What makes ramen ramen?

Yesterday I started working on ramen based on local ingredients from Goa. So far I've swapped the traditional pork topping for a Goan Choriz and I blended cashew nuts into the broth. As I gently pushed the boundaries here I constantly found myself asking what makes ramen ramen?

The black and white answer is that Ramen noodles are made with alkaline salts, making them chewier than most other noodles. That said, ramen has five components: noodles, broth, tare, aromatic oil, and toppings. The alkaline noodle and broth components are non-negotiable whereas there's flexibility with the remaining 3 components.

For example, high-alkaline pasta bolognese wouldn't count as ramen. Without broth, no ramen. The difference then between a noodle soup and ramen is the alkaline content of the noodles. On the other hand, if someone forget to add the aromatic oil to a traditional ramen it wouldn't cease to be ramen.

There is immense regional variation when it comes to ramen making, and plenty of interpretation around balancing the tare, oils and toppings. The fact that there are no rules and ramen is still evolving is part of what makes it so interesting.