U.S. has 'ramen moment' as chefs, foodies embrace Japan's beloved comfort food

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sk4ek at 03:20 PM JST - 4th July

RMGTTF

Actually, the article specifically states that consumption of corn tortillas is down 25%, and that of instant noodles is up 30%, and that 1 billion+ servings were sold in 2005, when the country had a population of about 103 million. So I'll concede that at about 10 servings annually for every man, woman, and child, it's perhaps not yet a "staple" in terms of absolute market share.

Still, I stand by the point of my original post, which was that something that was relatively nutritious, local, and inexpensive, is rapidly being replaced by something that is equally inexpensive, but of little nutritional value and possibly even damaging to the body when consumed in large amounts.
RMGTTF at 03:35 PM JST - 4th July

Yeah it's not yet and won't be a staple, Mexicans do eat a lot of junk food though and those things became popular. Many times they are eaten as a snack only.

Malnutrition in there is a matter of people being more educated to become health oriented and buy nutritious things rather than crappy ones. I say put the instant noodles in the same section as junk foods.
Ah_so at 05:43 PM JST - 4th July

If you like ramen and are ever in the UK, DO NOT venture into the Wagamama ramen chain.
Ah_so at 05:52 PM JST - 4th July

The one guaranteed way to make anyone eat a bowl of ramen is to get them to watch "Tampopo". After a couple of hours of mouth-watering scenes of ramen preparation you can think of, and do nothing else until you get a bowl.

This could be very inconvenient if, for example, your waters break, so I would advise pregnant women to avoid the movie, unless they want to risk delivering in a noodle restaurant and having to call the brat "Charshu".
bushlover at 09:01 PM JST - 4th July

博多豚骨ラーメンVery good for colesterol. Getting it higher. But oh so good.
shugotokumaru at 09:34 PM JST - 4th July

Ramen Banzai!

Ramen Banzai!

Ramen Banzai!

I like Ippudo enough, but I would like to see a Kyushu Jangara somewhere in the States.
smithinjapan at 08:10 AM JST - 5th July

How is Ramen a Japanese comfort food? It's from China... that can't be comforting to them at all.
shugotokumaru at 09:12 AM JST - 5th July

Japan's Ramen is Chinese the same way Domino's Pizza is Italian, if not even further removed. It's clearly been transformed to the point of being a different food.
smithinjapan at 09:17 AM JST - 5th July

Instant anything is so horribly bad for you..... I mean, who actually thinks they're eating chicken in cup noodles???

Are there going to be ramen police going to the US?
serindipity at 11:51 AM JST - 5th July

Instant ramen is great for hardening up those arteries and lifting the blood pressure. It will also contribute to a stomach ulcer if you eat it regularly. Great stuff! Give it to your kids for lunch every day!
RepublicofTexas at 07:39 PM JST - 5th July

How is Ramen a Japanese comfort food? It's from China... that can't be comforting to them at all.

The Japanese adapted it, and recently it has been re-exported back to China and is known in Chinese as Japanese ramen (Japanese lamian).
chardk1 at 08:27 AM JST - 7th July

Only the US would claim a dozen good authentic ramen shops in a country of 320 million people, concentrated in two areas (SoCal and NYC) is a call for declaring some kind of ramen breakthrough. There are probably as many good Nepalese curry shops in Japan, I don't hear anyone declaring a Nepalese curry moment. And I wish they wouldn't lump in Maruchan with Ippudo, it's really not the same food any more than a hot dog is a steak.
bobthecat at 06:23 PM JST - 9th July

Only those that don't have chopsticks or know how to use them, use forks.

Oh, yeah I meant to add to the article that there are some Store Brands (generic) that should be avoided completely. Re; Instant Ramen, the foremost is Kroger Instant Ramen, which occasionally is on sale for 1/2 cents for 1-2 packages, though usually on sale for 6 for 10 cents (usa). Mainly because the stuff is utterly vile. The second worst is the Meijer Store Brand. Both soup base packets are about as weak as plain water, the noodles cook fast only because they are cheaply manufactured, fluffy to the point of disintergating at the application of eating utensil.

But thats just my opinion, from my experiences. Nissen has a good product, but comparitively Maruchan makes a better instant ramen at a better price, its amazing they can turn a profit. Maruchan is so popular in the US that in many stores its difficult to keep it in stock.
Zen_Builder at 06:29 PM JST - 9th July

Try the instant ramen in japan, NOT even talking Nissin, etc but the stuff that goes for 300Yen plus.

Yeah, they are instant ramen but take a lot to prepare, stuff you need to add before hot water and after and stuff that needs to be heated during, etc.

Lots of famous restaurants assist in making them.
otis123 at 05:52 AM JST - 10th July

Only the US would claim a dozen good authentic ramen shops in a country of 320 million people, concentrated in two areas (SoCal and NYC) is a call for declaring some kind of ramen breakthrough. There are probably as many good Nepalese curry shops in Japan, I don't hear anyone declaring a Nepalese curry moment.

I'm pretty sure there are more Nepalese curry shops in America than in Japan and they also haven't declared it a Nepalese curry moment. I think it's because this is a site that caters to Japanese news and it's a slow day. Also there aren't so many places with good ramen shops outside of Japan, whereas Nepalese curry isn't so rare.

Now are those ramen americanized in flavour as most of the food in america seems to be.

People running restaurants serving foreign cuisine always cater to their host countries, it's called business. Only in cities with large foreign born populations do you find foreign food that can be considered authentic, whatever that means.