One of the very best things about eating a bowl of great ramen is that lick-your-lips feeling that comes from the oils and fats that are used. After tending to your stock, you will cool it and pull off the fat cap to reserve it for when you assemble your bowl. Adding the fat back in may seem strange, but (like most Japanese cooking techniques) it’s genius. First, it allows you to additionally season or combine oils to get a more robust flavor, and second, it’s measured, so you know how much oil you have in each bowl.

There are some fats and oils that are added to the bowl during assembly that help create more viscosity and aroma, and there are others that are used on top of the ramen to add flavor and help shuttle the noodles down your gullet. The oils get the aroma going while you eat, help the noodles slide right into your mouth—and cover your face—as well as keep the ramen hot. Honestly, that’s why ramen is a terrible date food. Listen to me, people: Your face and shirt will (and should) be covered in little bits of oil if you are crushing your bowl (see “How to Crush a Bowl of Ramen”).

Playing with oils in ramen is an area I think few people have really explored, and it’s wide-open, as oil and infusion combinations are vast. On my last trip to Japan, I ate a bowl of ramen made with extra-virgin olive oil. It was fantastic. But as with all the chapters in this book, here I will show you the basics so you can begin to get wildly creative as you progress.