All About Ramen

All About Ramen — Part 2

November 05, 2018

Kinja is currently looking to hire an experienced Sushi Chef. We would prefer someone with previous and varied experience preparing both traditional and modern Japanese Sushi. We are also looking for help in the kitchen as well as an additional server. The ability to work well with others and handle constructive advice is a must. We are an easy going family owned establishment so we are looking for someone who can fit in to that kind of an environment. At the same time we take our business very seriously in that we provide the highest quality ingredients and dishes that we can to our customers. If you are interested in and qualified for this position then please contact us

Daily Dish:

Ramen

(Part 2)

Classic Ramen style noodles served in a spicy broth of either beef or chicken. Made with egg, onion, scallions, and mixed vegetables. This isn’t the Ramen you remember from college, this is a flavor packed bowl of noodlicious delight. Our Ramen goes perfect with just about any drink and any of or amazing selection of appetizers and side dishes.

Postwar popularization

After Japan's defeat in World War II, the American military occupied the country from 1945 to 1952. In December 1945, Japan recorded its worst rice harvest in 42 years, which caused food shortages as Japan had drastically reduced rice production during the war as production shifted to colonies in China and Taiwan. The US flooded the market with cheap wheat flour to deal with food shortages. From 1948 to 1951, bread consumption in Japan increased from 262,121 tons to 611,784 tons, but wheat also found its way into ramen, which most Japanese ate at black market food vendors to survive as the government food distribution system ran about 20 days behind schedule. Although the Americans maintained Japan's wartime ban on outdoor food vending, flour was secretly diverted from commercial mills into the black markets, where nearly 90 percent of stalls were under the control of yakuza who extorted vendors for protection money. Thousands of ramen vendors were arrested during the occupation. At the same time, millions of Japanese troops had returned from China and continental East Asia from their posts in the Second Sino-Japanese War, some of whom would have been familiar with wheat noodles. By 1950 wheat flour exchange controls were removed and restrictions on food vending loosened, which further boosted the number of ramen vendors: private companies even rented out yatai starter kits consisting of noodles, toppings, bowls, and chopsticks. Ramen yatai provided a rare opportunity for small scale postwar entrepreneurship. The Americans also aggressively advertised the nutritional benefits of wheat and animal protein. The combination of these factors caused wheat noodles to gain prominence in Japan's rice-based culture. Gradually, ramen became associated with urban life.

Modern period

In 1958, instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese founder and chairman of Nissin Foods. Named the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century in a Japanese poll, instant ramen allowed anyone to make an approximation of this dish simply by adding boiling water.

Beginning in the 1980s, ramen became a Japanese cultural icon and was studied around the world from many perspectives. At the same time, local varieties of ramen were hitting the national market and could even be ordered by their regional names. A ramen museumopened in Yokohama in 1994.

Today ramen is arguably one of Japan's most popular foods, with Tokyo alone containing around 5,000 ramen shops, and more than 24,000 ramen shops across Japan. Tsuta, a ramen restaurant in Tokyo’s Sugamo district, received a Michelin star in December 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen

If you ever want to find out what a real bowl of Ramen is supposed to taste like, then head over to our North Division location and find out for yourself.

Dish of the Day Author: Kinja