How to eat authentic Japanese ramen in Japan

When you go to Japan, you can try the local Japanese ramen. The taste is pretty good. It is definitely different from the domestic ramen, but the taste is indeed okay. Of course, the premise is that you find a restaurant that tastes good. Storefront, let me tell you how to make authentic Japanese ramen late. Checkout method

Because of the confusion about how to calculate the checkout, the fear of embarrassment during checkout has become a hindrance for many people to enter a ramen shop. In order to avoid such embarrassment, you need to know the two main checkout methods in advance - "meal coupon system" and "checkout at the cashier", before and after the meal respectively.

Meal Voucher System

After entering the store, purchase meal vouchers from the voucher vending machine located near the entrance. In addition to ramen, there are also corresponding buttons for side dishes and side menus, and everything you need must be purchased at this time. After taking your seat, just give the meal ticket to the waiter.

Most of the dishes on the coupon machines are labeled in Japanese. If you don’t understand something when purchasing, you can ask the clerk.

Checkout at the cashier

After taking your seat, ask the clerk to order, pay after finishing the meal, and settle the bill at the cashier when leaving the store. If there is a receipt on your seat, remember to take it to the cashier and give it to the clerk. Choose a store

Many stores can also match ramen according to customers' own preferences. At this time, knowing the meaning of these words can help you taste ramen that better suits your taste.

Side dishes (トッピング)

Most ramen restaurants prepare Japanese-style soft-boiled eggs (Ajifu tamago), barbecued pork (チャ_シュ_), seaweed (のり), For side dishes such as dried bamboo shoots (メンマ), please add ingredients according to your preference.

Noodle hardness (_のhardさ)

Even Hakata ramen, which is famous for its thin, straight noodles and the taste of tonkotsu, has many noodle hardnesses to choose from. If you like harder noodles, tell the staff in advance when ordering.

By the way, in order of hardness among Hakata ramen, from high to low, they are "__通し" which is only slightly overcooked, "Fourfall ramen" which is almost just washed off the outer flour, "ハリガネ" which is as hard as wire, then "バリカタ", "カタ", "normal", "やわ", and "バリやわ". "__通し" and "Powder Drops" are almost raw and are not recommended for first-timers.

Additional Noodles (Tai Yu)

When you finish eating and feel it is not enough, you can order Noodles. "Ka-i-ta-ma" means adding additional noodles. Basically, most restaurants that serve Hakata ramen can add noodles (not all ramen restaurants provide the service). After eating, all you add to the bowl is noodles, so be careful not to finish the soup. The secret of delicious ramen

Choose the simplest ramen or special ramen when you first come to the store

What should you choose when you come to the store for the first time? The simplest and most basic ramen is At the right end of the vertically written menu or at the top of the horizontally written menu, if using the ticket vending machine, it is at the upper left corner of the menu button. When you don’t know what to order, you can try these first to taste the real flavor of this store.

In addition, if there is a menu that says "special" (特_) or "recommended" (おすすめ), it means that this is the store's confident creation, so you must try it. If you can communicate with the clerk, you can also ask the clerk what dishes he recommends. This is also a good way to know the popular signature dishes in the store.

Choose a seat where you can see the kitchen

Not only in ramen restaurants, it is etiquette that you need to observe when the store is crowded and sit where the staff will guide you. But if there are a certain number of seats available and you can choose your own seat, be sure to try sitting at a counter seat with a view of the kitchen. The seats closest to the chef are the best.

It is a pleasure to watch the chef's smooth and skillful cooking process, and I am full of expectations for the ramen I can taste later. In addition, if you sit at the counter near the chef, you can directly get the freshly made ramen and start it in the most delicious state.

To eat ramen, you must first "take a bite of the soup"

Japanese ramen is a simple and relaxing dish, so there is no strict etiquette. You can eat it any way you want, but in order to let you enjoy the deliciousness of ramen even more, let me introduce the general way of eating it.

For the first bite, taste the noodle soup with a spoon. Take the next bite and eat the noodles with chopsticks, feeling the dual taste of noodles and soup. After that, taste the ingredients, noodles and soup little by little. However, the noodles will absorb water over time and the taste will deteriorate, so if the ramen you ordered comes, it is best to finish it early.

Eat ramen with a "squeaky" sound

The sound of slurping ramen vigorously is considered a delicious sound and is also a cool way to eat it. There is also a scientific saying that smoking makes eating more delicious. If you want to try eating it the Japanese way, instead of rolling the noodles up like eating spaghetti, use chopsticks to lift the noodles and eat them hanging down.

However, it is not against etiquette to eat without making a sound. Even among Japanese, some people hate the sizzling sound and the splash of soup when they suck noodles, and want to eat in silence. If you don’t want to make too much noise when eating noodles, you can use chopsticks to pick a bite of noodles into a spoon, and then eat from the spoon. It will be easier.

Drink the noodle soup at the end

If there is still room in your stomach after eating the noodles and toppings, it would be cooler to finish the noodle soup in one last breath. It's like praising the chef, the noodles are so delicious that not a drop is left. If the lunch set comes with rice, it is recommended to add the rice to the remaining noodle soup to make a porridge.

However, ramen soup generally contains high levels of salt and fat, so people who are very health-conscious do not need to force themselves to drink dry noodle soup. Just say "ごちそうさま" ("Thank you for the hospitality, pronounced go-chi-so-sa-ma") toward the kitchen to express your gratitude to the chef.

By the way, if there are still customers waiting in line in the store, it is best not to stay too long after eating. It would be better to pay the bill quickly and leave. Also, if it is a store with a counter where the ramen bowls are placed, it would be polite to put the ramen bowls back on the counter before leaving.

Extra: Universal Combinations

In addition to side dishes and noodle hardness, there are ramen shops that can make a variety of combinations. For example, at "Ramen Jiro", which has many ramen fanatics, you can decide the amount of vegetables and back fat, whether to add garlic, the concentration of the soup, etc. When the noodles are cooked, you can say hello to the store clerk and convey your desired combination. You can use jargon such as "Ma-shi" (large amount) or "Ma-shi-ma-shi" (double the usual amount).

However, when the store clerk asks, he usually answers "お_いします(o-ne-ga-i-yi-shi-ma-su)" (please), "Normal で(fu-tsu- de)" (normal is fine), "多めで(o-o-me-de)" (more), etc. are fine.