingredients and tricks to interest even the most dyed-in-the-wool ramen eater.

For one, there’s the color selection:

At Kikuya, you can get ramen with broth of virtually any color, including purple, red, and sky blue. While it looks pretty unnatural, the colorful broth is anything but; the color comes from natural ingredients like red cabbage, and clever mixing.

Kikuya also offers a ramen dish topped with an ice cream cone slide down the middle. According to ramen lore, a child came into the shop on a hot day and asked for ice cream, joking with the chef that an ice cream ramen would be ideal.

Being the genius that he is, the owner decided to turn this joke into a reality. Before long, Kikuya’s ice cream ramen became its signature dish.

The strange menu at Kikuya is way too long to go through in full here—between the colorful broth, ice cream ramen, and other oddities like cheese (think Kraft singles) ramen, cocoa ramen, and battery (think alkaline) ramen, you could spend weeks sampling Kikuya’s unorthodox offerings.

Pineapple and Strawberry Ramen

Ramen is a very savory dish; you don’t grab a bowl of ramen when you’ve got the hankering for something sweet. Because of that (and the fact that you don’t find too much fruit in ramen to begin with), the sometimes sweet dishes from Tokyo ramen shop Papapapapine (パパパパパイン) are a little surprising.

Papapapapine’s most famous dish is its pineapple ramen, which comes complete with chunks of pineapple and a pineapple-based broth. You can see Papapapapine’s pride in its specialty dish from the pineapple-shaped lantern hanging outside of the shop, its pineapple-yellow counters, and the ceramic pineapples adorning the restaurant.

Aside from its signature dish, Papapapapine also offers a strawberry ramen, aptly named Susususustrawberry. Like the pineapple ramen, Susususustrawberry has chunks of fruit floating in the soup, and the broth is strawberry-based with a little cream.

You can add condensed milk to taste, for a combination that seems more like a dessert than a meal. Despite the unorthodox combinations, reports are that both dishes are actually pretty good.

Taco Ramen

Ivan Orkin is a New Yorker who’s famous around the world for being one of the few gaijin to open a successful ramen business (アイバンラーメン AKA Ivan Ramen) in the fiercely competitive Japanese market.

While being a gaijin has been more than enough to make Ivan Ramen stand out, Orkin’s uses some unusual. In addition to using rye, an unorthodox ingredient by Japanese standards, to make the noodles themselves, a few years back Orkin created his own take on taco rice—taco ramen.

Taco rice is actually a pretty common dish in Japan, but it’s unusual for ramen to be used as a substitute for rice, and Orkin, an American from New York City, adds his own American touch to the dish.

In addition to the house-made noodles that Ivan Ramen has become known for, the taco ramen has lettuce, tomato, and beef with taco seasoning. No broth whatsoever, nor any of the typical toppings you’d see on your average bowl of ramen.

It was a seasonal special a few years ago, so you won’t be able to get it anymore; which is unfortunate, because it sounds delicious (and would probably go well with the tequila ramen).

Ramen has changed a lot over the last century as it’s come to almost dominate Japan’s culinary landscape. New techniques and approaches, like miso and double soup ramen, have become commonplace.

So while you probably won’t find chunks of pineapple in purple broth in your typical ramen shop anytime soon, I think that it’s great that ramen chefs across Japan continue to dream up new dishes that push the boundaries of ramen.

It’s pretty rare for me. American movies about food seem to be few and far between, and the ones that are around are usually socially-conscious documentaries that bum me out more than anything.

Japanese movies about food seem to do exactly the opposite. Most food movies out of Japan focus a lot on the role of food in bringing people together, the journeys people go through for food and, most importantly of all, always make me really hungry. Would you expect anything less from the country that brought us Iron Chef?

I gathered up some of the best Japanese movies about food I could find. If these don’t rouse your apetite, then you might not have a stomach.

Tampopo (タンポポ)

Tampopo is the be all and end all of Japanese food movies. Period. Full stop. If you say that any other food movie is better then sorry, but you’re wrong.

