Famous Food Version 4

Hey guys, today im gonna talk about japanesse and korean famous food, so check this out.

1. Ramen

Ramen (ラーメン, らーめん, 拉麺) is a Japanese dish of noodles served in broth originating from China. It differs from native Japanese noodle soup dishes, in that it is served in broth based on meat such as chicken, as well as in the type of noodles and toppings used.

Ramen is served with a variety of toppings, such as sliced pork (チャーシュー chāshū), seaweed, kamaboko, green onions, and even corn. Almost every locality or prefecture in Japan has its own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu ramen of Kyūshū to the miso ramen of Hokkaidō.

Origin of the name

Although it’s been absorbed by Japanese tradition, Ramen has Chinese origins. The etymology of the word is not certain, the main two theories are that it comes from the Chinese term la mian (拉麺), meaning “handmade noodles”, or from the term lao mian (老麺), literally “ancient noodles”. Other names for Ramen are shina soba (支那そば), and the more common chūka soba (中華そば). Restaurants specialized in Ramen are very common in Japan. Some of them have tables that face or surround the cooking space, so that you can see the chefs working while enjoying your ramen.

History of Ramen in Japan

Ramen originated in China before making its way to Japan and was used in Japanese cuisine. The men in ramen is 麺, "noodle", in essence the same character as the Chinese 麵 employed in chow mein.

While Tokugawa Mitsukuni reportedly ate ramen in the late 17th century, it was only during the Meiji period that the dish became widely known (perhaps because for most of its history, the Japanese diet consisted mostly of vegetables and seafood rather than meat). The introduction of American and European cuisine, which demanded increased production of meat products, played a large role in ramen's increased popularity.

Ramen was first introduced in the Chinatowns of Kobe and Yokohama during the Meiji era. Salt ramen originated in Hokkaido in the Taisho era.

Though of Chinese origin, it is unclear when ramen was introduced to Japan. Even the etymology of the term "ramen" is a topic of debate. One hypothesis and probably the most credible is that "ramen" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese: 拉麺 (lamian), meaning "hand-pulled noodles." A second hypothesis proposes 老麺 (laomian, "old noodles") as the original form, while yet another states that ramen was initially 鹵麺 (lumian), noodles cooked in a thick, starchy sauce.

In the early Meiji period, ramen was called shina soba (支那そば, literally "Chinese soba") but today chūka soba (中華そば, also meaning "Chinese soba") is the more common and politically correct term. By 1900, restaurants serving Chinese cuisine from Canton and Shanghai offered a simple ramen dish of noodles (cut rather than hand pulled), a few toppings, and a broth flavored with salt and pork bones. Many Chinese also pulled portable food stalls, selling ramen and gyōza dumplings to workers. By the mid 1900s, these stalls used a type of a musical horn called a charumera (チャルメラ, from the Portuguese charamela) to advertise their presence, a practice some vendors still retain via a loudspeaker and a looped recording. By the early Shōwa period, ramen had become a popular dish when eating out.

After World War II, cheap flour imported from the U.S. swept the Japanese market. At the same time, millions of Japanese troops had returned from China and continental East Asia. Many of these returnees had become familiar with Chinese cuisine and subsequently set up Chinese restaurants across Japan. Eating ramen, while popular, was still a special occasion that required going out.

In 1958, instant noodles were invented by the late Momofuku Ando, founder and chairman of Nissin Foods. Named the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century in a Japanese poll, instant ramen allowed anyone to make this dish simply by adding boiling water. Beginning in the 1980s, ramen became a Japanese cultural icon and was studied from many perspectives. At the same time, local varieties of ramen were hitting the national market and could even be ordered by their regional names.

Ramen ingredients

  

The main ingredients of ramen are wheat noodles and broth. The noodles are usually made of wheat flour, water, salt, and kansui (a type of mineral water). The soup is usually made with chicken or pork stock. Common ramen ingredients are shiitake mushrooms, katsuobushi (skipjack tuna flakes), kombu (kelp), niboshi (dried baby sardines), beef bones, and onions. Soy sauce and miso are used to flavor the soup. A lot of toppings can be added to the soup, like sliced pork meat, leek, boiled eggs, nori, corn, butter and so on.

