The Rich HIstory of Ramen π
Japan Tour
These past weeks we have been cruising through Japan from coast to coast. We covered the foundations of the Japanese culture through Washoku and took a plunge to uncover the poisonous pufferfish. The only thing we deliberately skipped past was ramen. Since it is quite well known, go to any major city and you will a handful if not a dozen ramen spots where you can get yourself a bowl.
Me and Cesar both find interest in the lesser known and the more funky stories surrounding food and culture.
We can, however not skip ramen as it is one of our favourite dishes. CΓ©sar particularly likes a black garlic ramen, while I prefer a fish ramen. Unfortunately finding a fish ramen is quite hard and the majority of the ramen bars stick to Tonkotsu which is a seared pork ramen. The only place I know for a good fish ramen is Koya Bar in Soho, London.
Ramen is one of the trademarks of the Japanese cuisine. A hearty dashi broth laced with a thick udon noodle, seared pork or sous-vide chicken and various toppings like green onion, soy egg, bamboo shoots.
Major Ramen Styles
Sapporo
Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido. The city is home to strong and cold winters thus the ramen reflects that. With ingredients like butter, sweetcorn, bean sprouts, garlic and finely chopped pork. On occasion seafood is added like scallops, squid and crab.
Tokyo
Tokyo being the capital of Japan there are a lot of old Soba eateries, this played a major part in the ramen style. Dashi one of the key ingredients for soba was also used for ramen. Giving the Tokyo-style a fishy taste. Tokyo-style usually contains; chopped scallion, menma (fermented bamboo shoots), sliced pork, kamaboko (cured surimi), egg, nori, and spinach
Yokohama
Yokohama ramen is a ramen served with boiled spinach, nori sheets and Welsh onion. Nothing that special except you can ask for different cooking levels of the noodle. If you like the noodle al dente, Yokohama is the place to be!
Chinese Influence
But as with green tea, Ramen isn't truly Japanese. It is once again an import from China. How exactly is still up for debate. George Solt, a professor at NYU has done extensive research on the topic of ramen and even wrote a book about it; "The Untold History of Ramen".
The place of birth of the Japanese ramen is somewhere between the 17th and 20th century. Early attempts to find the origin point towards a Chinese scholar named Shu Shunshui who escaped under the Manchu rule in China to serve the feudal lord Mitsukuni. As with tea this narrative reflects the Chinese culture's influence on that of Japan. The only problem is that there is no historical record of Shunsui cooking ramen for the feudal lord.
A more plausible theory dates Japanese ramen consumption to the founding of Rai-Rai Ken in Tokyo by a customs agent whoβd worked in Yokohamaβs Chinatown. Rai-Rai Ken opened its doors in 1910, the restaurant employed Chinese cooks and popularized what was then known as βshina sobaβ. Shina meaning China, soba for the well established noodle dish in Japanese cuisine.
Rai Rai Ken reopened this year. So if you are in Yokohama by any chance swing by.
Touchy
Ramen rose to its fame during a tense period in Japan and the world. One of the older ramen bars in Tokyo is called Take Nankin Senryo, founded in 1937.
Which translates to "rose". Beautiful and romantic as ramen should be. But it also means "occupation". That which Japan did that same year in Nanjing and committed some absolute atrocities there. Take Nankin Senryo quickly grew to be a favourite for the nationalistic and radical Japanese.
After WWII
After and during World War II, the government placed tight regulations on food supplies and people were not authorised to profit off restaurants and pushcarts. Wheat flour turned into a black market product and many of the country's unemployed turned to hawking ramen, with the risk of landing in jail. Ramen was in a tight spot and was on the brink of extinction. You could however go to a group to get legal protection, this group was called the Yakuza. It was estimated that in the early 50's nearly 90% of the food stalls were under control of the Yakuza.
Later down the line, vendors could rent a starter kit food stall through private companies. That included everything from noodles, toppings, bowls to chopsticks.
Prosperity
Japan underwent a prosperous economic boom during the 50's and 60's. This period of rapid economic growth and development contributed to the revitalisation of ramen. The numerous construction projects required huge numbers of construction workers. Construction workers consumed large quantities of bowls of ramen.
Ramen contained many healthy ingredients that would provide sufficient energy to keep the workers properly fed and energized. Many restaurants that specialised only in ramen became increasingly popular in Japan. Ramen once again became a staple dish in the rapid growing country that Japan has become.
Instant Ramen
To feed a hungry country, you need to make something that is efficient and filling. Momofuku Ando went on a mission to create just that. Instant ramen was born. Now people could from the ease of their own homes make ramen.
Globalism happened and now you can get instant ramen in every supermarket outside of Japan and Ramen bars have been a trending topic these past years.
While I am writing this my hunger grows and grows, time to order some ramen from my favourite ramen bar.