Billed as a “Ramen Western” (a play on the “Spaghetti Western” genre of movies), Tampopo is, at its most basic, the story of a woman trying to turn her ramen shop around to save it from its own mediocrity.

But that simle description does such disservice to the movie. Tampopo jumps around, exploring different topics, settings, and stories, culminating into a movie that encompasses life, death, love, and all of the big questions in life.

If you’ve never heard of or seen Tampopo before, then see it as soon as you can. But in the meantime, you can read our post on Tampopo and philosophy.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary all about Jiro Ono, chef at the best sushi restaurant in the world, Sukiyabashi Jiro. How do you get to be the best sushi chef in the world? Jiro Dreams of Sushi tells Jiro’s life story and explores his philosophy on sushi and life in general.

This movie is the definition of food porn, full of close-up shots of freshly-made sushi glistening with soy sauce, moments before it’s delicately gobbled down by a appreciative diner. Even if you can’t go to the best sushi restaurant in the world, Jiro Dreams of Sushi will give you a very personal view of the sushi.

You also get a glimpse into the inner workings of the Japanese restaurant industry, all the way up and down the supply chain. It’s a behind-the-scenes tour that not many people get.

You can watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Netflix, and read our write-up about Sukiyabashi Jiro here.

Udon (うどん)

In Japan, udon noodles plays second fiddle to ramen. Not only is the greatest Japanese food movie, Tampopo, about ramen, but ramen has taken off in the Japanese food world the way udon never has.

People in Japan are always tinkering with ramen, coming up with new and exciting ways to serve it. There are so many variations when it comes to broth, noodles, and toppings, that it’s hard to keep track of it all. (Although we’ve written a guide to ramen to help keep track of it all.)

That doesn’t mean that you should ignore udon. Not only is it delicious in its own right, but it even has its own movie, appropriately titled Udon.

Udon, like Tampopo, is a bit of an underdog story, but is much different from seminal classic. It follows a washed-up comedian who returns home to help construct an udon pilgrimmage of sorts.

Ironically enough, one of the members of the comedy group the Rahmens appears in the movie. Maybe ramen and udon can be friends after all!

The Antarctic Cook (南極料理人)

When you’re stationed at a research facility in Antarctica, it’s easy to get homesick. Surrounded by vast stretches of impossibly cold desert, you long for more hospitable surroundings.

Fortunately, some familiar food can go a long way. The Antarctic Cook follows the crew at Antarctica’s Dome Fuji Station and, more specifically, Nishimura, the crew’s chef.

You can read our full review of the Antarctic Cook here.

Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し)

You might think that Spirited Away isn’t really a food movie. After all, isn’t it one of those Studio Ghibli movies about magic and wonder?

And you’d be right. But, Spirited Away also happens to feature enough tasty-looking food to make your mouth water. Even though the food is all illustrated, the variety and serving sizes of those foods still provoke your appetite.

You can read our article about how Spirited Away is the perfect foodie movie for more.

Honorable mention: eatrip

eatrip (a portmanteau of “eat” and “trip”) is a simple documentary about how food bring people together. Despite featuring dreamboat actor Tadanoba Asano and coming out pretty recently (2009), I couldn’t track it down through either legitimate or not-so-legitimate means.

The trailer makes the movie look promising, but every review site I’ve come across gives it pretty mediocre ratings. Just as well, I suppose.

What food movies make your mouth water? Did I miss you favorite Japanese food movie on this list? Do you want to try to make the argument that Tampopo isn’t the best (rofl)? Tell me in the comments!

The B-Class Gourmet Effect

Every restaurant in Japan wants to be recognized by B-Class Gourmets. All it takes is one good review and out of nowhere comes a flock of B-Class Gourmets. Soon there is a long line wrapped around the building and the small, previously unnoticed restaurant is suddenly the talk of the town. Restaurant owners love this.

If the good reviews keep coming, the restaurant will continue to stay busy like this. Very few actually become so popular that they remain trendy for years to come, but they still enjoy the spike in business. Many of these B-Class Gourmet hot spots quickly fizzle out and the restaurant goes back to its previous amount of patrons.

