JAPAN: RAMEN

 

I have never visited Japan, only flown through dozens of times, but having lived in New York I have had some excellent Japanese food, including ramen. One place we went to often was called Ivan Ramen on the lower east side (it was featured on Chef's Table on Netflix). Another gem we discovered was in Barcelona called Kanada-Ya. They also have restaurants in Japan, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. They specialize in Tonkotsu broth (pork broth). The bowl of ramen in the photograph above is from a ramen restaurant in Bologna, Italy called Sentaku. This dish is increasingly becoming popular all over the world. In Japan, there are over 10,000 ramen shops. 

These ramen noodles are not the dried noodles in a package. These are hand-made wheat noodles. Most Westerners eat them overcooked, but if you are a ramen enthusiast you would likely prefer to eat them al dente. But in any case, a bowl of ramen is umami, brothy, layered, rich, and comforting, served with toppings such as pickled soft boiled eggs, spring onions, and seaweed. 

How did wheat noodles become so popular in Japan? There's a long answer and a short answer. The short answer comprises of Japan's rice shortage after WWII, the US's surplus of wheat, propaganda, and the US fear of Japan becoming a communist country. It's more complicated than that. There are many factors involved, a result of US intervention, interference with the diet of another country for economic and political gain. But I digress. 

The Japanese ramen noodle is here, and admittedly, one of my favorite dishes. 

A book by a Japanese author to go with your ramen: 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Description:

"She's thrity-six years old, she's never had a boyfriend and she's been working in the same convenience store for eighteen years. Her parents wish she'd get a better job. Her friends wonder why she won't get married. But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she's not going to let anyone take her away from her convenience store." 

"Sayaka Murata has won all of Japan's major literary prizes, and been named a Vougue Woman of the Year. Murata spent eighteen years working part-time in convenience stores before the success of Convenience Store Woman afforded her the freedom to leave and write full-time. Convenience Store Woman has sold more than a million copies in Japan alone and is being translated into twenty-three languages worldwide."