Irashaimase!
Buy a ticket at the machine in the front of the shop. A glass of water is plonked in front of you by a burly man behind the counter. The menu will generally have three or four broth types available, with varying toppings. Give the burly man your ticket, break some waribari (disposable wooden chopsticks) in half and rub them together a little to get rid of the splinters. Not very much time elapses before a huge bowl of steaming soup is deposited in front of you.
Welcome to your first ramen.
Noodles in broth sounds so unremarkable, but in essence, that is all there is to a ramen.
The broth is made with pork, salt, soy sauce, kimchi, garlic, tomato(!), miso, or sesame seeds.
The noodles are made from flour and water.
Usually, two or more slices of pork float in the top of the soup. Sometimes you get half a boiled egg or a tea egg in it. Green long onion tops, bamboo shoots, and squares of nori are also used as a topping. Stamina ramen has a lot of vegtables in it. Some ramens come with cabbage in them. Some come with a little slice of kamaboko (that weird, spongy, white, fish stuff with the pink edge that you get in udon and ramen), There are no hard and fast rules.
Common sides include chili oil, soy, pickled gourd strips, crushed garlic, chili flakes, pepper, and sesame seeds.
There will be a big spoon hanging out the side of the bowl. Pick it up, taste the broth, pick up some of the noodles and slurp them down. Ramen is magical food. Enjoy. Pick up the bowl and drink it down to the last drop.
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