I’m not sure where I got this photo, I thought it was from friends of mine who have been living in Okinawa, Japan (he’s a Marine), but now I’m not so sure. But I love the image of all the bowls waiting to have hot broth poured into them, the slice of pork, shreds of tofu, vegetables and noodles all at the ready.
When my friends were first posted to Japan, she sent out a hilarious email about deploying five pounds of pink powder from a Japanese fire extinguisher all over her kitchen (and much of the house) when their Amercan toaster ignited because she plugged it into the wrong outlet. (The moral of that story was that it would have been better to buy a Japanese toaster and an American extinguisher!)
Eventually, they settled in, and have explored Japan and its culture, and especially its food, which they love, as do their two toddlers. If you want to read up on ramen and its cult-like following, here are some nifty sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen
http://www.konzak.com/ramen/ramhist.html
http://www.instantramen.or.jp/english/index.html (Instant ramen site from the Japan Convenience Foods Industry Association)
http://narutofever.com/information/ramen-origin.php (the Manga/Anime take on ramen)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shooting/sets/72157604344700802/ (gorgeous photos)
And, for a hilarious Candian take on ramen, “Ramen Poutine” (!), see
http://www.ramenlicious.com/recipes/poutine-ramen.html. “How come no one have patented this yet?” it asks near the top of the page. Well, I have some thoughts on that…
NJ SPICE 