Japanese Ramen: Is it a Hype?

Question

Before we begin, I just want to say that we will be talking about real Japanese Ramen cooked to perfection, not $1 for 10 package of instant noodle.

http://www.iheartjapan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ramen2.jpg

We have noticed a fairly big explosion of Ramen shops in the US major cities for the past few years.

Many people believe it is just a little hype and it will pass. In other words, the number of ramen shops has passed the long-term sustainable number.

At first, this seems like a reasonable assessment, but the more I look around, the most I question it. For the last 10 years, I have seen more Vietnamese Pho shops than Japanese Ramen shops. There are also many more Chinese wonton noodle shops as well. So why do people say the Japanese Ramen is a hype, but I don't remember people calling Vietnamese Pho or Chinese wonton a hype?

What do you think? Do you think Japanese Ramen trend is a hype or do you think this is just the tip of the iceberg?

Answer

it's a gateway noodle that only leads to soba and udon.

<edit> it has been making a publicity splash and some will go away, but I hope it's here to stay. at least a few.

Answer

I wonder what the hype cycle is in terms of years. And there is obviously going to be a lot of overlap with waves overlapping waves. 

In my part of the world Pho was pretty common in the burbs where the Vietnamese had settled then it jumped to hipper places and got a lot of attention. Ramen seemed to come direct to hipper places but thats because there isn't really an equivalent community of Japanese. As Ramen has become more common Pho less prominent on the hipster streets. Ramen is now a bit "so what" and no longer a special journey as there is a lot of good stuff. 

What next - Korean fried chicken seems the new bubbling trend with openings, will it be Bao shops that are starting to pop up so what will I be travelling across town for and queuing up next. 

And then what was before Pho......was it Portuguese Chicken....?

Answer

Don't forget that ramen is a phenomenon in Japan, too. If it IS hype, then it is partly fueled by what is going on over there.

Asian noodle dishes of all types are enjoying a moment in the sun (ironically at the same time as carb-phobia sweeps the nation). But I suspect ramen gets an extra push from Japan that pho and other noodle dishes don't get. The Japanese are known to like fads just as much as we Americans like ours.

Answer

Happened in London too. Some are very tasty!

Answer

I would qualify it as hype because I would say 90% of pho / Chinese noodle soup places have a price point well below $10 per bowl. And that is usually a big fat honking bowl of soup and noodles. Meanwhile, many of the Ramen joints opening up are well over the $10 mark, and even into the teens if you dare upsize (to what I would say is comparable to your typical Chinese noodle soup bowl).

All that aside, i've never understood the fascination with ramen. Sure, it tastes fine and is a hearty, soul warming meal. But for me at least, it's never been as nuanced as a good bowl of beef noodle soup and much more of a fat / salt bomb that I dont particularly care for. I'll take a $6 bowl of lanzou la mian from one of the spots on Eldredge in NYC anyday!

Answer

Only when white people make it.

Answer

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

Carbs!

Looks good, though.

Answer

I remember back to the early '80s, where there was only one sushi bar/Japanese restaurant in Tucson.Now there are probably half a dozen within five miles of my house. It wasn't a fad, as it turns out. Whether ramen stays or goes is unknown to me. I will put my vote in favor of more ramen places.

Answer

It is strange that with all the hype about Paleo, so many are eating Ramen. It could be that people eventually realize that Paleo will raise your cholesterol and risk of heart disease, while those living on Ramen are not only thinner but seem to live longer.

Answer

CK, I don't know how much you researched this topic on Chowhound before posting, but the perspective surely depends on where in the US you are. In my region (San Francisco Bay Area), ramen houses were an institution before Chowhound existed (typically run and heavily patronized by Japanese expats or visitors from Japan, and boasting of their unique secret long-simmered broth -- or else more recently, they're the newer hipster type, boasting of their colorful and unlikely post-simmer broth ingredients, and giving some customers gratuitous allergic reactions with the extreme variety thereof).

It is less of a novelty, trend, or fad in parts of the US where ramen houses have long been a standard dining option.

Longtime Chowhounder Melanie Wong manages to try many of them in our region, and for years has maintained a preference list of 100 or so places, for example find one edition of it here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/971842#8869352 .

We also have many Phở places, since the late 1970s when the US's largest expat Vietnamese community settled aound San José following the Vietnam War. They tend not to be very hip or innovative, and self-respecting immigrant or ethnic Vietnamese avoid many of them, thanks to the discernible use of hokey shortcut substitutes for long-cooked honest meat broths. OTOH, "wanton broth" isn't something I've noticed much here.

Answer

Anytime an affordable comfort food (or snack type eat) is upscaled and/or overly glorified and scrutinized, it fuels various sides of human nature (businesses and consumers) and naturally leads to interest which turns to hype to some extent. It is true that the degrees of glorification and scrutiny are far greater for ramen, and it is quite possibly the most easily recognized, affordable, and accessible food export (as a cultural food icon) from Japan aside from sushi.

There is also clearly the urge to follow what is or was popular in Japan, more so the past tense because everything from technology and food, markets in the USA always play catch up. Thus there is always going to be demand for whatever quality, and demand for business wanting to join and jump on the bandwagon despite the market saturation (in some markets, it seems that it is never enough).

As far as this "fad" not dying off anytime soon, unless it is an upscale overly expensive ridiculous joint trying their take on fusion that does not work, or if quality is ridiculously horrible, it will satisfy hunger just like cheap comfort Chinese food....in some ways it is cheap comfort Japanese Chinese food (or that is how it started). In Japan you can easily find ramen at many chuka ryori joints (restaurants that specialize in Chinese food for Japanese), hence the awesome combo of ramen, cha han, and gyoza. But those kind of ramen are usually shunned by tonkotsu ramen fans in America because to them they are not the same as their favorite overrated long line joints.

Lastly, a bowl of good ramen means something quite different to a Japanese expat (particular the 30s/40s and older crowd). Not just comfort food in the sense, but an integral part of food culture (e.g. after rounds of binge drinking). Those from Tokyo will appreciate a fantastic hearty cheap bowl of shoyu ramen (made with chicken stock), which falls entirely on deaf ears (and tongue) with American ramen fans who are mostly into tonkotsu ramen (those who want the hype and those who drive to feed that hype).

In Hong Kong, one only needs to go to Wellington street in Central, and see the ridiculously long lines for Butao ramen (tonkotsu ramen specialist shop), next door to Mak's/Mak An Kee flagship won ton noodle shop (no lines at all), where quite a few locals think the latter is overpriced because of the poor value without proper regard to the fact that their WTN is supposed to be snack portioned (and not a meal) while also disregarding their own culinary cultural tradition in favor of...."exported trends".

Would they lament the loss of a Hong Kong cultural icon so more tonkotsu ramen shops open up? The younger generation might not care...

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Japanese Ramen: Is it a Hype?

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