Ramen Noodles the True History
By
Eric Hites Most people I have spoken with in college or who have attended college have told me stories about these little brick like noodles we so fondly call
Ramen Noodles. Many have told me that the had lived off of the little noodles for weeks on end or use them as a quick fix for late night study cramming. Some have even gone so far as to write stories, poems and even songs about these noodles of lore. But in this paper we shall speak of none. We shall speak of the uses, the actual history, the man with the plan who brought these little brinks into our lives. Yes folks today you will learn the history of the ill famed and under valued Ramen Noodles, a king among noodles, as I was told.
To start our overview of the ramen history I would like to start with an excerpt I took from the Ramen
Noodle page called “The Official Ramen Homepage” Written and designed by a one Matt Fisher. “Ramen (rah-men): A noodle phenomenon. Ramen has become the accepted standard college snack/meal food of choice. Whether you are tired of cafeteria food, or you need a quick snack, Ramen is the perfect food. It is cheap, easy to make, and it tastes good.” This illustrates the sometimes odd sometimes over the top feelings some of us in this college community about the perfect (as per Matt Fisher stated) noodles. But to get into some real history we must take a look at its founding father Mr. Momofuku Ando. Mr. Momofuku Ando founded Nissin Foods Corporation in 1948. In 1958 Mr Momofuku Ando first introduced his first quick fix right off the shelf little brick of joy. The first flavor was “Chicken Flavor Ramen”. But the Japanese public and critics considered this a Luxery item because the fresh noodles called “Udon” were only 1/6 the cost of the fancey Nissin brand prepackaged instant noodles. But within one year over ten competing companies where crowding the shelves of the local grocery markets with their own brand of the noodles. From the information taken from the Nissin Foods Corporation website, they sate that “Today, Japanese consumers eat approximately 45 portions of ramen, bags and cups combined, each year. In addition, U.S. consumers are estimated to eat 9 portions of ramen each year. Now that’s a whole lot of Noodles. In the United States of America today “Nissin Foods Corporation Ramen Noodles” are so
big that they even have a spot in good ole’ Americana. They have a huge steaming sign right on “Times Square” in New York City. The Nissin Foods Corporation added this billboard that lookes like a steaming cup of their famous “Cup O’ Noodles” (See Picture) They added this sign in 1996 to “Times Squares” sign barrage. It sits beneath where the big apple falls from the tower on “New Years Eve” celebrations. Another testimate to the power of noodles.
Now lets get back to Matt Fishers take on Ramen Noodles. As per an excerpt from his homepage here are a few questions and answers of our most common questions about our little ole’ brick of noodles. “How do you pronounce the word RAMEN?” Matt’s answer goes as such; “The answer is rah-men, not RAY-men. At least this is how I pronounce it, so it must be correct” The second question goes as follows “What is “Larmen?”” His answer; “Someone asked, here is the answer... Well I have a few answers, this is one of the most interesting. The English and spelling are a bit off, but it makes sense. The word “Larmen” is created by now resolved “Dosanko Foods, Inc”.(DFI) in USA. “DFI” was the joint venture of three Japanese company. “Hokkoku Shoji Co. Ltd.”, “Mitsubishi Trading Corp.”, “Nisshin Flour Milling Co”, “DFI” had operated 27 “Dosanko” noodle stores in “NY” state area in mid 80''s at their height. When they opened their first store in 1974, they wanted to differentiate their noodles from other ramen noodles. Then, they changed “R” to “L” and add additional “R” in the middle of the word. Reason why they chand the spelling from “R” to “L” is that most of Japanese pronounce Ramen''s “R” as sound of “R” and “L” mixtures. It sounds like “R” and in some occasion sounds like “L”. “DFI” decided to spell Ramen as “Lamen”. But this spelling may be pronounced in two ways.
and . “DFI” wanted American people to pronounce as close as . So they add “R” in “Lamen”. “Lamen” became “Larmen”. The word "LARMEN" is registered in US patent office and “Hokkoku Shoji” is the registered mark owner.” As per quoted by Matt Fisher from Kazuhiko Sato Ex DFI General Manager. This is a pretty good explanation of the whole “Larmen” “Ramen” mess. But, here is another answer to the same question posed on Matt Fisher homepage; “In Japanese, "ramen" is written in katakana, the phonetic alphabet used largely for imported words. That''s why I was looking at your site -- I was hoping you''d have info on where ramen -really- come from. The fact that it''s written in katakana instead of hiragana or kanji means ramen isn''t actually from
Japan. I found another site that sheds some light on the question. It''s the J-Cult online magazine, www.jcult.com. (This URL no longer is active) Their cooking index has a brief history of ramen, which is described as "Japanese style Chinese noodles." I.e., ramen comes from China. The Chinese word is "la mein," and it''s not much of a stretch to imagine that "larmen" is a variant of the Japanized word.” As posted by, Chris Schalle, on Matt Fishers homepage. Now this second answer sounds good but so did the first. So which are we to believe? My point in this paper is to just give the facts and not to make assumptions for you. This is why I must give you all the information I can get my hands on so that you the reader can make his own assumptions about our little brick of ramen.
“And now for something completely different.” This section contains excerpts from the homepage of a perseon only known as “Noonan”. My online pal told me of this site and that this “Noonan” is a semi warped person. This is why I must show you what he has to say about Ramen in these excerpts from his pages and ramblings;
“Ramen Noodles May Save The Planet! What could be more “nineties” than a story about how God placed Ramen Noodles on this planet as a last ditch effort to help man avoid the apocalyptic predictions as foretold in Revelations? Perhaps, if said story were to also contain numerous references to lesbians, the internet, cellular phones, masturbation, cappuccino, the “controversial” minimum wage, good student loan officers gone bad, strippers and mega doses of melatonin.
Interestingly, the Ramen Noodles story dates back to biblical times when David challenged Goliath to a duel. David wanted to have a Ramen Noodles-eating contest with that smelly, rude, loud-mouthed, womanizing giant. Goliath, being only human and not watched over by God, as was David, saw through this trickery. For, if he ingested too much shrimp flavoring, it would mean instant death.
Much like the Victorian arsenic eaters, mankind has since built up a tolerance to the pernicious Ramen Noodle flavorings. What mankind has forgotten, however, is that Ramen Noodles were never intended for human consumption -- criminals and third-world peasants, perhaps, but not humans. Among the often overlooked uses for Ramen Noodles are:
Acceptable Uses for Ramen Noodles: Applicator for a faux finish effect on walls -- if too soggy, stick Ramen Noodles directly to walls. Lasts ten times longer than stucco. And, if eaten, will kill termites.Toupee -- either cooked or uncooked. Air filter -- for home, auto, boat or RV. Weapon of war -- Norman Schwartzkopf used Ramen Noodles to their fullest potential when, moments before the ground war was to start, he held a single bag of fish-flavored Ramen Noodles in the air and yelled, “If you boys don’t start kicking some ass, we’ll make you eat this crap.” Art - Isn’t
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