"Ramen" is the most popular food in Japan

Japanese food, which comes in many varieties, is very popular all over the world. Among the wide variety available, sushi and gyuudon are well-known to foreigners. However, Japanese people most enjoy eating ramen which look like Chinese noodles. While there are various views about the identity of the creator of these noodles, it is strongly believed that they originated in Japan.

You can find ramen shops here and there in Japan and the taste differs between regions and shops. You will often see long queues of people waiting in front of well-known shops selling tasty ramen. Kathy, an Australian who has lived in Japan for four years, is an ardent fan of ramen. "I didn't know at all that there was such a variety of ramen and that they are loved so much," she said, astonished.

You can cook ramen easily at home. Ingredients are sold at supermarkets or convenience stores. Among the many kinds of ramen, instant ramen is popular, which can be cooked just by adding hot water. Nowadays restaurants specializing in instant ramen are opening. "Instant Ramen Sakura" in Nakano, Tokyo is a popular spot with a variety of 200 kinds of instant ramen from all over the country.

The instant noodle (ramen) was invented by Mr. ANDO Momofuku of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. in 1958. One of the difficulties related to his invention was how to preserve the noodles. One day, while watching tenpura frying for supper, an idea came to him. When you drop the ingredients for tenpura into hot water, moisture begins evaporating which creates many holes in the batter. He wondered ... would the same thing happen with noodles? Mr. Ando thought that frying noodles would make holes in them in a way similar to that of tenpura batter, and after pouring hot water over the fried noodles, he found the hot water spread through those holes and turned the noodles into ramen.

After instant noodles became established in Japan, Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. sent a group of inspectors to America and Europe to investigate their markets in 1966 in order to internationalize instant noodles. This move was based on President Ando's belief that although taste has no boundaries, we cannot export ramen without understanding the culture, traditions, and customs of each country. While overseas, the inspectors saw people pour juice into paper cups and, after drinking it, throw the cups into the trash. They also saw their buyers trying to eat chicken ramen by breaking it up into a paper cup and eating it with forks.

This led to the idea that in countries where people use forks, even instant noodles can be eaten with a fork, and this produced what we know today as "Cup Noodles." Amazingly, according to Nissin Food' Corporate Communication DIV, "'Cup Noodles' are now eaten in 80 countries. The total number of cup noodles sold in both Japan and overseas up to now is more than 25 billion. When you put this number of ramen containers one on top of the other, the height will be twice the distance between the earth and the moon." Cup Noodles are a great best-selling food that Japan is proud of.

The popularity of ramen among Japanese will never end. Every month, certain magazines print feature articles about which ramen shops are good. In addition, television stations hold contests to find the best ramen shop in Japan. There is also a ramen museum in Shin-Yokohama where local traditional ramen shops from all over Japan are situated. It is not at all an exaggeration to say that ramen is the national food of the Japanese.

Instant Ramen Sakura
http://instantramen-sakura.com/

Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd.
http://www.nissinfoods.co.jp/

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum
http://www.raumen.co.jp/

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