On the road in Düsseldorf Little Tokyo: a little ramen guide

The broth of all broths

If love could be represented in the form of a dish, ramen would probably land high up on the winner's podium. A freshly cooked, hot and steaming broth that combines the flavors of soy, vegetables and meat or fish in a lovely way, and which the whole of Japan and many parts of the rest of the world are quite rightly crazy about. It goes without saying that this specialty can be enjoyed in many Little Tokyo restaurants for this reason alone. If you want to make sure you don't miss out on any of the many different variations, cross all the dates out of your diary. Because in Düsseldorf, one ramen restaurant follows the next, so the opportunities for sampling seem endless. So: grab your spoons, grab your chopsticks, get set, go!

Probably the most popular broth

At this point, we would like to take a brief look at the origins of this classic Japanese dish. It should be mentioned at the outset that it does not originate from Japan. Instead, its origins can be traced back to neighboring China. However, the Japanese adapted the broth in the 19th century and, with a few refinements here and there, turned ramen into the dish we know and adore today. 

To put it simply, this affordable delicacy is a soup based on chicken or vegetable broth. People all over the world enjoy this soup with noodles made from different types of flour and a wide variety of toppings, but mainly vegetables, meat or fish. Similar to bread in Germany, Japanese chefs prepare their ramen in all kinds of variations depending on the region. The dish is so popular that there are more than 5,000 ramen restaurants in Tokyo alone. They are called "ramen-ya" there. There are said to be more than 200,000 in the whole country!

One sip, please!

A bit of a challenge for most foreigners, the Japanese don't serve soup with spoons, but with chopsticks! They use them to fish out meat, fish and eggs, for example, while drinking the broth straight from the bowl. As you may have heard, slurping is considered perfectly acceptable, even desirable. The sound makes it clear that you like it and may even ask for more. In Japan, the love for ramen, which incidentally contains lots of vitamins, minerals and collagen, goes so far that there are two museums in the city of Yokohama dedicated exclusively to the specialty: the "Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum" and the "Cupnoodles Museum".

The noodle does it 

Depending on taste (or tolerance), there are usually three types of noodles to choose from when eating ramen, which consist of flour, salt, water and alkaline water. The most common is egg noodles, although "soba", made from buckwheat, and "udon", made from wheat flour, are also found on most menus. Cooks usually prepare the noodles fresh every day. Some restaurateurs also offer them to take away. You can then find them for a few euros in refrigerators in the restaurant or supermarket. While the fresh noodles are called "namamen", the dried ones are called "kansomen". However, do not confuse these with "Insutanto Ramen", i.e. instant noodles. Do you remember when these were sold as a snack at every little stall? The Japanese Momofuku Ando invented this version, brewed with water, in the 1950s. It is very, very likely that it made him a millionaire.

You have the choice 

If there's one dish that leaves nothing to be desired, it's Japan's popular broth. So many options, so difficult to decide which one to choose. In the following, we present a small selection of ingredients.

- Vegetarian/vegan

Do you prefer to eat meat and fish-free or only meat and fish-free? Then there's a whole range of vegetables and mushrooms to refine your ramen-specific taste experience. Let us list a selection: Nameko, shiitake or kikurage mushrooms, pickled bamboo shoots ("shinachiku"), spring onions ("negi"), as well as spinach, white cabbage, corn and beans. It gets more exotic with Japanese mustard ("takana") or salty ume plum ("umeboshi"). For the vegetarians among you, we recommend a particularly common variant with boiled egg ("tsukimi"). Ramen with deep-fried pieces of tofu is called "kitsune".

- Fish/sea vegetables

Very popular and can also be found on many menus in Düsseldorf ramen restaurants: The broth with "tempura", which are slices of prawns in batter. Also "maguro", i.e. tuna, or "kamaboko", pureed, steamed fish meat pressed into shape, are enjoyed by gourmets of all ages. Also not to be despised: The roasted and seasoned seaweed "nori" and the brown algae known as "makame" in Japanese.

- Meat

Are you craving a really hearty soup? Then be sure to choose "kakuni" (braised pork), "yakibuta" (pork ham) or "chashu", which is grilled or boiled pork in the Cantonese style, for your ramen. You are thus following in the footsteps of traditional ramen, which, as mentioned, originally comes from China.

Restaurants in Little Tokyo

Fans of the neighborhood know: Visitors to Düsseldorf's Little Tokyo cannot avoid Immermannstraße. And it goes without saying that some of the city's ramen hotspots are also located there. There's just one thing you should be prepared for: Before the pleasure comes the wait. After all, it's unlikely that anyone will be queuing up for Tokyo Ramen Takeichi (Immermannstraße 18), Takumi (Immermannstraße 28) or Takezo (Immermannstraße 48). But how could it be otherwise with this dish?

This article is funded by REACT-EU.

Cover picture: Düsseldorf Tourismus