Koreans love ramen. Although China is the world's largest consumer of ramen, Korea ranks highest in terms of per capita ramen consumption. Since one person eats 68 pieces a year, it means that he eats ramen at least once or twice a week.
It has been 50 years since ramen was first produced in Korea in 1963. It is 55 years since instant ramen was first developed. Ramen, how did this great food come about?
The half-hundred-year history of ramen begins with trials. Its birth history is marked by the pain of war, the tears of individuals thrown into the chaos, and the will of man to overcome difficult times. So, it is no exaggeration to say that the history of ramen is a trajectory of overcoming hardships and a record of human triumphs. The sweat and tears of Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese all seep into it.
Instant ramen was first developed in 1958 by Momofuku Ando. After World War II, the majority of Japanese people in the defeated country survived on wheat provided by the US military. Looking back, it was a situation where he could earn a lot of money by selling noodles. Ando, who just lost his job, thought of mass-producing and commercializing noodles that can retain the original taste even if stored for a long time. However, the business did not go as well as expected. Ando, who had been working on noodle development for nearly 10 years, finally blew up all his money and the family was on the verge of bankruptcy. Ando, who was already in his mid-40s, was frustrated and decided to give up everything and die. Before his death, he visits a food stall for one last drink, and faces a new turning point.
Ando, who watched the food being made blankly like a crazy person, gets an idea when he sees the owner of a food stall coating fish cakes with flour and frying them in oil. When wet noodles are fried in oil, the moisture in the dough evaporates quickly, leaving numerous holes in the flour. When hot water enters this hole, the noodles return to their soft state. After abandoning the thought of dying and returning home, Ando devoted himself to his research and succeeded in making his first instant noodles in 1958.
Instant ramen, which is easy to eat, has become a sensation. Naturally, ramen producers were born like bamboo shoots, because Ando did not register the method of making ramen as a patent. Thanks to this, we were able to make ramen easily.
Ramen was first produced in Korea in 1963. This is because the ramen manufacturing technology was transferred to Korea from the fiercely competitive Japanese ramen industry. Although ramen consumption per capita is now the highest in the world, when ramen was first introduced in Korea, it was not very popular.
It was because he was not used to wheat flour food, and the soup was not cheap. The first ramen was priced at 10 won, and alum at a restaurant at that time was 30 won, so it was not loved by the public. The widespread use of ramen is thanks to the government's policy to encourage mixed meals. It encouraged the spread of ramen to conserve rice, and even the president showed interest. The president suggested that Koreans like spicy and salty foods, so instead of using greasy soup, he proposed to develop a soup using red pepper powder, and even provided funds for the development.
While Japanese ramyun developed in the process of overcoming hunger from defeat, Korean ramyun developed in the process of striving for food self-sufficiency during industrialization.
When we think of ramen, we think of instant ramen first, but ramen is actually made by frying raw ramen in oil. So, where does raw ramen come from?
In general, the origin of raw ramen is considered to be China. In the 1870s, the noodles eaten by overseas Chinese workers working at the wharf in Yokohama are considered the origin. Ramen (拉麵), which they used to eat in their hometown, is said to be the root of Japanese raw ‘Ramen’. Ramen is simply hand-made noodles.
Unlike hand-made noodles, which stretch by hitting the dough on the floor, ramen is different in that it is stretched in the air, and the noodles are much thinner than hand-made noodles. We usually eat hand-made noodles with jajangmyeon, but in China, ramen is rolled up in beef broth. Because of this, it looks similar to raw ramen in Japan. In Japan, raw ramen was formerly called Jina (支那) soba or Chuka (中華) soba. Raw ramen contains the tears of a Chinese kuri (a pier worker) who had to leave his hometown and come to Yokohama to earn money in this turbulent time.
Ramen noodles are not good for your health if you eat too much. But for hungry people, ramen is a food of salvation that makes them forget their hunger at a low price. It was in the past and it is now. And in this ramen, the Japanese effort to overcome the pain of defeat and the bitterness of the Chinese dock workers who endured extreme poverty, and the will of the Koreans who tightened their belts to live well in the process of industrialization are reflected.