Читать книгу Japan from Anime to Zen - David Watts Barton - Страница 18

For all their culture’s artistry, subtlety, and sophistication, the Japanese are a practical people. So when, in 2000, it came time to answer pollsters about what they consider their country’s greatest accomplishments of the 20th century, their top choice was the essence of practicality: instant ramen.

Instant “ramen”—which is actually just dried ramen noodles, not the complex, fresh soup that has become an international sensation—was invented in 1958 by Momofuku Ando. The inventor came up with a process to preserve them until it was time to add water. But it wasn’t until 1971 that Nissin, Ando’s company, created the “cup of noodles” that we now know as instant ramen.

Instant ramen got the top spot in Japan because it perfectly fits the Japanese desire for simple, tasty food that can be eaten quickly and easily. Turns out the Japanese are not alone in this desire, as any college student can tell you. Instant ramen is also a source of pride because, no matter how many anime films or manga comic books are served to the world, how many SONY stereos are listened to, or how many Toyotas or Hondas are driven, no other Japanese invention reaches as far or as deep as Cup Noodles, Top Ramen … or ramyeon in Korea, or even instant-nudel (noodles) in Germany. More than a hundred billion packages of instant noodles are now consumed every year around the world. China consumes nearly half of that number and dwarfs all other countries’ consumption, even Japan’s, which comes in third. Momofuku himself was born and raised in Taiwan and began life as Go Pek-Hok. He became a naturalized Japanese citizen and married a Japanese woman, and Japan adopted him as its own.

Fresh ramen itself, as opposed to the instant variety, is currently enjoying a sushi-like vogue as Japan’s latest, greatest culinary export. One need only wait in line for two hours at downtown New York’s Ippudo to discover what the Japanese have long known: Ramen is a dependable, delicious, and a by-and-large affordable all-in-one meal. From the attention paid to the broth to the consistency of the noodles, and the delicate garnishes of chashu (marinated roasted pork belly), menma (dried bamboo shoots), and nori—aficionados are known to obsess over every element.

Entire books have been written about the many subtleties and glories of ramen, but besides the obvious components, there is a crucial ingredient a casual diner won’t notice. Kansui is an alkaline solution added to the flour and water when making ramen noodles that helps develop the gluten in the noodles to give them their characteristic chewiness, as well as their yellow color.

No self-respecting ramen lover would ever make the claim that instant ramen is even the same food as fresh ramen, let alone as good. Many ramen places, even as far away as California, won’t even allow their ramen to be delivered, because the noodles won’t reach their destination in the proper condition.

Ramen in a cup features flash-fried, then “reanimated” noodles.

So what was Ando’s innovation? The trick was to flash-fry the noodles in such a way that they can be “reanimated” by the simple addition of hot water. We take it for granted now, but in 1958, it was a surprising and instantly successful innovation. The result was noodles that, ideally, retained the texture and chewiness the Japanese prize. Add a blend of dried ingredients usually comprising monosodium glutamate, some dried green onions or shrimp, maybe nori, and—it must be said—ungodly amounts of sodium, and voila: a meal. It’s not the healthiest of meals—most just-add-water ramen products are the result of so much industrial processing that they make McDonald’s hamburgers look like health food by comparison—but don’t tell that to instant ramen fans.

Still, if instant ramen has been your idea of ramen, you owe it to yourself to visit one (or ten) of the world’s thousands of ramen houses, especially if you find yourself in Japan, where the choices will overwhelm and delight. Make your way to the city of Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu, and you will find more than two thousand ramen shops … in a city of 1.5 million! Whether it’s “Japan’s greatest invention” or not, you will never look at instant ramen the same way again.