Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook

Rate this book
A comic book cookbook with accessible ramen recipes for the home cook, including simple weeknight bowls, weekend project stocks, homemade noodles, and an array of delicious accompaniments, with insights and tips from notable ramen luminaries.

Playful and instructive, this hybrid cookbook/graphic novel introduces the history of ramen and provides more than 40 recipes for everything you need to make the perfect bowl at home including tares, broths, noodles, and toppings. Authors Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan present colorful, humorous, and easy-to-follow comics that fully illustrate the necessary steps and ingredients for delicious homemade ramen. Along the way, they share preparation shortcuts that make weeknight ramen a reality; provide meaty tidbits on Japanese culinary traditions; and feature words of wisdom, personal anecdotes, and cultural insights from eminent ramen figures such as chef Ivan Orkin and Ramen Adventures' Brian MacDuckston. Recipes include broths like Shio, Shoyu, Miso, and Tonkotsu, components such as Onsen Eggs, Chashu, and Menma, and offshoots like Mazemen, Tsukemen, and Yakisoba. Ideal for beginners, seasoned cooks, and armchair chefs alike, this comic book cookbook is an accessible, fun, and inviting introduction to one of Japan's most popular and iconic dishes.

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2019

203 people are currently reading
11911 people want to read

About the author

Hugh Amano

7 books38 followers
Born in a tiny Colorado mountain town to an American mother and Japanese father, Hugh Amano’s devotion to exploring food and culture has taken him around the world, enriching him as a chef and writer. A graduate of The University of Colorado and New England Culinary Institute, he was the opening sous chef of Chicago’s exploration of Macanese cuisine, Fat Rice, and co-authored The Adventures of Fat Rice (Ten Speed Press, 2016). He is a chef and writer in Chicago, where the familiar comforts of ramen always welcome him home.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
889 (43%)
4 stars
800 (38%)
3 stars
314 (15%)
2 stars
48 (2%)
1 star
16 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews
Profile Image for Tina Haigler.
327 reviews120 followers
January 4, 2020
Man...making ramen from scratch is intense! It's definitely not for the faint of heart.

This graphic novel for making ramen is awesome! It breaks everything down into very simple to understand (if not simple to make) formulas, that even a novice cook can follow. Don't get me wrong, this is difficult stuff - just making the broth, let alone the noodles, seems like a monumental task - but to have it broken down into steps I can understand is amazing. The chapters are broken down into ramen 101, stocks & broth, noodles, meats, accompaniments, and offshoots & riffs. I knew it was in depth but yikes! It's intimidating to say the least.

In any other form, I think this would've just been too much, and I would've brought it back to the library without ever making anything. However, this form was so fun, simple, colorful, and upbeat, that one of my goals for 2020 is to overcome my trepidation, and make a delicious bowl of ramen from scratch. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook, wants to expand their culinary skills, wants to learn a little about Japanese cuisine or learn about the history of ramen, or someone who simply wants to explore this particular genre of graphic novel. Enjoy!
Profile Image for Gabrielle (Reading Rampage).
1,170 reviews1,711 followers
September 8, 2019
When the weather gets a little cold, I do love a nice, big comforting bowl of soup. And when I don’t have a ton of time or energy left at the end of the day, I often end up making some ramen: there’s always a sad veggie or two left in the crisper that needs to be used up, and a dollop of butter and curry paste brightens up any soup stock. Easy peasy!

When I saw this book, I figured it would make for a great source of inspiration and new ideas to pimp up my fall and winter ramen routine. I also fell in love with the format: I remember having a couple of illustrated cookbooks as a child, which were really great to teach children about basic food preparation (it certainly made it look more fun than regular cookbooks!), so the idea of blending comic books and recipes struck me as pure genius.

While this book is gorgeous and informative, I have to say it seriously lacks in vegetarian options!! While I do eat meat from time to time, it isn’t a big part of my diet or cooking preferences. There is only one vegetarian broth recipe, and while I understand that it's not strictly traditional, a few variations would have been nice. And while there are many recipes for the different meaty garnishes to add to a ramen bowl, again there are very few alternative ideas for meat-free versions included in the book… The meat-balls and marinated eggs recipes look absolutely scrumptious.

