Slurp A Social And Culinary History Of Ramen Japan S Favorite Noodle Soup

Ramen, Japan’s noodle soup, is a microcosm of Japan and its historical relations with China. The long evolution of ramen helps us enter the history of cuisine in Japan, charting how food and politics combined as a force within Sino-Japan relations. Cuisine in East Asia plays a significant political role, at times also philosophical, economic, and social. Ramen is a symbol of the relationship between the two major forces in East Asia – what started as a Chinese food product ended up almost 1,000 years later as the emblem of modern Japanese cuisine. This book explains that history – from myths about food in ancient East Asia to the transfer of medieval food technology to Japan, to today’s ramen “popular culture.”

A rich, salty, and steaming bowl of noodle soup, ramen Offers an account of geopolitics and industrialization in Japan. It traces the meteoric rise of ramen from humble fuel for the working poor to international icon of Japanese culture.

A collection of 75 recipes from James Beard Award-winning chef Takashi Yagihashi for both traditional and inventive hot and cold Japanese noodle dishes. Combining traditional Japanese influences, French technique, and more than 20 years of cooking in the Midwest, James Beard Award-winning chef Takashi Yagihashi introduces American home cooks to essential Japanese comfort food with his simple yet sophisticated recipes. Emphasizing quick-to-the-table shortcuts, the use of fresh and dried packaged noodles, and kid-friendly dishes, Takashi explains noodle nuances and explores each style's distinct regional identity. An expert guide, Takashi recalls his youth in Japan and takes cooks on a discovery tour of the rich bounty of Japanese noodles, so readily accessible today. Takashi's exuberance for noodles ranging from Aje-Men to Zaru is sure to inspire home cooks to dive into bowl after soothing, refreshing bowl. "A wonderfully talented chef." --Chef Eric Ripert "Noodle fans with a stocked pantry will find plenty to slurp about." --Publishers Weekly

What are the imagined communities that compel men to kill or to die for an idea of a nation? This notion of nationhood had its origins in the founding of the Americas, but was then adopted and transformed by populist movements in nineteenth-century Europe. It became the rallying cry for anti-Imperialism as well as the abiding explanation for colonialism. In this scintillating, groundbreaking work of intellectual history Anderson explores how ideas are formed and reformulated at every level, from high politics to popular culture, and the way that they can make people do extraordinary things. In the twenty-first century, these debates on the nature of the nation state are even more urgent. As new nations rise, vying for influence, and old empires decline, we must understand who we are as a community in the face of history, and change.

This edited collection explores the historical dimensions, cultural practices, socio-economic mechanisms and political agendas that shape the notion of a national cuisine inside and outside of Japan. Japanese food is often perceived as pure, natural, healthy and timeless, and these words not only fuel a hype surrounding Japanese food and lifestyle worldwide, but also a domestic retro-movement that finds health and authenticity in ‘traditional’ ingredients, dishes and foodways. The authors in this volume bring together research from the fields of history, cultural and religious studies, food studies as well as political science and international relations, and aim to shed light on relevant aspects of culinary nationalism in Japan while unearthing the underlying patterns and processes in the construction of food identities.

The papers explored the use of food and cookery to explore the past and the exotic, and food in corporations.

A rich, salty, and steaming bowl of noodle soup, ramen has become an international symbol of the cultural prowess of Japanese cuisine. In this highly original account of geopolitics and industrialization in Japan, George Solt traces the meteoric rise of ramen from humble fuel for the working poor to international icon of Japanese culture. Ramen’s popularity can be attributed to political and economic change on a global scale. Using declassified U.S. government documents and an array of Japanese sources, Solt reveals how the creation of a black market for American wheat imports during the U.S. occupation of Japan (1945–1952), the reindustrialization of Japan’s labor force during the Cold War, and the elevation of working-class foods in redefining national identity during the past two decades of economic stagnation (1990s–2000s), all contributed to the establishment of ramen as a national dish. This book is essential reading for scholars, students of Japanese history and food studies, and anyone interested in gaining greater perspective on how international policy can influence everyday foods around the world.