Ramen. Ramen is the strongest example of how Chinese cuisine made its way into Japan. These noodles are typically made from flour, salt, water, and alkaline mineral water called “kansui”, which gives the noodles their distinctive chewy texture and flavor.

It starts in 1800s China, which is considered to be the birthplace of all things ramen. The idea of noodles in a soupy broth travelled with Chinese immigrants in the late 19th or early 20th Century to Japan after the Meijiichin [Meiji Restoration] in 1868.

The noodles used for ramen today are called chūkamen (中華麺, lit. 'Chinese noodles') and are made with kansui (鹹水, alkaline salt water), but since there is no natural kansui in Japan, it was difficult to make chūkamen before the Meiji Restoration (1868).

Ramen was born when the Chinese noodle dish came to Japan and fused with Japanese cuisine, combining men (noodles), dashi (soup stock), tare (sauce), ingredients, and fat or oil.