Episode Details

Ramen feels like an ancient Japanese tradition, but it began with Chinese noodle soups in Yokohama's Chinatown in the late 1800s. This episode explains why ramen noodles are cut rather than hand-pulled despite the name's link to lamian, how the dish went from Nanking soba to shina soba to chuka soba, and how Rairaiken in Tokyo helped turn it into Japanese-Chinese fusion in 1910.

We look at postwar Japan's rice shortage, the U.S. wheat flour that flooded the country, and the black market street carts tied to the yakuza, followed by Momofuku Ando's instant ramen in 1958. Then we explain the chemistry of a bowl, from alkaline kansui noodles to clear chintan and creamy paitan broths and the shio, shoyu, and miso tare, plus regional styles and global versions like birria ramen.

• Why the name ramen comes from lamian even though the noodles are cut, not pulled
• How Rairaiken used Cantonese cooks to adapt Chinese noodle soup for Japanese diners
• How the postwar rice shortage, U.S. wheat, and yakuza-run stalls spread ramen
• How kansui gives ramen noodles their chew and yellow color
• How chintan and paitan broths differ, and what makes Sapporo, Hakata, and Kitakata ramen unique