While I am not quite ready for the very time-consuming process of making my own broth, I love that the author thought to include a way to make home-made “instant” ramen broth and store it so you don’t have to spend an entire day boiling away pig trotters every time you fancy a bowl.

I'm giving this book 3 stars because despite being a very cool idea, I'm just not going to use it much. This is really more for the ramen purists, as where I'll always be the girl who uses store-bought broth and noodles when she feel like having a lazy dinner.
Profile Image for Brittany McCann.
2,712 reviews602 followers
December 25, 2024
This was actually an incredibly fun graphic novel/cookbook. This is so awesomely done. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a story about delicious food and learning the history and the depth of ways to make each ingredient from scratch and what it means culturally :)

Brilliant! I want to buy this one!

5 stars for making me put it on my Amazon Christmas wishlist!
Profile Image for Catherine.
1,300 reviews85 followers
October 18, 2019
While this book is entertaining, I'm (a) just not THAT into ramen and (b) unable to eat most of the combinations as I don't eat meat. (This book is super meat-centric.)

 photo IMG_20191017_214842383.jpg

This is a serious. ramen. cookbook. (in comic book clothes). As in, make your own noodles, broth, etc. That said, it was interesting to read about the (surprisingly recent) history of ramen, ramen culture (it's totally a thing), and the many variations. The illustrations are colorful and fun, which kept me reading even after I knew that I was never going to follow most of the instructions.

Personally, I'll stick to buying ready-made noodles and throwing together some quicker combinations, like easy miso mushroom ramen, spicy ramen with tofu, or coconut curry ramen.

But if you LOVE ramen (and meat), this is the book for you.
Profile Image for Carol Rodríguez.
Author 3 books27 followers
November 8, 2020
Me ha gustado mucho, lo he devorado del tirón. Sobre todo, es un libro muy bonito, con mucho arte y estilo, ya que todo se cuenta como si de una novela gráfica se tratara: historia del ramen, recetas, combinaciones, modificaciones, acompañamientos, derivados, variantes para todos los gustos, consejos, utensilios... Se nota que está hecho con mucho cariño y, por mi parte, me ha traído muchos recuerdos de las toneladas de ramen que comí en Japón. Este plato es todo un arte, y el libro también.

Profile Image for maegan.
455 reviews88 followers
January 21, 2022
I had no clue of how to make ramen when I started reading this book, and I still don’t. But it’s cute.

It’s beautiful and didactic, however its major flaw is that it does not alleviate in any way the difficulty of cooking a dish that is not part of your culture for the first time and with no prior knowledge. To me, it was pretty to look at, but unhelpful.

In addition, the authors include a lot of interesting information about ramen, from how it started to become popular, to the etiquette to follow when visiting a ramen shop in Japan. I really liked all of that, but a lot of this information is interspersed with the recipes throughout the book and that made it quite difficult for me to follow.
Profile Image for Nadine in NY Jones.
3,119 reviews271 followers
December 1, 2019
This review covers only part of the book. Because this is a cookbook, I read only a few pages at a time, so I did not have a chance to finish it before my library copy was due.

I love the idea of this book, and I love the look - the art is beyond charming!! - but the actuality of the book left something lacking. This book was just okay.

The authors assume little prior knowledge in the reader, which is good, so they include a lot of interesting history of ramen in Japanese cuisine, and a lot of suggestions for equipment and ingredients, which is all good. But they do this all in the beginning. So when you first open the book, you are excited to make ramen!! (I mean, that's what the title says, after all), but you can't ... yet. First you have to read pages and pages of other information. I wish the authors had included a sort of starter recipe at the beginning, maybe starting with instant and adding a few extra ingredients, and building on that as the book progresses. In the time that I had this book, I never actually got to a recipe where I could make ramen.

Other disappointments:
* although the authors seem to be assuming no prior knowledge, you do need some prior knowledge in order to make sense of things. They leap right in using Japanese terms for ingredients (which is great! I want to use the right terms) so you have to flip around quite a bit to find the definitions before you can go back and understand what they are talking about, which is annoying and time consuming. (The table of suggested ramen combinations was useless to me because of this, because I didn't know what a lot of the words meant.)

