In Japan, where tradition is highly valued, innovation in ramen is interestingly well received. The dynamic evolution that has resulted is matched only by a ramen craze that’s taken hold globally.

On Friday, Sun Noodle presented a sold-out event at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa that centered on the craze: “Clash of the Ramen” brought together seven international chefs who served up their best versions of the beloved comfort food. The offerings ranged from traditional shoyu to laksa-style tonton to a vegan bowl.

The lineup: Luca Catalfamo (of Casa Ramen in Milan, Italy), Kenji Chiba (Chibakiya, Tokyo), Masaharu Morimoto (Morimoto Waikiki), Ivan Orkin (Ivan Ramen, New York), Alan Wong (Alan Wong’s Restaurants), Takashi Yagihashi (Slurping Turtle, Chicago) and Roy Yamaguchi (Roy’s Restaurants).

The winner, chosen by popular vote: Yamaguchi, for his Spicy King Crab and Pono Pork creation, which boasted layers of flavors, a style of cooking for which the chef is famous.

A couple of weeks before the showdown, as they mulled over their competition recipes, three chefs shared their thoughts about making — and eating — ramen, and that unique experience delivered in each bowl.

Luca Catalfamo

Luca Catalfamo gets a kick out of comments from Japanese customers who eat his ramen.

“They say they can taste my Italian soul, they can taste the olive oil — but there is none,” he said laughing.

Since 2015 Catalfamo’s ramen has been served at Casa Luca in the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. It followed Casa Ramen, established in 2013 in Milan, the chef’s home.

Catalfano combines locavore sourcing, daily artisanal noodle- making and the best aspects of “every ramen I’ve liked” to create his recipes.

“It’s Luca’s version, not an Italian version,” he said firmly.

Among his recipes is a popular tonkotsu broth that requires three days to make. “When I go on vacation, the shop has to stay closed three days before we can open it again,” he said. “There’s no MSG — the pork flavors and umami come from the ingredients, without chemicals.”

Other specialties are his Noodles Doppio Peporoncino, mazemen (no broth) style, served with spicy chicken, spinach and chili tare (flavor base); plus vegetarian and seasonal bowls.

At the festival the chef served a vegan ramen inspired by a recipe he serves in Milan during the fall; this one featured a bowl of Sun Noodle buckwheat soba in kabocha broth topped with mushroom ragu.

“When I ate ramen for the first time, I was shocked at the comfort aspect of it,” he said. “Eating ramen makes me feel good. I know everybody has the same feeling.”

Ivan Orkin

“Good ramen is harmony in a bowl,” said chef Ivan Orkin, sounding very Zen.

He’s the man who won over Japanese diners on their home turf in 2007 when he opened Ivan Ramen in Tokyo. Today he runs two shops in New York, Ivan Ramen New York and Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop. (His Japan shop is closed.)

When he decided to open in Tokyo, Orkin traveled far and wide to taste bowl after bowl to figure out his own version.

“I’ve got a good food memory, so I ate a lot to decide what I liked most. Then I played around a lot and figured it out through trial and error,” he said.

His first ramen recipe, a shio ramen, reflects his appreciation for subtlety.

“I chose shio because it uses sea salt, which has a beautiful flavor. It allows the flavor of the broth to come through nicely. My shio ramen has a lovely flavor of chicken with a breezy, fishy, aromatic flavor,” he said.

To go along with that broth, he created his own tasty rye noodles. Served with the shio broth, “the flavor of the noodle explodes,” he said.

Today the rye noodles are featured in many of his menu items, including a cold crab, shrimp and tomato ramen he served this summer. That dish was the inspiration for the one he delivered at Friday’s event, featuring a chilled yuzu dashi ramen topped with Big Isle hearts of palm and pickled Kauai shrimp.

Orkin says there’s no difference in cooking for Japanese and American diners.

“As a chef and a creative, I can’t cook differently. And there’s nowhere to hide; they either like it or don’t,” he said. “That’s why I cook. I love the challenge. I love the instant gratification of making people happy.”

Roy Yamaguchi

“Ramen is very, very personal,” said chef Roy Yama­guchi. “Different regions (in Japan) have their own styles … but what makes it cool is within a region you have ramen guys and gals making ramen with their own flair.”

That’s the philosophy that led to the one ramen dish Yamaguchi put on his menu at Eating House 1849. It’s called 1849 Spicy Ramen Bowl, a hearty dish with a rich broth of pork and chicken flavored with katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and kelp; a tare (salty flavor base) of sesame paste, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and more; Sun Noodles cooked exactly 1 minute and 20 seconds; and toppings of a seven-minute egg, bean sprouts, seasoned ground pork, braised pork belly and shrimp siu mai.

Yamaguchi said that though the pork broth is dominant and rich, the katsuobushi lightens it up a bit with a fish taste, and that flavor is fortified by the sesame paste in the tare.

“I’m making the kind of ramen that I like to eat,” he said. “I can put only one ramen on the menu, so it’s got to be something I like.”

For the challenge, he delivered his hearty broth in the winning Spicy King Crab and Pono Pork Ramen, a rich, satisfying, simply delicious flavor bomb.

“This is the way I cook, in layers, so I put in lots of flavors,” he said. “I like a lot of dimension.”

Ramen primer

Japan has some 30 distinct, regional ramens, according to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Those styles, plus the countless creative offshoots, are based on:

>> Broth: Animal bones, seaweed, bonito or a mix of these, combined with salty, concentrated flavor bases, called tare, that together make for four classic concoctions: shio (salt), miso, shoyu and tonkotsu (pork).

>> Noodles: They have chew and bounce and can be thick, fine, flat, straight, wavy.

>> Toppings: These are endless; classics include chashu pork, fishcake, bamboo shoots and scallions.