Noodles

Ramen noodles are traditionally fresh flour-and-water noodles made with alkaline salts (sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, mixed and sold as “kansui” in some Asian supermarkets). They are firm and chewy and, because of the way the salts and flour interact, an oxidized yellowish colour that makes them look as if they’re made with eggs, though they aren’t and shouldn’t be. Some ramen shops—especially shops that are part of a chain—make their own using a noodle machine that works kind of like those doughnut machines at Krispy Kreme: dough in one end, noodles (or doughnuts) out the other. Fewer shops make them by hand and most purchase their noodles.