* there are very few vegetarian options here. Almost all of the broths include chicken stock or pork stock or both chicken and pork stock. (You really should like pork if you pick this up - there's a lot of pork. I do like pork! But my daughter is a vegetarian.)

* the authors assume we have an enormous freezer in which to store all of the extra stock and other ingredients - I don't have that much space!

* there is no guidance on which brands to look for. I understand that the authors didn't want to seem like sponsors of a brand, but I know nothing about Japanese brands, and I can't read Japanese, so I can't comparison shop very well either. I need someone to hold my hand here. I can tell that the illustrations are depicting actual brands, because I recognized a few, but I didn't know what most of them were, and I didn't want to have to stand in a store holding the book and trying to match the pictures.

* you need a pasta maker. There's a lot of info on making your own ramen noodles (awesome!) but it requires a pasta maker. I don't have a pasta maker. (This was my biggest disappointment.)
Profile Image for Dan Schwent.
3,183 reviews10.8k followers
January 4, 2025
My wife introduced me to non-instant ramen years ago and I've been hooked ever since. Since I'm allegedly hard to buy for, I put this on my wishlist. Comics + ramen, how could I miss? Fortunately, Santa delivered the goods.

While I'm not keen on the organization, the rest of this book is pretty tasty. The history of ramen is covered and there are tons of recipes.
Profile Image for MrsJoseph *grouchy*.
1,010 reviews82 followers
Want to read
November 26, 2019
Totally just ordered it at the library. I always "taste test" my cookbooks first. Cookbooks are so very personal...but I L O V E (LOVE) ramen!

Sadly, I live in an area where it's super hard to get good ramen. I have tried to cook my own before. Wooooo! Talk about a slow moving, expensive trainwreck of a dumpster fire.
Profile Image for vonblubba.
229 reviews3 followers
August 3, 2019
I wasn't really convinced about the idea of a comic book cookbook. And yet, it works. Recipes and techniques are easy to understand and accurate. It's essential, but it contains every info you need to start cooking ramen at home.

My only complain is about units of measurement. I'll never understand how someone can find comfortable cooking with the imperial system. Or those annoying "cups". Every cookbook that aims to appeal to a worldwide audience should in my opinion contain dosages in both metric and imperial system.
Profile Image for Nicole (bookwyrm).
1,322 reviews4 followers
November 24, 2019
Really neat idea for a cookbook! I picked it up out of curiosity, but it really works. Having the images along with the instructions was very helpful. I also especially enjoyed the history of ramen that was included, as well as the sections from different ramen specialists.

(Will I be making my own ramen? Probably not. But I appreciate knowing what goes into the ramen I eat at restaurants.)
Profile Image for h.
368 reviews147 followers
July 4, 2023
Eyes pleasing.

This is a typical book that will make you hungry even you just ate a few minutes ago. :')
Profile Image for LAPL Reads.
615 reviews201 followers
July 12, 2021
Walk into any supermarket, peruse the soup aisle, and you will find the ubiquitous paper cups of ramen lining numerous shelves. The variety is terrifc. These instant cups have helped many of us get through a hectic day at work or home because they are convenient, inexpensive, have a relatively long shelf-life, and are easy to make in a microwave or with boiling water poured over the contents to provide a quick meal. Ramen has become a generic name for a large variety of instant noodle soups. What is ramen? Is it the name of a type of noodle, or the name of a soup? What is the difference between ramen, soba, udon and other types of noodles? Is it possible to make ramen at home from scratch? Does it take a lot of time and effort? The most important question--does it taste better? Chef Hugh Amano answers those questions and writes about everything you never thought you wanted to know about ramen in this food and cookbook. Illustrator-artist Sarah Becan's images are clear, bright, perfect additions to Amano's instructions. Her graphic novel format allows her to illustrate the step-by-step techniques that would not otherwise be obvious,and this applies to her pictures of other food products and their preparation.

