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Noodles in Japan
Noodles in Japan
Even Japanese want something other than rice every now and then, and the obvious alternative is noodles (麺 men). Practically every town and hamlet in Japan boasts its own "famous" noodle dish, and they are often well worth trying.
There are two major noodle types native to Japan: thin buckwheat soba (そば) and thick wheat udon (うどん). Typically all dishes below can be ordered with either soba or udon depending on your preference and a bowl will cost only a few hundred yen, especially at the standing-room-only noodle joints in and near train stations.
kake soba (かけそば) - plain broth and maybe a little spring onion on top
tsukimi soba (月見そば) - soup with a raw egg dropped in, named "moon-viewing" because of the resemblance to a moon behind clouds
kitsune soba (きつねそば) - soup with sweetened thin sheets of deep-fried tofu
zaru soba (ざるそば) - chilled noodles served with a dipping sauce, shallot and wasabi, popular in summer
Chinese egg noodles or rāmen (ラーメン) are also very popular but more expensive (¥500+) due to the greater effort involved and the condiments, which typically include a slice of grilled pork and a variety of vegetables. Ramen can be considered to be the defining dish of each city, and practically every sizable city in Japan will have its own unique style of ramen. The four major styles of ramen are:
shio rāmen (塩ラーメン) - salty pork (or chicken) broth
shoyu rāmen (醤油ラーメン) - soy broth, popular in Tokyo
miso rāmen (味噌ラーメン) - miso (soybean paste) broth, originally from Hokkaido
tonkotsu ramen(豚骨ラーメン) - thick pork broth, a speciality of Kyushu
Slurping your noodles is acceptable and even expected. According to the Japanese it both cools them down and makes them taste better. Any remaining broth can be drunk directly from the bowl.
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Japan Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
