What is the image that people overseas have of traditional Japanese cuisine? Sushi or tempura?
As with foreign diets, sushi and tempura are not eaten every day in Japan. Depending on the person, sushi is eaten once to three times a month, and tempura about the same.
In fact, there are two types of sushi, the majority of which people from overseas imagine are called nigiri-zushi（make by hand）.
The other type is called ‘chirashi-zushi’, which should be called ‘mixed rice’ using vinegar and ingredients. It is a little sour and may not suit the palate of people from overseas.
Although considered cheaper and less prestigious than nigiri-zushi, it was a standard dish prepared at festivals and celebrations in the past, as it was easy to make at home.
As the use of vinegar suggests, sushi was originally a food invented to eat seafood raw in an era without refrigeration facilities.
Furthermore, in earlier times, sushi was also a preserved food that made use of fermentation rather than vinegar. Sushi using fermentation is called ‘nare-zushi’ and is still distributed in some parts of the country… but even among Japanese people, the number of people who prefer it is quite small.
(Left) Chirashi-zushi (Right) Nare-zushi
If you want to become a connoisseur of Japanese food, it might be a good idea to give it a try. However, for some people, it can be quite a painful experience.(^_^;)
(If you insist, I recommend you start from the level of “Han-nare / semi-nare”).
Now for today’s main topic: ‘Rahmen (ramen noodles)’.
The other day, I saw a news report on TV saying that “ramen is very popular among overseas tourists! “. Well, it’s mass media, so I think it’s a lax statement… Even so, I thought that ramen was gaining recognition abroad as one of the Japanese foods.
However, Rahmen is not originally a Japanese dish. It is said to have originated in China or Taiwan.
However, if you go to China today, Rahmen does not exist, only its original ‘Ryumen’. The texture is quite different from Japanese Rahmen. In the past, when I was posted to Beijing on a long-term business trip, if I wanted to eat Rahmen, I had to go to a Japanese restaurant.
One theory suggests that the first “Japanese Rahmen” may have been ‘Ryumen’, introduced to Yokohama Chinatown around the beginning of the 20th century. It was later adapted to Japanese tastes and spread.
At this point, however, it was probably still a local speciality known only to a few people.
The epoch-making event occurred half a century later.
Yokohama Chinatown in the Meiji era.
Conceived by inventor Kiichiro Matsuura and commercialised by industrialist Momofuku Ando, ‘Instant Rahmen’ changed the concept of cooking.
It does not require the experience and fine-tuning required for cooking, and anyone with a pot, water and a stove can now make and eat Rahmen…
Launched in 1958, the Rahmen was named ‘Chicken Rahmen’. His company was supported by this ‘Chicken Rahmen’ and later launched ‘Cupnoodle’, which became a major company exporting to 100 countries around the world.
Rahmen may have come to Japan and become established over the decades.
In fact, it may have been so heavily modified that it has become completely independent as the ‘Japanese Rahmen’.
A groundbreaking invention, instant Rahmen became a household staple due to its shelf life and ease of preparation, and became an everyday food for many people.
Even single men who are not good at cooking can have a meal in just five to six minutes, so there is no reason not to use it.
According to statistics, the annual consumption of instant Rahmen in Japan amounts to 5.78 billion servings. That’s four to five servings per person per month, far more than sushi or tempura.
However, even with all this consumption, Japan’s consumption is not the highest in the world.
The number one country in the world is, by far, China, with a total annual consumption of 40.25 billion servings. it is an interesting fact that the country of Ryumen, the ancestor of Rahmen, is somehow the world’s largest consumer of instant Rahmen.
These figures are not simply comparable, though, due to population differences between countries, 1st: China (40.25 billion meals), 2nd: Indonesia (12.54 billion meals), 3rd: India (6.06 billion meals) 4th: Japan.
And the total consumption worldwide is 103.6 billion servings. Around 280 million servings of Rahmen are eaten every single day.
Rahmen is no longer a question of whether it is Japanese or Chinese food, it may have become a “world food”.
We have talked about instant Rahmen all the time, but this is in everyday life in Japan. No one who comes all the way from abroad to Japan for sightseeing would want to eat instant food.
It’s a leisure trip, so you want to eat something that tastes as good as possible.
However, it is only in the last 30-35 years or so that ‘Rahmen specialities’ have emerged, where taste and texture are paramount.
Before that, Rahmen was only a part of the menu in general canteens or in mobile Rahmen stalls. Rahmen is still the ‘taste of the common man’.
Rahmen, which costs US$20 a glass, seems crazy to me.
(^_^;)
Rahmen has evolved over time because it is a taste of the common man, and has also become a favourite dish for foreign tourists. And the backbone of this is the existence of instant Rahmen…
Roughly, Rahmen is divided into four types
★ Shōyu-Rahmen：Soya sauce-based soup, standard among Rahmen.
★ Tonkotsu-Rahmen：soup stock made from pork bones, rich in flavour.
★ Miso-Rahmen：soup made from Japanese miso, great if it suits your palate.
★ Shio-Rahmen：salt-based soup, a little lighter than other Rahmen.
In case you are wondering, I prefer Shio-Rahmen in the hot summer months and Miso-Rahmen in the cold winter months.
I wish everyone who comes to Japan a good Rahmen experience.
However, please be careful not to eat too much Rahmen as it contains a lot of oil and salt… (^^)
