CHUKAMEN Noodle Cuisine
Chukamen are a type of Japanese noodle made from wheat flour, egg, salt, and a special carbonated water. They are commonly used in ramen, a popular dish that can be served in soup with soy sauce, salt, or miso, and often includes pork, fried vegetables, and seaweed. Chukamen can also be served cold in a dish called hiyashi chuka.
There are two main components in Ramen: noodles and soup. The noodles are called Chinese-style noodles (Chukamen-中華麺), but Japanese Chuka noodles are really nothing like noodles in Chinese noodle soup dishes anymore. Japanese Ramen noodles are usually wheat noodles with a firm and chewy texture. The firm texture is very important for Ramen noodles because they could get soft while sitting in the hot soup. Nobody wants to eat soft expanded noodles that have absorbed too much soup! Unfortunately, it is pretty hard to find good Ramen noodles you can buy for home cooking Ramen outside Japan. If you’re lucky enough to find good dried Chukamen from Japan, or even better, fresh Chukamen, use that. Surprisingly, dried thin spaghetti is a pretty good alternative for Chukamen because of its firmness.
Is Japanese Ramen actually Chinese lamian?
At first, yes. During the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras (1860s-1980s), a number of Chinese people studied in Japan, and some of them earned some money by cooking soup noodles after the Chinese style, lamian. The Japanese could not pronounce the L so they called it “Ramen”, and slowly over time there were Japanese imitations of lamian. They lacked mutton and beef, so they started using Japanese dashi and pork chashu instead (though chashu was also based off a Chinese original, the Cantonese Cha Siu).
Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It includes Chinese-style wheat noodles (中華麺, chūkamen) served in a broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including sliced pork (chāshū), nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese noodle dishes and is a part of Japanese Chinese cuisine.[1] Nearly every region in Japan has its own variation of ramen
Ramen comes in various shapes and lengths. It may be thick, thin, or even ribbon-like, as well as straight or wrinkled. Traditionally, ramen noodles were made by hand, but with growing popularity, many ramen restaurants prefer to use noodle-making machines to meet the increased demand and improve quality. Automatic ramen-making machines imitating manual production methods have been available since the mid-20th century produced by such Japanese manufacturers as Yamato MFG. and others.
The type of noodles used in ramen are called chūkamen (中華麺, lit. 'Chinese noodles'), which are derived from traditional Chinese alkaline noodles known as jiǎnshuǐ miàn (鹼水麵). Most chūkamen are made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water, and kansui [ja], derived from the Chinese jiǎnshuǐ (鹼水), a type of alkaline mineral water containing sodium carbonate and usually potassium carbonate, as well as sometimes a small amount of phosphoric acid. Ramen is not to be confused with different kinds of noodle such as soba, udon, or somen.
Chukamen are a type of Japanese noodle made from wheat flour, egg, salt, and a special carbonated water. They are commonly used in ramen, a popular dish that can be served in soup with soy sauce, salt, or miso, and often includes pork, fried vegetables, and seaweed. Chukamen can also be served cold in a dish called hiyashi chuka.
There are two main components in Ramen: noodles and soup. The noodles are called Chinese-style noodles (Chukamen-中華麺), but Japanese Chuka noodles are really nothing like noodles in Chinese noodle soup dishes anymore. Japanese Ramen noodles are usually wheat noodles with a firm and chewy texture. The firm texture is very important for Ramen noodles because they could get soft while sitting in the hot soup. Nobody wants to eat soft expanded noodles that have absorbed too much soup! Unfortunately, it is pretty hard to find good Ramen noodles you can buy for home cooking Ramen outside Japan. If you’re lucky enough to find good dried Chukamen from Japan, or even better, fresh Chukamen, use that. Surprisingly, dried thin spaghetti is a pretty good alternative for Chukamen because of its firmness.
Is Japanese Ramen actually Chinese lamian?
At first, yes. During the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras (1860s-1980s), a number of Chinese people studied in Japan, and some of them earned some money by cooking soup noodles after the Chinese style, lamian. The Japanese could not pronounce the L so they called it “Ramen”, and slowly over time there were Japanese imitations of lamian. They lacked mutton and beef, so they started using Japanese dashi and pork chashu instead (though chashu was also based off a Chinese original, the Cantonese Cha Siu).
Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It includes Chinese-style wheat noodles (中華麺, chūkamen) served in a broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including sliced pork (chāshū), nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese noodle dishes and is a part of Japanese Chinese cuisine.[1] Nearly every region in Japan has its own variation of ramen
Ramen comes in various shapes and lengths. It may be thick, thin, or even ribbon-like, as well as straight or wrinkled. Traditionally, ramen noodles were made by hand, but with growing popularity, many ramen restaurants prefer to use noodle-making machines to meet the increased demand and improve quality. Automatic ramen-making machines imitating manual production methods have been available since the mid-20th century produced by such Japanese manufacturers as Yamato MFG. and others.
The type of noodles used in ramen are called chūkamen (中華麺, lit. 'Chinese noodles'), which are derived from traditional Chinese alkaline noodles known as jiǎnshuǐ miàn (鹼水麵). Most chūkamen are made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water, and kansui [ja], derived from the Chinese jiǎnshuǐ (鹼水), a type of alkaline mineral water containing sodium carbonate and usually potassium carbonate, as well as sometimes a small amount of phosphoric acid. Ramen is not to be confused with different kinds of noodle such as soba, udon, or somen.
