We all love all kinds of Japanese food!!
During my first year in Japan, I was so tempted by all kinds of Japanese food here, not only the typical original food that everyone is aware of (such as Sushi and Ramen), also some “Japanized” foreign food such as burgers with shrimp inside, or western desserts modified in the Japanese way.
I know Ramen is one of the most popular Japanese food among foreigners, and today I want toshare some knowledge about Ramen.
Today’s topic is not about Ramen, but it’s about the way of eating Ramen. Most of us are aware that Japanese people like to slurp when they are eating Ramen, but have you ever wondered why Japanese people, who are well-known for being considerate, will act so “inconsiderately “ when they are having noodles?
Udon, Soba and Ramen are the three main noodle dishes in Japanese food.
At first, I found it weird when I saw the Japanese people slurp when they are eating noodles such
as Ramen, Udon or Soba. One of my Malaysian friends asked me to try slurping like the
Japanese do and I did try. Surprisingly, the Ramen which is already delicious tasted even better! How amazing is that? The sound itself is indeed quite annoying sometimes, but whenever a Japanese slurps while having their Ramen, I feel like I can taste food through the slurping sound itself.
And I tried to figure why it is so, and I guess I found the reason why. The reason why noodles taste
good when you slurp is because noodles are always too HOT, so when you slurp, the speed of you slurping will help to lower the temperature of the noodle without losing the softness and tastiness of the noodle. This is why slurping is good for HOT noodles!
Another trivia I learned from my Japanese friend is that the culture of slurping goes all the way back to when soba was invented.
As you all know, Japanese food is very delicate, sometimes even too subtle that we can’t even tell the difference between good and bad.
Soba is one of them, where you are supposed to enjoy the delicate aroma of the noodle.
In doing so, the Japanese people starting slurping and making the noodle “dance” before you swallow it so that its aroma is better revealed.
Some of you might have seen wine tasters making a sound while drinking wine, even coffee tasters do it.
This is to let the fluid (or in our case, the noodle) touch as much air as possible while bringing out its aroma. This allows you to enjoy the fidden flavor of it.
Try slurping noodles like the Japanese next time and you might discover something new!!
Itadakimasu!!
♡Siah♡
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