Ramen Noodles

Ramen noodles, called chukamen or Chinese noodles in Japanese, are made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water and kansui, an alkaline mineral water containing sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. The kansui gives the noodles their characteristic yellowish color and firm texture, and they are produced in varying widths and shapes, thick, thin or ribbon-like, either straight or wrinkled. Because Japan had no natural source of kansui, ramen-style noodles were difficult to produce there before the Meiji Restoration of 1868; noodles were traditionally made by hand, and modern ramen restaurants generally use noodle-making machines, with automatic ramen-noodle machines imitating manual methods available since the mid-twentieth century.