Ramen

The dishes behind chain flavors

The flavors of national chains are said to trace back to dishes from particular places. Pick a chain to see the dish behind it.

• Ichiran — tonkotsu ramen chain from Fukuoka

  Ichiran's thin noodles and rich tonkotsu broth are said to trace back to the street-stall tonkotsu culture of Hakata and Kurume.

  • →cloudy pork broth with very thin noodles and refills
  • →the origin point of Kyushu pork-bone ramen

• Ippudo — tonkotsu ramen chain from Fukuoka

  Ippudo's cloudy tonkotsu broth is also said to descend from the pork-bone ramen tradition nurtured in Hakata and Kurume.

  • →cloudy pork broth with very thin noodles and refills
  • →the origin point of Kyushu pork-bone ramen

• Tenkaippin — Kyoto's thick chicken-based "kotteri" ramen chain

  Tenkaippin's thick "kotteri" broth is said to share roots with Kyoto ramen's tendency toward richly boiled, chicken-bone-forward broths.

  • →richer than its refined-cuisine image suggests

• Sugakiya — Nagoya's inexpensive counter-style ramen chain

  Sugakiya's light Japanese-style tonkotsu is a home-grown pork-bone style from Nagoya — a gentler counterpart to Nagoya's own fiery Taiwan Ramen.

  • →Nagoya's chili-laced minced pork ramen
  • →cloudy pork broth with very thin noodles and refills

• Kourakuen — inexpensive shoyu ramen chain from Fukushima

  Kourakuen's soy ramen shares its home ground with the salt ramen of Aizu, where the chain began, and with Fukushima's own Kitakata and Koriyama styles.

  • →salt ramen made with mountain salt
  • →soy broth with thick, flat, wavy noodles
  • →dark soy broth of Koriyama

• Hidakaya — low-price shoyu ramen and Chinese diner chain from Saitama

  Hidakaya's soy chuka soba follows the same chicken-and-dried-fish lineage as Tokyo's classic chuka soba.

  • →the classic soy broth built on chicken and dried fish
  • →soy broth under a layer of chopped raw onion

• Yamaokaya — tonkotsu ramen chain born in Ibaraki, now headquartered in Sapporo

  Yamaokaya's long-simmered pork-bone broth follows the same rich tonkotsu tradition found in Kyushu ramen.

  • →cloudy pork broth with very thin noodles and refills
  • →pork broth finished with fried garlic oil

• Rairaitei — Kyoto-style shoyu ramen chain from Shiga

  Rairaitei's back-fat-laced soy broth is said to carry on the rich style the founder learned in Kyoto.

  • →richer than its refined-cuisine image suggests

• Kurumaya Ramen — miso ramen chain born from a converted tour bus in Tokyo

  Kurumaya's signature miso ramen sits in the same broad family as Japan's regional miso-based ramen styles.

  • →miso broth sealed with lard and topped with stir-fried vegetables
  • →miso ramen with a ball of chili miso

• Gyoza no Ohsho — Kyoto-founded Chinese diner chain, known primarily for gyoza

  Ohsho's chuka soba draws on Kyoto's soy-ramen lineage, though the chain itself is built around gyoza and Chinese diner food rather than ramen specifically.

  • →richer than its refined-cuisine image suggests

• Ringer Hut — Nagasaki champon chain (not a ramen chain)

  Ringer Hut's core dish is champon — a noodle dish distinct from ramen — said to have been born in Nagasaki before spreading nationwide.

  • →The founding dish of Japan's champon noodle family, born in 1899 Nagasaki

• Machida Shoten — Yokohama-style "iekei" tonkotsu-shoyu ramen chain

  Machida Shoten's thick noodles and tonkotsu-shoyu broth are said to carry the technique of Yokohama's iekei ramen, said to have originated there from 1974 onward, spread nationwide by a chef trained in that lineage.

  • →Iekei Ramen — Yokohama's pork-bone soy ramen finished with chicken fat
  • →thick pork-and-soy broth with spinach and nori

• Mokotanmen Nakamoto — Itabashi-born spicy miso tanmen chain

  Mokotanmen Nakamoto's spicy miso broth is said to trace back to the Kanto-region tanmen lineage, in which pork- or chicken-based Chinese noodle soups are finished with spicy miso and minced meat.

  • →Hiratsuka Tanmen — a clear, vinegar-edged vegetable noodle soup
  • →rayu-red soy soup with minced pork and onion

• Ramen Kairikiya — Kyoto-style back-fat shoyu ramen chain

  Kairikiya's shoyu broth finished with pork back-fat is said to carry the rich Kyoto-style ramen tradition said to have developed around the Ichijoji and Kitashirakawa areas of Kyoto.

  • →richer than its refined-cuisine image suggests
  • →Kyofu Ramen — a soft-spoken bowl built to echo Kyoto cuisine

• Raamen Kagetsu Arashi — Hakata-inspired garlic tonkotsu ramen chain

  Kagetsu Arashi's garlic-forward tonkotsu broth is said to draw on the pork-bone ramen techniques nurtured in Hakata and Kurume.

  • →cloudy pork broth with very thin noodles and refills
  • →the origin point of Kyushu pork-bone ramen

• Hachiban Ramen — vegetable-topped ramen chain from IshikawaOnly in Ishikawa

  Hachiban Ramen's noodles piled with stir-fried vegetables are said to have spread the Hokuriku-region style of topping ramen with cabbage and other stir-fried vegetables nationwide and abroad.

  • →UFO Ramen — a shoyu bowl branded around Hakui's flying-saucer fame
  • →Takaoka Green Ramen — a pork broth turned green with local spinach, echoing the city's copper-green landmarks

• Ajisen Ramen — Kumamoto tonkotsu ramen chain with global reach

  Ajisen Ramen's garlic-laced tonkotsu broth is said to follow the Kumamoto ramen lineage, in which tonkotsu broth said to have traveled from Kurume to Kumamoto was finished with garlic.

  • →pork broth finished with fried garlic oil
  • →Tamana Ramen — the Kurume-lineage bowl that fed Kumamoto's founders

• Rokurinsha — Tokyo dipping-noodle (tsukemen) ramen chainOnly in Tokyo

  Rokurinsha's thick seafood-and-pork dipping sauce is cited as one of the shops that helped spread tsukemen — noodles and broth served separately — which gained popularity in Tokyo in the 2000s, nationwide.

  • →Tsukemen — thick noodles dipped in a concentrated broth
  • →the classic soy broth built on chicken and dried fish

• Marugen Ramen — shoyu-tonkotsu "nikusoba" chain from Aichi

  Marugen Ramen's signature "nikusoba," pork belly simmered in a shoyu-tonkotsu broth over noodles, is said to add a Tokai-region topping arrangement to the shoyu ramen lineage descended from Tokyo's chuka soba.

  • →the classic soy broth built on chicken and dried fish
  • →cloudy pork broth with very thin noodles and refills