The origins of the ramen noodle go back to 1868 when Japan emerged from a closed-off feudal period and opened its country to the outside world. Hand-pulled noodles from China evolved into ramen soup bowls that were sold in port cities to working class people. It was during Japan's post-World War II era that the dried ramen noodles, invented by Momofuku Ando, fulfilled the need for something quick and inexpensive to eat. "The fact that there was not a massive amount of Japanese history behind ramen helped it break free from the usual constraints of tradition. Allowing for flexibility in how it is interpreted and created." These noodle soups became a sensation with shops opening all over Japan. This relatively new food allowed for a great deal of creativity in Japan that has a long culinary history. In classic cuisine can be found innumerable variations in prefectures, villages, towns and different neighborhoods in large cities. Variety, ingenuity and a desire for new flavors all come into play with ramen.

Chef Amano might overwhelm you with all the broths, stocks and tares, but he saves the day with some quick takes: instant ramen broth, fast weeknight ramen broth, homemade instant ramen cubes. The information about noodles is fascinating because of the many types and methods to make them. Ingredients and their preparations are also mind-boggling and seductive. The accompaniments and "offshoots & riffs" are equally intriguing and mouthwatering. Chef Amano gives a shout-out to another ramen lover, who has his own simplified ways of making ramen in the home. As in a fine bowl of ramen, everything beautifully comes together in this excellent book that has history, ingredients, techniques and love.

Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & Fiction
5,870 reviews144 followers
August 14, 2019
Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook is a graphic novel cookbook written by Hugh Amano and illustrated by Sarah Becan. It celebrates ramen in a fun and accessible graphic guide.

The book is divided into six basic sections: Ramen 101, Stocks & Broths, Noodles, Meats, Accompaniments, and Offshoots & Riffs. Becan's illustrations are both amusing and functional, and Amano's enthusiastic instructions are thoughtful and encouraging. This delectable fusion of two increasingly popular genres, ramen and comics will thrill ramen aficionados – such as me.

Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook is written and constructed rather well. It is extremely informative from the history of ramen and the numerous of permutation that this simple dish could take. Each section is surprisingly detailed and contains more than forty recipes. The illustrations are wonderfully detailed and visually entice my appetite for ramen.

All in all, Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook is a wonderful graphic novel cookbook detailing the amazing and wonderful dish that is ramen.
Profile Image for Ren Puspita.
1,441 reviews1,005 followers
September 21, 2020
4 stars

If only those Indonesian chef willing to write their cookbook in the comic format, I might want to read them, lol

Kudos to Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan to bring their vast knowledge about ramen and how to make it entertaining but educating at the same time. Don't blame me when I said that I REALLY crave a bowl of ramen after eating this.

A very yummy, slurpy interpretation of recipe book, indeed :D
Profile Image for Alle Bücher müssen gelesen werden.
418 reviews49 followers
November 15, 2019
"Ich habs gelesen" ist das falsche Wort für ein Kochbuch. Stimme aber in dem Fall, weil es ja nicht nur ein Kochbuch ist sondern auch ein Comic: Was für eine geniale Idee. Da kommt zusammen was zusammen gehört: Food Porn, Comic und Rezepte.

Außerdem mag ich Ramen.
Profile Image for Stewart Tame.
2,453 reviews116 followers
March 8, 2020
As far as I'm concerned, the world needs more food-related graphic novels. And, according to her bio in the back of the book, Sarah Becan shares this dream. I definitely want to track down more of her work …

So this is a cookbook in comics form. It will teach you all you need to know about making ramen, even how to make your own noodles if you wish. Amano and Becan’s enthusiasm for their subject is contagious. And, while I don't think I’m ready to try making any (my kitchen skills could charitably be described as “basic” at best), I’m definitely keen to eat some. There are a few restaurants in my area that do reasonably authentic ramen, or so I've heard.