Restaurants are a multi-trillion yen industry that is super competitive. Every cheap restaurant in Japan wants to be the next B-Class Gourmet sensation, but very few will actually enjoy long term B-Class success.

I just don’t get why they stand in that line, man.

Foreigners, however, rarely understand this phenomenon. Some even remark that Japanese people seem to actually enjoy waiting in line. Very often you’ll see two ramen shops right next to each other, one with a line wrapped around the building, and the other with no customers at all.

It’s not surprising that foreigners would not understand this. I’m sure it sucks pretty hard for the unpopular shops around the B-Class sensation as well. Locals and B-Class Gourmets say that if you truly appreciate the B-Class foods then you’ll know that it’s all worth the wait.

Japan is known for a lot of foods, but not all of them really qualify as the stuff of a B-Class legend. However, many of these should be relatively familiar to you, and a good restaurant that serves them is definitely worth the hunt.

Ramen

Everybody knows ramen. Not everyone loves ramen. I really like ramen, but unfortunately I couldn’t tell a huge difference in quality by getting ramen at a supposedly “nice place” in Japan. These nice places will make their own noodles and broth, which is certainly a step up from instant ramen. I’m sure if I had more ramen, I’d develop my palette and be able to appreciate it more like a B-Class Gourmet would.

And for those B-Class Gourmet’s in training, Hashi here has written the definitive Ramen Survival Guide which will be indispensable in your quest for ramen enlightenment. Give it a read.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki… It’s good!

Ah, okonomiyaki. This is more like it. I love okonomiyaki. This is the kind of food I would be more willing to go on a quest for. While good okonomiyaki wasn’t all that difficult for me to find in Japan, it was a bit more difficult to find over here in America. I did find a good spot for it (see above), but it wasn’t quite as cheap as I would have liked it to be. Too bad for me.

And since I’m quite confident all of you will love okonomiyaki just as much as I do, you should probably check out my full post on okonomiyaki and why it’s so awesome. Then you can go on your very own B-Class Gourmet quest for it.

Yakisoba

Yakisoba is another one of my favorite B-Class Gourmet foods. The dish itself is kind of similar to chow mein. Yakisoba is flavored with a sort of Worcestershire sauce and despite the name, yakisoba noodles are more akin to ramen than soba. Yakisoba is a popular festival food, and while I did have some at a festival, I wouldn’t say it was the best I had.

Embarrassingly, the best yakisoba I had was a kind of instant yakisoba. It came with a packet of some variety of horseradish sauce, and I’m a sucker for horseradish. Therefore, that was my favorite yakisoba. Now all I need to do is go to a restaurant that has good yakisoba and some horseradish sauce and I’ll be all set.

Gyoza

Gyoza are ground meat and/or vegetable dumplings that are pretty much always served fried. They’re extremely popular in Japan and for good reason too. Gyoza are super tasty. I love them. One of my greatest joys in Japan was finding fresh gyoza at the local market in Kobe. Just thinking about them now is making me hungry.

Gyoza, like ramen, is another Chinese food that made it into Japan and was adapted to the Japanese tastes. I’m glad it was, because I like Japanese dumplings way more than Chinese ones. Sorry China!

Curry

And who could forget about curry? Fiona even wrote a full post about curry not too long ago. While I’m not so sure I would call it better than ramen, curry still is pretty darn tasty.

I live not too far away from the largest Japanese market in the state, and they have a Japanese restaurant attached to it that serves up some mighty tasty curry. I haven’t been there in a while, but now I kinda want to go. I shouldn’t be writing this post on an empty stomach.

Sushi

Like you weren’t expecting sushi to be on this list – c’mon, everybody knows sushi, and if you don’t love it then I feel bad for you. Sushi is great, comes in so many different varieties, and can either be super cheap, or way too expensive. I prefer the super cheap variety, but that’s just me.

Unfortunately, America has all but ruined sushi. My favorite kinds of sushi are the simpler varieties though. I just really love tuna. And wasabi. And ginger. Give me some plain tuna rolls with soy sauce, wasabi, and a pile of ginger, and I’ll be a happy boy.

