I started my Instagram for the Uncommon Ramen Channel recently and found that ramen food porn is thankfully alive and well in Japan. I got an almost live-action peek into the ramen world from the front line, before it goes to Youtube, before it’s on a menu here in the states, before some celebrity chef ‘discovers’ the newest ramen and talks about it on the Travel Channel.

I feel like I have spent so much time focused on the image of ramen in my head that was the ramen of 2015 or so. White broth, noodle tangle, halved egg and toppings –  it’s an almost iconic presentation of noodles and soup.

I noticed Japan had moved on. They were on to something new with ramen.

Clear broth, straight noodles wound up like yarn, a single uncut egg and some pieces of pork that would get the health department dispatched if you were to serve it in the US.

I’m wildly curious as to what that could taste like. I imagine it’s like a consomme, very flavorful and no color. Maybe a layer of flavored oil to shimmer on the top that is barely picked up by the camera.

So I set out to make my own in any case, with the best Shio Ramen recipe I had.

My modern ramen. Overall not bad but I think I like murky broth. This one was dashi based flavored with Ivan’s shio tare so it is very subtle and not really my thing.