Despite its name, “Taiwan ramen,” Nagoya’s local style of ramen isn’t a direct import from Taiwan, although it is inspired by Taiwanese cooking. It’s named for the Taiwanese chef who invented the dish based on Taiwanese danzai noodles. Taiwan ramen features ramen noodles in a shoyu broth topped with spicy ground pork and nira (garlic chives). The dish pre-dates the spicy food trend in Japan, but its popularity has held strong and fast over the decades!