To be fair, some of my enjoyment comes from the sheer novelty of the concept--a graphic novel cookbook! The art is lovely, the instructions clear and concise. What more could you want except maybe to taste the various recipes while reading? Recommended!
Profile Image for Sobia A Khan.
785 reviews
December 13, 2020
A great cookbook for kids and adults to get them to go beyond their regular ramen recipes. The book starts out with a bio of the person and the history of how the noodles were created. He then follows on the etiquette on how to enjoy and eat the noodles, all the various sides that can be eaten with or mixed into when eating and the different utensils used to cook ramen. The author includes over 40 recipes along with words of wisdom, personal anecdotes, snd cultural insights.

Throughout the book are insights from other expert cooks. The graphic novel aspect is great for kids and even young adults. The illustrations are vivid, colorful, and easily show the various cooking steps.
1 review
March 18, 2023
Since I’m a big fan of ramen soups (I could literally eat them every day) I had to give this book a try to improve my skills on cooking them.
What can I say:
The style of the book is so special, each page is so beautifully illustrated and captioned, flicking through it is really fun. The recipes are explained in a simple way with helpful tips and you learn as well something about the history of ramen.
This style really animates you to try this recipes out, especially the Tantanmen and Shoyu Ramen recipe did it to me.
I tried as well the Rayu (Japanese Chili oil) and the Mayu (black garlic oil) recipe out and the flavour amazed my friends and me. Side effect: I feel like doing a trip to Japan soon.
Highly recommendation!
Profile Image for Michelle Bozbay.
106 reviews
January 26, 2020
I am now even more intimidated to attempt to make ramen myself at home, but I do have an even deeper appreciation for this dish after reading about all of its components. The comic book format makes for a fun, enjoyable read.
25 reviews2 followers
May 30, 2023
First time I am reading a graphic novel style recipe book. Apart from completely illustrated recipes this book also has little bits of interesting history and backgrounds about the people they obtained recipes from. I read it cover-to-cover and my book is from a library, so I will return it, but it would be a great book to have for its recipes as well. This book has made me feel like I should give making complex stocks, tares and maybe even hand-made noodles a try.
Profile Image for Fani.
590 reviews191 followers
December 17, 2020
Buku masak pertama ku baca tahun ini dengan format illustrasi komik nya yang bikin mau makan ramen😭😭.
Profile Image for Kendrick.
112 reviews7 followers
April 16, 2021
Love this! Such a great way to break down not only how to make ramen, but also what goes in to what you order. What's the difference between Shio and Shoyu etc. Lots of great images in here and such a joy to read.
Profile Image for nishka chokhani.
2 reviews
February 19, 2022
this was such a good and informative book honestly i kinda want to make ramen now. someone make it with me thank you
Profile Image for Paige.
177 reviews9 followers
September 8, 2024
This was a cool cookbook to read through. It was easy to follow the recipes with all of the illustrations. My only complaint was that there wasn’t much in the way of vegetables-only recipes, everything was very meat heavy. I did enjoy reading about the process and the different types of everything, very interesting and I learned a few new things. I’m going to pick up the next book about dumplings from the library.
Profile Image for Pamela Huxtable.
886 reviews45 followers
December 28, 2019
Yumminess abounds, but there’s not enough vegetarian or pescatarian options for me to add to my cookbook library. Illustrations are gorgeous and the recipes are clear and presented in a friendly, non threatening, easy to jump in fashion.
Profile Image for Taun.
327 reviews1 follower
July 26, 2022
It’s a graphic novel.

It’s a cookbook.

Sometimes you just see something sitting on the shelf that accidentally ends up at the checkout counter & you take it home & love it & use it to create a yummy bowl of something incredible. I offer no apologies. I have no regrets.

Drool worthy watercolor illustrations, noodle history, plenty of recipes, and insight into the Japanese culture.







Personal note: I used these recipes with blood sugar friendly subs (shiritake noodles, etc) to maintain my health. The others in my home eat them as written. We all agree on the deliciousness regardless of recipe deviation.
Profile Image for Nikki.
1,084 reviews28 followers
December 4, 2019
The illustrations are beautiful on this book. So full of color and inviting. The instructions seem to be well written as well - I just don't think I'm meant to make Ramen at home, at least right now in my life. There are a LOT of steps and some equipment I think we would need to be successful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.