Types of Ramen

A wide variety of ramen exists in Japan, with geographical and vendor-specific differences even in varieties that share the same name. Ramen can be broadly categorized by its three main ingredients: noodles, soup, and toppings.

Noodles

Shoyu (soy sauce) ramen.Most ramen noodles are made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water, and kansui (かんすい) which is essentially a type of mineral water, containing sodium carbonate and usually potassium carbonate, as well as sometimes a small amount of phosphoric acid. Originally, Kansui was named after the water from Inner Mongolia's Lake Kan which contained large amounts of these minerals and was said to be perfect for making these noodles. Making noodles with kansui lends them a yellowish hue as well as a firm texture. For a brief time after World War II, low-quality kansui that was tainted was sold, though kansui is now manufactured according to JAS standards. Eggs may also be substituted for kansui. Some ramen noodles are made with neither eggs nor kansui and should only be used for yakisoba.

Ramen noodles come in various shapes and lengths. They may be fat, thin, or even ribbon-like, as well as straight or wrinkled.

Soup

Ramen soup is generally made from stock based on chicken or pork, combined with a variety of ingredients such as kombu (kelp), katsuobushi (skipjack tuna flakes), niboshi (dried baby sardines), beef bones, shiitake, and onions, and then flavoured with the likes of salt, miso, or soy sauce.

The resulting combination is generally divided into four categories (although new and original variations often make this categorisation less clear-cut):

Shio ("salt") ramen soup is clear, almost transparent. It is probably the oldest of the four and, like the Chinese maotang (毛湯), is a simple chicken broth. 

Tonkotsu ("pork bone") ramen is usually cloudy white. It is similar to the Chinese baitang (白湯) and is a thick broth made with crushed pork bones that have been boiled for hours. It is a specialty of Kyūshū and is often served with beni shoga (pickled ginger). 

Shoyu ("soy sauce") ramen soup is made by adding a soy-based sauce to a clear stock usually made from chicken and various vegetables. It is popular in Honshū. A popular seasoning is black pepper. 

Miso ramen is a relative newcomer, having reached national prominence around 1965. This uniquely Japanese ramen, which was developed in Hokkaidō, features a broth that combines chicken stock with a fermented soybean paste. It is often topped with sweetcorn and butter. 

It's worth noting that inventive chefs continue to push the boundaries of ramen cuisine. By 2006, Hokkaido's regional curry ramen had leapt to national prominence, and restaurants from Sendai to Kobe have for years offered a ramen based on the made-in-Japan Chinese dish of ebi chili sauce, or "shrimp in chili sauce."

Some seasonings commonly added to ramen are black pepper, butter, chili pepper, sesame seeds, and garlic. Soup recipes and methods of preparation are closely-guarded secrets in many restaurants.

Toppings

Ramen are almost invariably topped with finely chopped negi (a type of scallion), menma (fermented and pickled bamboo shoot), and sliced chāshū (char siu, 叉焼 or 焼豚: traditionally a barbecued pork but usually a thinly sliced braised pork when used as a ramen topping).

Popular additional toppings include boiled egg (sometimes marinated), naruto (a type of kamaboko), nori, spinach, bean sprouts, wakame, deep fried scallion, or kimchi. Hokkaido-style miso ramen is often topped with sweetcorn.

In most cases, toppings are cooked separately and added at the end so as to not change the flavor of the soup.

Regional Variations

While standard versions of ramen are available throughout Japan, the last few decades have shown a proliferation of regional variations. Some of these which have gone on to national prominence are:

SAPPORO, the capital of Hokkaidō, is especially famous for its ramen. Most people in Japan associate Sapporo with its rich miso ramen which was invented there and which is ideal for Hokkaido's harsh, snowy winters. Sapporo miso ramen is typically topped with sweetcorn, butter, beansprouts, finely chopped pork, and garlic, and sometimes local seafood such as scallop, squid, and crab.

