The Ramen Index: Ups and Downs of an Economy, All in a Bowl of Noodles - Pacific Standard: The Science of Society

Only 45 servings a year?? ROFL, I eat that much within 2-3 months and it is bought by the case.  Wonder where it puts me on the Ramen Index?

Merely to say that ramen is “popular” hardly describes how tightly the Japanese have woven ramen noodles into the fabric of their food culture—and few things have more totemic significance in Japanese culture than food. Television sometimes seems to consist entirely of people eating, with close-up shots of the moment’s reflection before the obligatory “Oishii!” (“Tasty!”) Many Japanese will express pride in the country’s food (although they often temper that pride with an odd expectation that non-Japanese people will be unable to stomach the most characteristic Japanese dishes, such as raw fish and fermented soybeans). The devotion to culinary detail can be almost ritualistic. Coffee shop “masters” can take 15 minutes to prepare a simple—yet faultless—cup of coffee, and more than once when I’ve ordered a whisky on the rocks, the bartender has asked not only what whisky but also what consistency of ice I prefer.

And yet ramen shops can be almost scruffy—formal and ritual-bound by American standards, perhaps, but gritty and down-to-Earth compared to higher- class Japanese restaurants that serve sushi, tempura, or wagyu beef. The ramen-shop patron, typically a young man, buys his ramen ticket from a machine and takes his place at the counter to slurp his noodles alone, usually in just a few minutes.

The Ramen Index: Ups and Downs of an Economy, All in a Bowl of Noodles - Pacific Standard: The Science of Society