The oldest record of the way we eat pasta nowadays (boiled in water) was dated back in 1224. Pasta also has a long history, but it was eaten differently before.įor a long time, it was baked and not boiled in water. People found mixing flour and kansui makes noodles' taste better. Origin of ramen noodles is in Inner Mongolia in 4th century which is 1700 years ago. It was made of chestnuts instead of wheat flour. The oldest noodles that been found was 4000 years old. You may wonder where noodles are invented.

Popular pasta toppings are mushroom, tomato, onion, and cheese. Popular ramen toppings are chashu, menma, ajitama, green onion, and nori. On the other hand, traditional raw ramen noodles are not fried. (kata to konaotoshi are considered al dente) Reason 8: Oilįact: Some instant ramen is fried in oil but pasta is not. You will see that noodles at Hakata and Nagahama ramen restaurants are very thin and you can choose the hardness of the noodles from 6 varying levels.īariyawa, yawa, kata, barikata, harigane, konaotoshi Only few kinds of ramen have the concept of 'al dente'. You can only cook your pasta al dente using dried pasta.įor ramen noodles, it is not common to cook noodles al dente, even if they are dried instant noodles.īut did you know there are few exceptions? There are many variations of ramen noodles.įor example, the thickness of the noodles, straight noodles and wavy noodles, and square cross-sections and rectangular cross-sections.Ĭooking the core of pasta hard is called al dente. Shapes of ramen noodles are basically all long strips.īut, you think ramen noodles are that simple? The names of specific pasta vary by location and each one has a specific purpose. There are long and short shapes, tubes, flat shapes, sheets, etc. And usually, the type of sauce determines what shape of pasta is used. Like spaghetti, penne, lasagne, ravioli, etc. Pasta is shaped in traditional Italian ways. The lake is called Kanko (鹹湖) and the water is called kansui (鹹水). The salt water had sodium chloride, and the completed noodles were chewy and had a nice flavour.

Long ago in Inner Mongolia, some people made noodles out of flour and water from a salty lake. So how did people know to add kansui to wheat flour and water to make ramen? Gives it its distinct ramen noodle flavor. When you make ramen, you use “alkali water” (kansui), but you don't use it for Italian pasta.ģ. Reason 5: You need to use kansui to make ramen noodles They have a softer texture and a smoother feel. Ramen noodles are definitely not pasta because they are not made of durum wheat. This wheat makes noodles harder and more coarse. Pasta and ramen are both made of flour, but pasta is specifically made of durum wheat.ĭurum wheat can be found in the Mediterranean region.

Reason 4: You use durum wheat when you make pasta Pasta is made of unleavened durum wheat flour, water, and eggs. Ramen noodles are made of kansui (an alkaline solution) and milled flour. Tomato base, cream base, and oil base sauces are very common. Ramen is served in soup which consists of two components: meat, fish, or vegetable-based broth and tare which is a sauce, usually made of shoyu, miso or shio.Īlmost all regions in Japan have their own variation of soup. Reason 2: Sauce is used for pasta, while soup is used for ramen Pasta is a noodle dish which is specifically from Italy.īut wait, there are more reasons.

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