Many ramen chefs train for years before opening their own restaurant, and they all have their own special recipes.
One thing that amazes me is that people here eat almost every part of an animal. For example, when eating yakitori, or grilled chicken skewers, I had chicken heart and chicken neck. When I visited Hiroshima, I ate cow tail ramen. I also ate shirako, which is a white substance taken from raw male fish. However, one thing to keep in mind is that just because something is a Japanese food does not mean all Japanese people like it or even eat it. For example, when I told my Japanese friends that I had eaten grasshoppers, popular in a particular region of Japan, they were shocked and said they would never do that.
Before coming to Japan, I had rarely had seafood. I knew I would eat seafood in Japan, but the idea of raw fish grossed me out. However, on my second day I went to a kaitensushi, or a revolving-belt sushi restaurant with friends. The cooks prepare the sushi and put it on a revolving belt that goes around the restaurant. Whoever grabs it first gets it!
When I got there, I asked my friend make a recommendation for my first sushi. She picked one out for me, and I absolutely loved it. The fish melted in my mouth, and it didn't tasty fishy at all. Afterwords, she asked me which sushi I wanted next, and I told her anything that wasn't raw. She looked at me strangely, and said, "You know the sushi you just had was raw, right?" I was shocked. Had I known it was raw, I would have been nervous while eating it and not enjoyed it. But since I didn't know, I ate it with an open mind and loved it!
