Dish after dish, noodle soup has taken the world by storm. Call it ramen (as the Japanese do) or ramyeon (as the Koreans do), several dishes are as popular as noodles – fresh or quick, rolled or flat – in a hot broth. Loaded with ingredients ranging from thinly sliced ​​pork belly and soy-based eggs to mushrooms and chili oil, ramen is on its way to shedding the “unhealthy” tag that has long favored it in places across East Asia, and even ascended. in the “gourmet” category. This includes India, where ramen-focused restaurants, such as Bengaluru’s Naru Noodle Bar, are booked out months in advance, and where, according to a recent report by the World Instant Noodle Association, ramen is consumed more than anywhere else in the world, except . China and Indonesia.
This unprecedented popularity is driven, in part, by the convenience of ramen: All the basic dish requires is hot water and a packet of instant noodles (perhaps, with ingredients like butter or bacon bits for extra texture and flavor). A major factor driving its popularity is that it can be customized to suit every palate in the world. For every sweat-inducing dish, like Buldak’s spicy ramen pulled off international shelves, there’s another that focuses on the subtle but complex flavors of kelp and bonito. When it comes to ramen, there are no rules: Foie gras and chocolate are as much in the game as classic ingredients like hard-boiled eggs, shiitake mushrooms and scallions.
On the journey of ramen, from the post-World War II famine food to the packaged noodles that globalized the world in the 1980s and 1990s to the quintessential 21st century gastronomic fare, the universal secret sauce: Food that changes quickly, sticks around the longest.