I really want to try ramen, but i don't like meat. Is there any Vegetarian friendly ramen?
A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
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Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#12Historical and geographical context of Japanese ramen from a Chinese cultural perspective: ra part is derived from 拉 (Mandarin la ) which means pulled and refers to the process of making the noodles, the men part is derived from 麺 (Mandarin mian ) which is the traditional Chinese character for noodles (面 is the simplified form). In modern China, this 麺/面 normally describes long-form wheat noodles however other types…
Wikipedia (and you) conflate two different things here: the origin of ramen the food as we know it today, which is quite arguably Japan (although admittedly it's a fuzzy line to draw); and the origin of ramen the name, which I agree is almost certainly from Chinese 拉麺. However, Japanese ramen doesn't taste at all like Chinese 拉麺, they've become entirely different dishes.
Also, you're spinning the name change as Japan somehow attempting to claim credit, while it's actually more the other way around: the term 支那 shina became pejorative, so they stopped using it. This also predates Japan exporting instant noodles to the world (c. 1971), much less the term "ramen" being adopted into English to mean them (1990s?).
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#13I remember being in Fukuoka and visiting the so called "ramen stadium" at the top of some shopping complex. More varieties than you could poke a stick at, and all purchasable via ticket machine only. I ended up getting some random thing that had pork, and what appeared to be quail eggs in a black broth. I can see why they like their ramen.
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#14I'm a bit saddened that we don't seem to have too many of these kinds of "multiple ingredient, endless variation" style foods here in the US. Most regional fare (pizza, BBQ) is comparatively simple. Or is it just me?
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#15I really want to try ramen, but i don't like meat. Is there any Vegetarian friendly ramen?
It's pretty rare, and most so in the more traditional places. Even if there's no meat in the ramen, the broth is generally pork (occasionally chicken) based.
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#16Historical and geographical context of Japanese ramen from a Chinese cultural perspective: ra part is derived from 拉 (Mandarin la ) which means pulled and refers to the process of making the noodles, the men part is derived from 麺 (Mandarin mian ) which is the traditional Chinese character for noodles (面 is the simplified form). In modern China, this 麺/面 normally describes long-form wheat noodles however other types…
> Also, some people claim Italy's noodle tradition is a post-Marco Polo thing (who, some credible evidence attests, was actually from the now Croatian island of Dubrovnik, under the sway of the piratical Venetian empire but not 'Italian' per-se).
That whole area between Trieste and Dalmatia is a melting pot. Especially prior to WWII, there were quite a few people who were ethnically Italian there. Venice ruled the area during Marco Polo's lifetime, so it's certainly possible that even if he wasn't born in Venice, he was very much Venetian; similar to how John McCain is not Panamanian.
Also, I'm not sure if 'piratical' is particularly accurate in describing the Venetian republic. They probably did their share of looting and pillaging like anyone in power back then, but their wealth came from trade and commerce. Which is why things started going badly when new trade routes were opened to the Indies, and to the Americas.
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#17I'm a bit saddened that we don't seem to have too many of these kinds of "multiple ingredient, endless variation" style foods here in the US. Most regional fare (pizza, BBQ) is comparatively simple. Or is it just me?
The US has lots of sandwich variants. Sometimes we use dipping sauces or soup sides, sometimes the ingredients are unusual, there are various styles of bread, toasted vs. untoasted, etc. This is a food genre that is shared with Europe and the Commonwealth, of course, but original variants abound here.
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#18I'm a bit saddened that we don't seem to have too many of these kinds of "multiple ingredient, endless variation" style foods here in the US. Most regional fare (pizza, BBQ) is comparatively simple. Or is it just me?
The US has lots of sandwich variants. Sometimes we use dipping sauces or soup sides, sometimes the ingredients are unusual, there are various styles of bread, toasted vs. untoasted, etc. This is a food genre that is shared with Europe and the Commonwealth, of course, but original variants abound here.
True, I was just thinking about that! But on the other hand, it's hard to compare a sandwich — something that usually takes no more than an hour of cooking, total — with ramen, whose broth can take several days to make, and whose flavorants alone have rich traditions and endless varieties.
EDIT: But I suppose it becomes a lot more true if you factor in the bread, and include things like bagels.
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#19I'm a bit saddened that we don't seem to have too many of these kinds of "multiple ingredient, endless variation" style foods here in the US. Most regional fare (pizza, BBQ) is comparatively simple. Or is it just me?
Isn't pizza a prime example of "multiple ingredients, endless variation"? After all, at a fundamental level pizza is oven-baked "stuff on flatbread", even the flatbread (dough) can be customised (different styles, seasoning, stuffing), to say nothing of the base sauce, cheeses and other toppings.
Re: A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US has lots of sandwich variants. Sometimes we use dipping sauces or soup sides, sometimes the ingredients are unusual, there are various styles of bread, toasted vs. untoasted, etc. This is a food genre that is shared with Europe and the Commonwealth, of course, but original variants abound here.
True, I was just thinking about that! But on the other hand, it's hard to compare a sandwich — something that usually takes no more than an hour of cooking, total — with ramen, whose broth can take several days to make, and whose flavorants alone have rich traditions and endless varieties. EDIT: But I suppose it becomes a lot more true if you factor in the bread, and include things like bagels.
I think you're looking at the other side of the fence with too rosy of glasses. Is not bread for those sandwiches labor intensive? The fillings too -- all sorts of roasts and vegetables and pickles and meats that can each take a while to make. Why is it that 'broth' is allowed to add to the time of Ramen when these things arent allowed to add to the time of a sandwich?
Not to mention BBQ is something that does take a lot of time -- 2, 4, 8, 24 hours of BBQing, even multiple days if you sous vide it.