KITAKATA in Northern Honshu is known for its rather thick, flat, curly noodles served in a pork-and-niboshi broth. The area within its former city boundaries has the highest per-capita number of ramen establishments. Ramen has such prominence in the region that locally, the word soba usually refers to ramen, and not to actual soba which is referred to as nihon soba ("Japanese soba").

What is known as TOKYO style ramen consists of slightly thin, curly noodles served in a soy-flavoured chicken broth. The broth typically has a touch of dashi, as old ramen establishments in Tokyo often originate from soba eateries. Standard toppings on top of chopped scallion, menma, and sliced pork are kamaboko, egg, nori, and spinach. Ogikubo and Ebisu are two areas in Tokyo known for their ramen.

Ie-kei (家系) ramen is from YOKOHAMA and consist of thick, straight-ish noodles served in a soy-pork broth.

HAKATA ramen originates from Hakata district of Fukuoka city. It has a rich, milky, pork-bone tonkotsu broth and rather thin, non-curly and resilient noodles. Often, distinctive toppings such as beni shoga (pickled ginger), sesame seeds, and picked greens are left on tables for customers to serve themselves. Many restaurants operate a system known as kae-dama (替え玉), where customers who have finished eating can ask for additional bundles of noodles to be put in their remaining soup cheaply. Yatai (ramen stalls) in Hakata and Tenjin are well-known within Japan. Recent ramen trends have made Hakata ramen one of the most popular types of ramen in Japan, and these days several chain restaurants specializing in Hakata ramen can be found all over the country.

Related Dishes

There are a number of related, Chinese-influenced noodle dishes in Japan. The following are often served alongside ramen in ramen establishments. They do not include noodle dishes considered traditionally Japanese, such as soba or udon, which are almost never served in the same establishments as ramen.

NAGASAKI CHAMPON

Champon is topped with a variety of ingredients, mostly seafood, and covered in a starchy sauce. 

ABURA SOBA ("OIL-NOODLES")

Essentially ramen noodles and toppings served without the soup, but with a small quantity of oily soy-based sauce instead.

TSUKE-MEN ("DIPPING NOODLES")

The noodles and soup are served in separate bowls. The diner dips the noodles in the soup before eating. Can be served hot or chilled. 

TANTAN-MEN (担担麺)

Japanese version of dan dan noodles. Ramen noodles in a reddish, spicy chilli and sesame soup, usually containing minced pork, garnished with chopped scallion and chilli and occasionally topped with the likes of spinach. 

HIYASHI-CHUKA ("CHILLED CHINESE")

Also known as reimen, esp. in western Japan. A summer dish of chilled ramen noodles on a plate with various toppings (typically thin strips of omelette, ham, cucumber and tomato) and served with a vinegary soy dressing and karashi (Japanese mustard). It was produced in a Chinese restaurant the Ryutei in Sendai. 

Many ramen restaurants also serve gyoza, fried rice, shumai, and similar Chinese-derived dishes, which customers frequently order along with ramen. Combinations such as ramen and rice or ramen with char siu are quite popular.

Ramen Outside Japan

Ramen has been exported back to China in recent years where it is known as ri shi la mian (日式拉面, "Japanese lamian"). Popular Japanese ramen chains serve ramen alongside distinctly Japanese dishes such as tempura and yakitori, something which would be seen as odd in Japan.

In North America, Japanese noodles were imported starting in the 1970s bearing the name "ramen" and today it most commonly refers to instant noodles. It gained popularity as a Japanese dish of noodle soup which sold so well in the United States in the late 1970s that imports from Japan were supplanted by American manufacturers by the mid-1980s as a popular food item for tight income buyers. Today, due to its very low cost, ramen has become characterized in the United States as a very cheap food eaten by people such as students or teenagers.

How to eat ramen

Ramen is served in a bowl. The soup can be sipped with a spoon, the noodles and the other ingredients can be digged out with chopsticks. Remember to make loud slurping sounds while eating ramen: in Japan it’s considered to be a form of appreciation for the meal! 

