Japanese with anime voice: episode94
Hello, I’m Sachi.
Today, July 11, is Ramen Day. I am sure that you would not be able to figure out why July 11 was established as Ramen Day, even if you think about it quite a bit. They used the number 7 in July as a renge, and the number 11 in the 11th as chopsticks. You would never come up with something like this. No way…they would never think of the number as Renge and chopsticks. Renge is the spoon-like thing that comes with ramen noodles to scoop out the soup.
There is one more origin. It is said that it was established in honor of the birthday of the first person to eat ramen in Japan. This was decided by the Japan Ramen Association. But there are many theories as to who was the first person to eat ramen in Japan.
Ramen is delicious, isn’t it? I used to think that all ramen was the same and that it would be good no matter where I ate it. So when I lived in Tokyo, cheap ramen shops were good enough for me. But when I met my partner and started visiting ramen shops, my world was turned upside down. The taste was totally different.
To begin with, I am the type of person who only goes to restaurants that I think are good. It’s too much work to try new restaurants, and I don’t like it if I fail. By the way, I’ve used the word “hassle” a lot in my podcasts. You may wonder how much of a pain in the ass I am, but as you know, I am a hassle about everything. But my partner is always looking to open new restaurants. He has a spirit of challenge. So, for a while, we went to a lot of Ramen restaurants. I think we went to almost all of the ramen shops in the area where we live now. And I realized that there are some ramen restaurants that are not so good. Well, “not good” is an exaggeration; it just wasn’t to my taste.
There is a ramen store that I remember intensely. It was a private ramen shop. When we entered, it was more like a small restaurant than a ramen shop. We sat down at the counter, but the owner’s wife didn’t notice us at all. We both watched her for a while, but she didn’t notice us. We were right in front of her at the counter. It’s funny, isn’t it? It was OK, but the ramen they served us was like the fresh ramen sold in the supermarket. It was like something you could eat at home. It was like we came to a neighbor’s house for a home-cooked meal, but it was instant. Is that how you feel about it? The ramen there was not to my taste.
Another time, my partner ordered wonton ramen at a chain ramen restaurant. Then, he was served ramen without wontons. The waiter said that the wontons would be served later. We was like, “What does it mean to serve wontons later when I ordered wontons ramen? What is the point of wonton ramen? There was also a ramen shop with an overly particular owner. He had other staff, but he did everything by himself, from making the ramen to finishing it. That is why his ramen was のびる (nobiru). The term “のびる (nobiru)” is used to describe all noodles in soup. The noodles absorb the broth and become soft and swollen. When this happens, the noodles are too soft and not very tasty.
You see, when we were into ramen touring, there was also a “fried rice” boom. We wanted to eat both ramen and fried rice. So we went looking for ramen shops that also served fried rice. One day, the three of us went to a Chinese restaurant that my partner used to go to in high school. We ordered three ramen, three fried rice, and gyoza. I don’t remember how many gyoza they had. Anyway, the portions were generally larger than usual. Usually, when you order ramen and fried rice as a set, the amount of fried rice is halved. But we ordered ramen and fried rice for one person each. One serving means one portion, so one person eats ramen and fried rice for two. After we finished eating, when we paid the bill, the elderly lady at the restaurant told us that the bill was 5,000 yen. I think it was close to 6,000 yen. A bowl of ramen is about 800 to 1,000 yen, so a normal family of three would definitely not pay that much even if they ate gyoza. The elderly lady was surprised at the amount when she said it herself and checked the bill again to make sure she hadn’t typed it incorrectly. I thought to myself, “Don’t worry, we ate that much, and the amount is correct. Then we quietly watched the elderly lady finish her check. The panicked elderly lady was so adorable. Well, there were times like that, weren’t there? I don’t visit ramen shops much anymore. But still, eating ramen and fried rice, plus gyoza, is too much food.
