In Japan, ramen aficionados fear for their favorite dish - The Washington Post

For a long time ramen (the pre-packaged stuff that I like to doctor up) was a staple food in my house; it was cheap and versatile and well I just liked it. I don't eat as much as I used to due to diabetes (got to watch them damn carbs), but I still keep a variety on hand. Just not the variety that Hans Lienesch aka the Ramen Rater is accustomed to. (Seriously check out his site as he has eaten 700+ unique varieties and then rates them.)

What makes ramen (the real stuff) an interesting food item though is the subculture that has developed around the trendy ramen restaurants (10,000 of em in Tokyo), primarily in Japan but here in the US as well.

Ramen came to Japan from China. The first known ramen shop opened in central Tokyo in 1910, but ramen consumption really picked up after World War II, when Japanese soldiers returned from fighting in China and started making their own noodles from rationed flour.

Back then, ramen was something made with all the odds and ends left over from other meals, a way to economize and avoid waste. It was the antithesis of sushi — which uses only the finest ingredients and for which less is more — but it still came to be considered integral to Japan’s culinary identity.

Ramen took off as Japan’s economy picked up speed in the 1980s (http://interestinghmm.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-ramen-index-ups-and-downs-of.html). As more Japanese could afford to travel, they would tour the country trying different types of noodle soups, such as Sapporo’s miso ramen and Fukuoka’s famous thick pork-broth ramen. People in the provinces began to celebrate the uniqueness of their bowls.

In Japan, ramen aficionados fear for their favorite dish - The Washington Post