This is an attractively formatted and accessible book. The introduction includes a comprehensive history of the dish, some definitions of what ramen actually is (hint: it's *not* the plastic wrapped cheap student food everyone is familiar with), the parts of a ramen dish, and worldwide variations on the ramen theme.
The second part of the book is an in depth discussion of the 6 parts of a ramen bowl: the broth, the 'tare', aromatic oils, noodles, toppings, and finally assembling the bowl. Each of the components gets a thorough treatment in clear and understandable text. This section also covers the tools and supplies needed to recreate the recipes in the books.
The third part of the book covers specific recipes including regional variations and base variations on the ramen theme: Japanese, tonkotsu, shoyu, shio, miso, and recipes which fall outside of the previous categories. There are dozens and dozens of recipes. I didn't get even a rough count, but this is a substantial book full of recipes and variations.
The final section of the book includes recipes for side dishes and enhancements like pickles, salads, dumplings, tempura, and others.
There is also a comprehensive glossary and a reference/resource guide as well as a metric/US standard conversion table.
The recipes themselves are easy to read and understand. They include allergen and dietary information in a header bar along with prep/cooking time, yields and a description. Ingredients are listed bullet point in a sidebar. Measurements are given in US standard measures. Preparation instructions are enumerated step by step. Substitutions and alternative preparation or serving information are given in a footer bar at the end of the recipe.
It should be noted that these are traditional recipes using traditional ingredients. For most readers in the USA, some ingredients will be difficult to source without access to a well stocked Asian grocery or international food store (or by mail order). The only other drawback I found with the book is that there are very few cooking or serving photos included. The recipes are well written and complete, but visual readers should be forewarned that there are few pictures. The photos which are included are well done and illustrative however.
It's unclear from the publishing info available online, but the eARC I received has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references. I hope the ebook release version does also. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. Presumably that feature will carry through to the final release version.
This is probably the only ramen cookbook most of us will ever need. These are tasty and appealing. The lack of photography subtracts a bit (but not much) from the overall experience for me personally. (I like pictures, but realize and accept that they raise the production costs a lot on a book project). For hands-on learners, the lack of photography will not be any detriment and would raise the book's rating.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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