What each style is usually served with, then what the recipes that name it actually use. 18 styles have enough recipes for a page of their own; the rest are listed with the recipes found so far.
Tokyo, and across Japan · also 醤油ラーメン, chuka soba, Tokyo ramen
A clear broth, usually chicken, sometimes with pork or dashi, seasoned with a soy sauce tare, with curly noodles, chashu, menma, nori and scallion, and often an egg or fish cake. The classic Tokyo bowl, also called chuka soba.
In its recipesmenma 52% · chashu 47% · ajitama 36% · seafood or dashi 57% · mirin 57%. All 19 compared
Japan · also 塩ラーメン
A clear broth seasoned with a salt tare, usually chicken, pork or seafood, with thin noodles and light toppings: chashu, menma and scallion.
In its recipesmenma 70% · tare made 30% · ajitama 50% · lard or back fat 30% · mirin 70%. All 10 compared
Sapporo, and across Japan · also 味噌ラーメン
A broth seasoned with miso, usually over thick, curly noodles, with bean sprouts, ground pork, corn and butter as in Sapporo, where it began, or chashu and scallion.
In its recipesmiso 84% · cabbage 28% · sweet corn 28% · bok choy 34% · scallion 71%. All 38 compared
Japan · also 鶏白湯, tori paitan
A creamy, opaque broth of chicken bones boiled hard, the chicken answer to tonkotsu, usually with chicken slices or chicken chashu, scallion and an egg.
In its recipeshomemade noodles 42% · chashu 85% · ajitama 42% · menma 42% · chicken 71%. All 7 compared
Kyushu, and across Japan · also 豚骨ラーメン
A cloudy, rich broth of pork bones boiled for hours, usually with thin noodles, chashu and scallion, and often wood ear mushrooms, a marinated egg or black garlic oil.
In its recipeswood ear 35% · beni shoga 28% · lard or back fat 64% · pork bone 78% · chashu 64%. All 14 compared
Japan, from Sichuan dan dan noodles · also tan tan ramen, 担々麺, shirunashi tantanmen (without soup)
The Japanese take on Sichuan dan dan noodles: a broth thick with sesame paste and hot with chili oil, topped with spiced ground pork and greens such as bok choy or spinach. It is also made without soup (shirunashi) or cold.
In its recipessoy milk 48% · sesame paste 77% · doubanjiang 59% · ground meat 81% · chili oil 77%. All 27 compared
Japan, and curry-noodle bowls everywhere · also カレーラーメン
Ramen in a broth seasoned with curry, from Japanese curry roux, curry powder or, in the many fusion versions, a curry paste and coconut milk.
In its recipescurry 78% · coconut milk 31% · scallion 68% · instant noodles 63% · chicken 47%. All 19 compared
Japan · also 辛味噌ラーメン, karamiso
Miso ramen made hot with chili: chili bean paste, chili oil or a spicy miso paste stirred into the broth, often with ground pork.
In its recipesdoubanjiang 44% · miso 100% · tofu 33% · vegetable 66% · ajitama 33%. All 9 compared
South Korea · also 라면, ramyun
In Korea ramyeon usually means instant noodles, often fiery, cooked right in their soup and finished with an egg, scallions, kimchi or cheese.
In its recipeskimchi 33% · gochujang 41% · tofu 41% · seasoning packet 75% · chili flakes 75%. All 12 compared
Everywhere
Ramen with no meat or bones: a broth of kombu, mushrooms, vegetables or soy milk, with tofu, mushrooms and vegetables in place of chashu.
In its recipestofu 33% · vegetable 74% · bok choy 37% · mushrooms 62% · soy sauce 77%. All 27 compared
Hakata, Fukuoka · also 博多ラーメン
Tonkotsu from Hakata in Fukuoka: a milky pork-bone broth with very thin, straight noodles, commonly topped with chashu, scallion, wood ear mushroom, pickled red ginger and sesame.
In its recipesbeni shoga 50% · wood ear 50% · pork bone 75% · lard or back fat 50% · chashu 50%. All 4 compared
Kurume, Fukuoka
A rich, strong-smelling tonkotsu from Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Not enough recipes yetKurume Ramen.
Kumamoto, Kyushu
Tonkotsu, often blended with chicken, with medium-thick noodles, black garlic oil (mayu) and fried garlic.
Not enough recipes yetBlack Garlic Oil Tonkotsu Ramen (Kumamoto Style).
Kagoshima, Kyushu
No single build to state. The recipes below show what cooks put in it.