Sushi is another area where I feel my palette isn’t developed enough to appreciate higher end stuff. I mean, I can tell when sushi is bad, but I don’t think my mouth really notices much difference between medium grade and high grade sushi. Oh well, I’m fine with my relatively cheap tuna rolls.

Soba

Soba are Japanese buckwheat noodles. They’re served hot in a light broth or cold with a dipping sauce. As with ramen, restaurants often make their own noodles from scratch. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never really cared for soba all that much. I’ve always held ramen noodles as the superior Japanese noodle. All the other noodles seem inferior in comparison.

But regardless of what I think, soba are still a very popular B-Class Gourmet food. Lots of people love soba. Just not me.

Yakitori

Yakitori is grilled skewers of chicken and vegetables. They’re great. Some of the best ones I had were at a fair in Osaka, just from one of the little food stands. It wasn’t a restaurant, but they were super fresh and super tasty. If you like grilled chicken, yakitori is definitely the way to go.

Hanbaagu

No, hanbaagu is not the same as hamburger. At least not in the way you’d expect. When I first heard the phrase, I thought it was a hamburger. Actually, hanbaagu is served without the bun that you’d expect and is most often served with rice and plain sides with light seasoning. The main focus is on the hanbaagu, which can be topped with anything from egg to pineapple to Mark Zuckerberg himself.

We actually had hanbaagu quite a few times in Kobe at a place called Bikkuri Donkey which here translates to “Amazing Donkey”. Hilarious name. It’s the only place I’ve ever had hanbaagu, but I think it was pretty good there.

Udon

Udon is thick Japanese wheat-flour noodles. While I’m not really a big fan of these heavier thick noodles, Koichi absolutely loves udon. And bukkake.

I much prefer ramen to udon, but hey, that’s me. If you’d rather have bukkake sliding down your throat and into your stomach, then whatever – more power to you. It’s just not my thing.

Those are just some of the most popular B-Class Gourmet foods though, there are many others. The above ones are definitely the most popular however. If I had to pick one standout favorite, I think I’d have to go with okonomiyaki. It just can’t be beat.

And if you do decide to go on your very own B-Class Gourmet excursion in your home country, or any country that isn’t Japan, make sure you’re going to the right places. How do I know the right place from the wrong place you ask? Well, just check out Koichi’s post on The 7 Immutable Laws Of Identifying A “Real” Japanese Restaurant and you’ll be all set. I guarantee it.

So tell me, what’s your favorite B-Class Gourmet food from Japan? Have any spectacular restaurants to recommend to the gang when they make it over to Japan next month? Let us know in the comments!

Of course, no product in Japan is without goofy advertising campaigns. Some of my favorite commercials (CMs) of all time are for Nissin’s Cup Noodle. The premise: aliens walk among us, and they want to add delicious toppings to your instant ramen! I think that was the plot of Signs, right?

The CMs start out simply enough: a cheese alien (チーズ星人) shows up to put cheese into a woman’s instant ramen. How thoughtful!

But, like pretty much every Japanese CMs, over time they grow increasingly complex. Other characters, like mozerella and garlic aliens, were added on to complement the original cheese alien.

Even with all of the other characters, it’s clear that the break-out star of these commercials is the original cheese alien himself.

He started a solo career of sorts, appearing in his own CMs and even making TV appearances.

Now, all of these commercials are well and good, but I don’t know how I would react if I saw one of these aliens in real life.

They walk among us.

My best guess is I would act like the people in the commercials and just have a full-blown panic attack. That seems reasonable, right?

Even though ramen is originally from China and was once called shina soba (しなそば), over the course of about 150 years ramen has slowly but surely become a uniquely Japanese dish, and even a staple across the country.

Chefs all over Japan have tinkered and toyed with ramen, elevated the food to a national obsession. Different parts of the country have very different styles of ramen, to the point where they represent a sort of regional pride. Once you’ve seen the ramen movie to end all ramen movies, you’ll see the kind of passion the Japanese have for their noodles.

