Tokushima Ramen
As ramen fans the world over know, most regions of Japan have their own local version of this dish, made from wheat noodles in a hot, savory broth. Tokushima is no exception, and ramen shops here typically offer their customers a choice of three kinds of pork-bone broth: brown, white, or yellow.
Brown, called cha-kei, is flavored with dark soy sauce and is the most common. White broth, or shiro-kei, is made with light-bodied soy sauce and is saltier in taste. The yellow ki-kei type adds chicken and vegetable stock to the pork-bone base.
Another distinctive feature of Tokushima ramen is the topping of sweet-and-spicy stewed pork belly in place of the standard chashu sliced pork. This style of ramen is thought to have originated at street stands in the days following World War II. Many shops in Tokushima also offer the option of topping your bowl of ramen with raw egg, which rounds out the broth flavors.