alt Hacker NewsI've been to Japan - the first cheap buy-and-nuke-at-home ramen from the konbini around the corner I ate there completely blew me away (†)! It was decisively better than what I would realistically expect to get in a restaurant in the west. I don't know how they do it, but I learned never to underestimate the Japanese people’s dedication to their craft.
(†) For the curious, it was chāshū ramen.
Edit: To avoid confusion, I do not mean instant ramen, but a plastic bowl of chilled, pre-prepared take away ramen soup.
That impressed me too, but I brush it off to hunger and other biases.
> chāshū ramen.
Chashu is just name for pork theh put in soup. Main charecterization is type of broth - tonkotsu is the hardest to pull off as it requires 8 hours of boiling bones (but I’ve seen ready made broth to buy so I suspect most shops use that). Miso one is pretty trivial to make at home. I guess not many know this but one type of tare (condiment you put in ramen) is literally charred garlic (30 minutes in oil or so, then blend it). Once you learn this you’ll always spot it (typically in tonkotsu).
As for western shops I agree they are mostly meh, some very much so. Even decent ones you are more of a buying Japanese ramen experience than the food itself lol (I succumb to it myself).