Located on Shikoku, the smallest of the four primary islands of Japan, Tokushima is a small seaside city best known for a 400-year old dance called the Awa Odori, an historic indigo trade, a citrus fruit known as sudachi, and Tokushima Ramen (徳島ラーメン).
Tokushima ramen may not be one of the better known bowls of noodles throughout Japan, having only been popularized at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum in 1999. It’s saltier and sweeter than the average Japanese ramen, generally has thin and soft noodles, and unbeknownst to me at the time, comes in three different types of broth.
The most common broth is brown, using tonkotsu (豚骨), or pork bone broth, and a darker soy sauce. Fried pork, spring onions, and a raw egg (already mixed-in in my photo) round out the Tokushima style.
Other types of Tokushima ramen might be yellow, due to chicken or vegetable broth and a lighter soy sauce, or whitish, using tonkotsu and a lighter soy sauce. Also, rice is a common accompaniment to Tokushima ramen, as if there weren’t enough carbs on the table.
Finding Food Fluency 