Japanese Ramen — Know the 6 Broth Styles + Regional Ramen

This is probably the ramen most people picture first — a pork-bone broth simmered until it's milky-white, rich and rounded, paired with very thin, straight noodles that soften quickly. That's why people order fewer noodles first and top up with a kaedama later. You can choose your noodle firmness, from barikata (very firm) to yawa (soft).

Miso ramen was born in Sapporo and was the first style to go nationwide back in the 1960s — a thick, sweet-umami broth from red miso, the richest in the group, paired with thick wavy yellow noodles. The classic Hokkaido toppings are sweet corn and a fat knob of butter; some shops add bean sprouts, minced pork, and local seafood. It warms you right through, perfect for winter.

If Sapporo is rich miso, Hakodate in southern Hokkaido is the opposite pole — the clearest and lightest salt broth of any Japanese ramen. Made from pork and chicken bones seasoned mainly with salt, it gives a clean bone-stock flavour, paired with thin straight noodles. The toppings are simple — chashu, spring onion, menma — a clear bowl that's delicious without any tinkering.

A small town in Fukushima said to have the densest concentration of ramen shops per head in Japan. The signature is its wide, flat, wavy noodles — thicker and broader than anywhere else in the country — sitting in a clean, clear soy-sauce-and-pork-bone broth. It's topped with several slices of chashu, menma, and spring onion. Locals here even eat ramen for breakfast (asa-ra).

A cousin of Hakata with its own character — a tonkotsu broth blended with chicken bones, making it thick yet more rounded. The thing you'll remember it by is mayu, the dark fried-garlic oil drizzled over the top, lending a toasty garlic aroma and a deeper flavour. The noodles here are a touch thicker than Hakata's, so the bowl is more filling.

A style born in Yokohama and hugely popular with the younger crowd right now — a cross between tonkotsu and shoyu, a thick pork-bone broth blended with bold soy sauce, paired with thick straight noodles. The classic toppings are big sheets of nori, spinach, and chashu, eaten with a side of steamed rice for dipping in the broth. Many shops let you dial in the broth strength, the oil richness, and the noodle firmness.

The ramen of the old town in the Hida valley, which locals call "chuka soba" — a clear soy-sauce broth that's light yet fragrant and rounded. What sets it apart is that the broth and the soy seasoning are often simmered together in one pot (no separate tare), paired with thin wavy noodles. The toppings are simple — spring onion, menma, chashu — a tidy bowl that's easy to eat while strolling the old town.

The ramen of Shikoku island that eats like a dish to go with rice — the most famous version is the "brown" one, a pork-bone broth seasoned with dark soy sauce until it turns sweet-savoury, topped with richly stewed pork belly, spring onion, and bean sprouts. Many people crack a raw egg in to mix through, and what makes it distinctive is that you eat it alongside a small bowl of steamed rice, treating the ramen as the side. Bold and satisfying.