Source : (http://japanfoodramen.blogspot.co.id/)

2. Jajangmyeon

Jajangmyeon (자장면) (Black Bean Sauce Noodles) is a Chinese cuisine adapted to the Korean style served in most of the Chinese restaurants in South Korea and has now become a favourite food among the Koreans. You can often see people eating jajangmyeon in Korean TV dramas and variety shows. It is said that every day over 7 million bowls of jajangmyeon are sold in South Korea. This is also one of the foods I often ate when I studied Korean in Seoul. Let’s talk about jajangmyeon in this blog post.

What is Jajangmyeon?

Jajangmyeon is a non-spicy dish of thick noodles (made from white wheat flour) served with a thick dark brown sweet sauce which is made from a salty black bean soybean paste called chunjang (춘장) stir-fried with diced onions, minced pork/beef and sometimes other vegetables. Usually, the sauce is placed on the top of the noodles and people use chopsticks to mix the noodles with the sauce before eating. I found this mixing ritual indeed quite interesting. You can watch this video to see how the mixing is done. The side dish usually served with this dish is danmuji (단무지 – pickled radish) which is yellow in colour and sweet. The danmuji helps reduce the greasiness of the dish.

Etymology

Jajang (자장; alternately spelled jjajang 짜장) derived from the Chinese word zhájiàng (炸酱), which means "fried sauce". Myeon (면) means "noodles". The Chinese characters are pronounced jak (작; 炸) and jang (장; 醬) in Korean, but the noodle dish is called jajangmyeon, not jakjangmyeon, because its origin is not the Sino-Korean word, but the transliteration of the Chinese pronunciation. As the Chinese pronunciation of zhá sounded like jja (rather than ja) to Korean ears, the dish has been known in South Korea as jjajangmyeon, and the vast majority of Korean Chinese restaurants use this spelling.

History of Jajangmyeon

At the end of the 19th century, some Chinese immigrants began settling in Incheon, a port city west of Seoul and that area became today’s Incheon Chinatown in which Chinese restaurants began to appear. It was said that in 1905, a Chinese restaurant called Gonghwachun in the Incheon Chinatown started serving jajangmyeonn which was based on the Chinese zhajiangmian (炸醬麵 – literally, “fried sauce noodles”) originated from the Shandong region in China. Later, caramel was added to the sauce of jajangmyeon to give it a sweeter taste to suit the Koreans’ taste and jajangmyeon has then become a Koreanized Chinese food.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, after the Korean War, people made use of the wheat obtained from the U.S.A. to make noodles and jajangmyeon spread to other parts of South Korea at that time. In the 1960’s when South Korea was still a very poor country, a bowl of jajangmyeon cost 15 won and was considered as expensive at that time. So, in the past, parents brought their kids to Chinese restaurants to eat jajangmyeon only on some special days like graduation, birthdays or Childrens’ Day. Although jajangmyeon has now become relatively cheap compared to other dishes, this tradition is still observed by many Korean families. Therefore, to many Koreans, eating jajangmyeon not only fills one’s stomach but also brings back valuable memories.

In South Korea, apart from eating jajangmyeon in Chinese restaurants, you can order it by phone and the dish can be delivered to your home, office, hotel, other restaurants and even parks where you are located.

As jajangmyeon is a cheap and convenient food which can be ordered easily by phone and delivered quickly, many busy people working in offices and factories and students choose jajangmyeon for their meals. Housewives who are too busy to cook food may also order jajangmyeon to be delivered to their homes. Jajangmyeon has now become a popular food among the Koreans. If you study or work in South Korea, jajangmyeon should definitely be one of the foods frequently consumed by you.

Jajangmyeon (자장면) or Jjajangmyeon (짜장면)

There has been some confusion as to the correct Korean word for this dish. Initially, the Korean word “자장면” (jajangmyeon) was regarded as the standard term but a lot of Koreans pronounced it as jjajangmyeon (짜장면) because it was easier to pronounce and sounded better. Nowadays, both words are accepted as the standard terms for the dish.

Black Day (14 April) is the Jajangmyeon Day

Black Day (Korean: 블랙데이) is an unofficial holiday observed on April 14 each year. It is mostly observed in South Korea by singles.

