We’re building our noodle-pedia this month of February and we’re taking you on this ride with us. Noodles are this month’s obsession and we’re going about it with recipes, quizzes and all. Most of us know noodles to just be instant food and super affordable for that matter. Yet, this easy go-to dish has an incredibly interesting heritage. We shall stick to the ones that made us go, “eerh, wooah!”
Japan invented ramen
China is no doubt the birthplace of noodles, going back as 4,000 years ago. We need a time machine for some of these figures because we weren’t even a flicker of existence by then. Japan’s Nissin Food, in 1958, took Chinese wheat noodles, added a few more ingredients and brought ramen came into existence. This invention was described as the greatest Japanese food invention of the 20th century. And did you know that hot spicy ramen from Chekafe is a cure for a cold? Don’t believe us? Give it a try.
Japan has a noodle museum
Boring is not in Japan’s vocabulary. There’s a whole museum in Yokohama called the Cup Noodles Museum dedicated to instant noodles and cup noodles. A visit here will help you learn about instant ramen and about Momofuku Ando’s story, the founder of Nissin Food and the creator of Japanese ramen. You have an excuse to travel to Japan entirely for food exploration.
The first noodles were a luxury item and made with millet grass grain
It might be a little surprising that this dish was considered luxurious. Yes, they were not easy to access and the first ones were not made of wheat but millet grass grain. Noodles were not even greatly featured in Chinese food history until the Second World War.
Noodles have been to space
At this point, we’d like to take time to appreciate the fact that food has travelled a lot more than some of us have… *silent sobs*. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi took instant noodles when he went to space back in 2005. Nissin Food again came up with zero-gravity instant noodles shaped like balls that space travellers could easily consume.
Slurping is actually cool
Table etiquette requires that you don’t slurp in front of others, it’s plain rude. But, here’s something interesting; slurping when taking this dish is a sign of politeness. It shows you appreciate the dish and that the effort to make the food delicious was not wasted. Okay, who’s ready for some slurpy noodles?
What are some interesting things you’ve heard and what are some of your favourite places to enjoy noodles or ramen?
