Soup noodles are Asian’s comfort food. Just to name a few, in Hawaii, we have saimin, which has a seafood soup base. It’s such a staple food there that they even serve saimin in local McDonalds! The Japanese love their ramen, the Chinese have delicious wonton min, then there’s the wonderfully spicy Malaysian laksa, the delicate Vietnamese Pho and the list goes on.
In Hong Kong and Japan, to slurp your noodles is not considered bad manners. It is a sign to the chef that you are enjoying your noodles. My son makes a killer kim chee ramen and he puts in all the vegetables he can find in the refrigerator. He eats with such enthusiasm, that it makes you hungry just watching him! But even in Hong Kong and Japan, today many of the women keep slurping to a minimum. For one thing, when you slurp, the noodles splatter the soup in every direction, which can be rather messy as well as distracting. And I guess it’s not so lady like. The method I like to use is to place some noodles into your spoon with a little soup and eat them together. Then you can enjoy the goodness of both at one time! So, in other Asian countries to be on the safe side, keep slurping to a minimum.
Another point to remember is don’t take too long to eat your noodles, otherwise they cook in their soup making them too soft, as it absorbs the liquid. Noodles with a little bite to them have better texture, which is nice. But for most Asians, slurp or not, nothing beats a bowl of hot soup noodles when you’re really tired and hungry! That’s real Asian comfort food.
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