I’ve tried all of the ramen offerings in my hometown of Portland, and while there are some bright spots, most are fairly disappointing (partly because I neglected to follow to Laws of Identifying a Real Japanese Restaurant).

But as much as I’m a ramen noobie, I know there are others out there who are less fortunate than I, whose only brush with noodly goodness is instant ramen out of a packet or in a styrofoam cup. Here is my effort to guide those people in the right direction, walking you through step by step, ingredient by ingredient, what’s what in a delicious bowl of ramen.

Broths

The foundation of any good ramen is the broth and, when done right, is light years beyond the little packet of flavoring that comes with instant ramen.

A good broth is made over the course of hours and has a ton of different ingredients, but there are a few primary types of ramen broth:

Shoyu (醤油)

Soy sauce, or shoyu is a staple in basically every type of ramen broth, but is more prominent in some more than others. It has a very rich, salty, umami flavor to it, and a dark color.

Miso (味噌)

You’ve no doubt had miso soup before, but miso broth is a little more than just your standard “off the hook” miso soup. Miso broth a relatively recent ramen invention (miso ramen’s only been around for about 50 years), and is more of a regional specialty than a countrywide phenomenon.

Shio (塩)

Most ramen broths use shoyu to give it a lot of that salty flavor, but shio ramen does it a bit differently. It uses salty things from the ocean, like seaweed and other dried seafoods to give it a salty and umami flavor.

Pork (豚骨)

Who doesn’t like pork? Well, besides people who don’t eat red meat, pescatarians, vegetarians, and vegans. Pork broth is a stock made from pig’s bones and other ingredients which vary by the chef.

Toppings

Ramen toppings are yet another way to distinguish your bowl of noodles from everybody else. They’re not quite the heart and soul of the dish, but they make an already awesome dish ever more awesome.

According to Tampopo, each ingredient basically has its own personality, its own special place in the bowl, and you must treat them with respect.

There are a lot of basic toppings that almost always make it into the ramen bowl: things like seaweed, green onions, bamboo shoots, etc.. But some have a much larger personality and role in the bowl:

Pork

Pork comes in ramen comes many forms, whether it’s char siu, pork shoulder or pork belly. My all-time personal favorite is stewed, cubed pork belly, otherwise known as kakuni (角煮). On a good (or bad) day, I’d probably kill a man to get some.

Egg

This ain’t your grandpa’s hard-boiled egg — the eggs that go into ramen reached a level culinary sophistication far beyond your average scrambled or boiled variety.

Lots of chefs cook the egg in a way that the yolk is still left gooey and intact. Some slow poach the egg, a process that requires that the egg never touch the bottom of the pot, and a thermometer to measure the exact temperature of the water at all times. All in all, slow poaching an egg takes about an hour; or, a little more than your egg timer can handle.

Even better still are eggs boiled then soaked in a sort of marinade, usually some combination including soy sauce and mirin. The way the sauces get into the eggwhites is just amazing. I’d highly recommend it.

Corn

Yes, corn. More recently, people in Japan have begun experimenting with new and sometimes weird ingredients not native to Japan or even China. The uniquely American grain has somehow snuck across the Pacific and into ramen bowls in Japan.

It’s not uncommon to see corn paired with butter in the ramen bowl, all atop miso broth. You see this more in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. Something about the warm, buttery corn makes sense in the frigid northern weather, I guess.

Different Styles

Some types of ramen break completely free of the “noodles in broth with toppings” idea. Some are completely brothless, which can be good in its own way. It lets you focus a lot more on the taste and texture of the noodles.

Another style that’s gained popularity is tsukemen (つけ麺), which are cold noodles with a separate sauce for dipping. Some people love to add enough chili oil to make you want to cry.

While this post doesn’t even begin to cover all of the different varieties of ramen, hopefully it will be a guide for those of you out there in the ramen wilderness. For more, I’d highly recommend the food magazine Lucky Peach, issue 1. If you can read through that and not be hungry, then you’re just not human.