The fascinating history behind one of the most popular foods on the planet.
By Anneli Rufus
Ramen is racist. OK, not the noodles themselves. Not the stretchy, slurpy stuff that -- instant and otherwise, topped with everything from prawns to potato chips -- comforts millions around the world, around the clock. It's not racist in substance but in context -- if you go back far enough. Ramen -- although it wasn't called that, then -- first appeared in Japan in 1910, when Chinese cooks at Tokyo's Rairaiken restaurant created a signature dish comprising broth and Chinese noodles, which were yellower and more elastic than Japanese noodles because -- then as now -- their dough was kneaded with kansui, a sodium-carbonate-infused alkaline mineral water...[continued]
Ramen @ Wikipedia