Not enough recipes yetKagoshima Ramen.
Sapporo, Hokkaido · also 札幌味噌ラーメン, Hokkaido miso ramen
Sapporo's miso ramen: a rich broth seasoned with miso, often cooked in a wok with bean sprouts, cabbage and ground pork, over thick, curly noodles, commonly topped with sweet corn and butter.
In its recipesbutter 83% · sweet corn 100% · lard or back fat 33% · bean sprouts 50% · miso 83%. All 6 compared
Asahikawa, Hokkaido
A double broth of pork or chicken and seafood seasoned with soy sauce and kept hot under a layer of lard, with thin, curly noodles.
Not enough recipes yetAsahikawa Ramen and モヤシと竹輪と粉末のりの旭川醤油ラーメン。.
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Hakodate's clear, light salt-seasoned broth of pork and chicken, with straight noodles.
Not enough recipes yetShio Ramen Hakodate Style.
Kitakata, Fukushima
A clear pork and dried-sardine broth seasoned with soy sauce, with wide, flat, curly noodles and plenty of chashu.
In its recipesnaruto 40% · menma 80% · chashu 60% · pork 60% · ajitama 40%. All 5 compared
Shirakawa, Fukushima
A clear chicken and soy broth with hand-rolled, curly noodles.
Not enough recipes yetShirakawa Style Ramen.
Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata
Thick noodles in a dried-sardine and soy broth covered in pork back fat and chopped raw onion.
Not enough recipes yetNiigata Tsubame Sanjo Ramen.
Yokohama, Kanagawa · also 家系ラーメン
Yokohama's pork-and-chicken broth seasoned with soy sauce and chicken fat, with thick, straight noodles, and toppings of spinach, large sheets of nori and chashu.
In its recipespork bone 100% · pork 100% · spinach 66% · chashu 66% · mirin 66%. All 3 compared
Tokyo, after Ramen Jiro · also 二郎系, jirokei
Named for Ramen Jiro in Tokyo: very thick noodles in a fatty pork and soy broth, under a mound of bean sprouts and cabbage, thick slabs of pork, garlic and back fat.
Not enough recipes yetJiro Ramen.
Onomichi, Hiroshima
A chicken and seafood soy broth with flat noodles and bits of pork back fat floating on top.
Not enough recipes yetOnomichi Ramen and 尾道ラーメン風.
Tokushima, Shikoku
A dark, sweet soy and pork broth topped with sweet-simmered pork belly instead of chashu, and often a raw egg.
In its recipespork bone 66% · mirin 100% · pork 66% · vinegar 66% · soy sauce 100%. All 3 compared
Wakayama
A pork-bone and soy broth, known as chuka soba locally, with pork, menma, scallion and a slice of fish cake.
Not enough recipes yetWakayama Ramen With Pickled Mackerel and 市販品をアレンジ！和歌山風とんこつ醤油ラーメン.
Toyama · also 富山ブラック
A jet-black, very salty soy broth with plenty of coarse black pepper, chashu, menma and raw chopped scallion.
Nagoya, despite the name · also 台湾ラーメン
A soy broth topped with ground pork fried hot with chili and garlic, and garlic chives.
Not enough recipes yetNagoya Style Ramen ("Taiwan Ramen").
Japan, a summer dish · also 冷やし中華, cold ramen
Chilled ramen noodles under strips of ham, cucumber and thin omelette, often with tomato, dressed with a sweet and sour soy and vinegar sauce or a sesame dressing.
In its recipescucumber 100% · ham 76% · beni shoga 46% · tomato 76% · vinegar 92%. All 13 compared
Tokyo · also つけ麺, dipping ramen
Thick noodles served apart from a small bowl of concentrated dipping broth, often pork and seafood; each mouthful is dipped. The leftover broth is commonly thinned with hot soup at the end and drunk.
In its recipesnaruto 30% · fresh noodles 50% · ajitama 40% · doubanjiang 30% · nori 50%. All 10 compared
Tokyo, and Nagoya for the Taiwan mazesoba · also 油そば, まぜそば, mazemen, soupless ramen
Ramen without soup: noodles tossed in a soy-based tare and aroma oil, usually with chashu, menma and scallion, often a raw egg yolk, and vinegar and chili oil added at the table. Mazesoba is the same idea with more toppings mixed in.
In its recipesraw egg 30% · no soup 30% · doubanjiang 38% · nori 76% · ground meat 38%. All 13 compared