The day is associated with Valentine's Day and White Day as a holiday on the 14th day of the month. On this day, people who did not receive gifts on the previous two days gather and eat Jajangmyeon, noodles with black sauce. This day is specifically for single people

Preparation and serving

Jajangmyeon uses thick, hand-made or machine-pulled noodles made from wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and water. The sauce, jajang, is made with fried chunjangwith other ingredients, such as soy sauce (and/or oyster sauce), meat (usually pork, but sometimes beef), seafood (usually squid and/or shrimp), fragrants (scallions, ginger, and garlic) vegetables (usually onions, zucchini or Korean zucchini, cabbage, and), stock, and starch slurry.

When served, jajangmyeon may be topped with julienned cucumber, egg garnish, boiled or fried egg, blanched shrimp, and/or stir-fried bamboo shoot slices. The dish is usually served with danmuji (yellow pickled radish), sliced raw onions, and chunjang sauce for dipping the onions.

7 types of Korean Jajangmyeon

Jajangmyeon is the Korean-style Chinese food made with fermented black bean paste which is called chunjang(춘장 in Korean) and the noodles. It is the most popular delivery food in Korea that many people frequently eat Jajangmyeon. If you go to the Chinese restaurant in Korea, you could see many kinds of the Jajangmyeon. Today I will introduce about the diverse types of the Jajangmyeon.

1. Kaan Jajang(간짜장 in Korean)

Normal Jajangmyeon uses the Black bean paste which is cooked before, meanwhile Kkan Jajangmyeon uses the Black bean paste which is fried just now. So the Kkan Jajangmyeon has more intense and oily taste. Cooking the good taste of the Kaan Jajang is hard and even if it is cooked little wrong, the taste could be salty and too oily that Jjangmyeon lovers judge the chef’s cooking skills depends on the Kkan Jajangmyeon.:)

Black bean paste and the noodles are given separately as you can see in below. Normally the Kkan Jajangmyeon is with noodle and the black bean paste, but in some places additionally give a fried egg above the noodle, then pour the black bean paste on the noodle and mix it.

2. Uni Jajang(유니짜장 in Korean)

All the ingredients in the Black bean are cut into small pieces. As the ingredients are chopped into little pieces, the water comes from the ingredient that it does not put the water into the Uni Jajang during cooking. Uni Jajang has the mild taste according to the ingredients are small that it is good for old men or children to eat.

3. Sacheon Jajang(사천짜장 in Korean

Sacheon Jajang is the most spicy among all types of the Jajangmyeon. Quite many restaurants put red pepper in it or the chili powder. Also the Seafood is in this Jajangmyeon. You could see the shrimp and the webfoot octopus in below picture.

4. Jaeng-ban Jajang(쟁반짜장 in Korean

Jaeng-ban means ‘tray’ in Korean and this cuisine is served in a tray as you can see in below picture. Normally it is given in a large amount that two people can eat one dish. The good thing is the black bean souse and the noodle are already mixed that it is convenient to eat. Normally to eat the other types of the Jajangmyeon, you have to mix it by yourself.

5. Yetnal Jajang(옛날짜장 in Korean)

This means old Jajangmyeon in Korean. The characteristic of this Jajangmyeon is the ingredients such as onion, cabbage and potato are cut in big shape. Normally the sauce is thin and the taste of the black soybean paste is soft because of the potato which is in inside.

6. Jjajangbap(짜장밥 in Korean)

This means black soybean paste and rice in Korean. Black soybean paste is used as the other types of the Jajangmyeon, but the rice is in it instead of the noodle.

7. Jjamjamyeon(짬짜면 in Korean)

This means half is Jjamppong and half is Jajangmyeon

Many Korean frequently having a hard time to decide what to eat between Jajangmyeon and Jjamppong. Acoordingly, new dish which has both Jajangmyeon and Jjamppong came out. Pros is you can eat both of the dishes at once but the cons is the food amount is less than you order the Jajangmyeon or Jjamppong itself. Because the middle part of the bowl is divided in half, and the amount of the food is less as much as the part which is dividing the bowl.

 Source: (https://koreancultureblog.com/2015/05/07/koreanized-chinese-cuisine-jajangmyeon-black-bean-sauce-noodles/)