For many folks reminiscing about their budget college meals, the word 'ramen' conjures up an image of a pre-packaged instant noodle bowl that can be bought for a dime.

But real authentic ramen is actually a wildly popular and revered noodle soup dish in Japan. For ramen maniacs, there's even a museum in Yokohama, Japan, that's dedicated to the history and art of making ramen noodles.

Interestingly enough, ramen originated in China, and almost every prefecture in Japan has their own variation of this noodle dish. One ramen master went as far as spending $200K on creating a robot to make the perfect ramen soup for his noodles. Apparently you can choose from more than 40 million different flavors of ramen soup base. That's a lot of ramen to go through, even for ramen lovers.

In the U.S., many ramen shops are making waves as trendy eateries. Setagaya in New York City is supposed to have the best shio broth, while Genki Ramen in San Francisco has a popular chasu ramen.

Ramen California in Torrance, Calif., goes a few steps further with their unique fusion noodles with Reggiano cheese tofu. It's so popular it runs out on a regular basis. They also have a signature ramen that features 30 different types of vegetables, Alice Waters-style.

Check to see if you can find a great ramen noodle spot near you. Or go out for some Japanese cuisine.