Oodles of Noodles: The Story of How One Dish Traversed Asia
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University of Puget Sound Sound Ideas Pac Rim Posters Asian Studies Program Fall 10-20-2018 Oodles of Noodles: e Story of How One Dish Traversed Asia Miriam Cohen [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: hps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/pacrim_posters Part of the Asian Studies Commons is Poster is brought to you for free and open access by the Asian Studies Program at Sound Ideas. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pac Rim Posters by an authorized administrator of Sound Ideas. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Cohen, Miriam, "Oodles of Noodles: e Story of How One Dish Traversed Asia" (2018). Pac Rim Posters. 3. hps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/pacrim_posters/3
Transcript of Oodles of Noodles: The Story of How One Dish Traversed Asia
University of Puget SoundSound Ideas
Pac Rim Posters Asian Studies Program
Fall 10-20-2018
Oodles of Noodles: The Story of How One DishTraversed AsiaMiriam [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/pacrim_posters
Part of the Asian Studies Commons
This Poster is brought to you for free and open access by the Asian Studies Program at Sound Ideas. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pac RimPosters by an authorized administrator of Sound Ideas. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Recommended CitationCohen, Miriam, "Oodles of Noodles: The Story of How One Dish Traversed Asia" (2018). Pac Rim Posters. 3.https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/pacrim_posters/3
OodlesofNoodles:TheStoryofHowOneDishTraversedAsiaMiriamCohen
UniversityofPugetSound
PopularizationofNoodles
NoodleCulture
NoodlesasaReflectionofaNation
Adoption of Noodles
WhyNoodles?
NoodleshaveremainedpopularinAsiaforavarietyofreasons:vNoodlesareeasilypersonalizedvExternalforcessuchaswarandgovernmentintervention
vNoodletourisminAsiavInstantnoodlesdevelopinginconjunctiontofreshnoodles
TheestablishmentofnoodlecultureinthefiveAsiancountriesofstudycanbebrokendownintothreecategories:countriesthathaveestablishedtheirownspecificnoodleculture,countrieswhohaveafluiddefinitionofwhatnoodlesaretheirs,andcountrieswithoutanestablishednoodlecultureoftheirown.
China,Japan,andThailandfallunderthefirstcategorybecausetheycanallpointtodistinctnoodledishesastheirown.ThisisobviouslyapplicabletoChinaasnoodleswerefirstinventedthere.Sincetheircreation,noodleshavespreadalloverChinaresultinginawidevarietyofwellestablishedlocalvarietiesofnoodles.Japanhasfivemainnationaldishes(ramen,udon,soba,yakiudon,andyakisoba)whichcanvaryregionally,butnottothedegreethattheydoinChina.Thailandisabitofamiddlegroundbetweenthesetwonationsinthatithasbothregionalspecialties(khao soi)andnationaldishes(padThaiandpadseeew)thatareeatencommonly.
Malaysiahasamorefluiddefinitionofwhatnoodlesare“Malaysian.”Therearethreesignificantpopulationsofethnicgroups–Malays,Chinese,andIndians–asaresultofBritishcolonialism,andthecuisinesofeachofthesegroupscomplicateswhatexactlyMalaysiannoodlesare.Finally,Indiahasnoestablishednoodlecultureasnoodlesarealwayslabeled“Chinese,”andnever“Indian.”
HownoodleshaveadaptedtoseveralAsiancuisinesisatestamenttotheirflexibilityandalsoawayinwhichtogatherinsightontheculturestheyencounter.Noodleshavestoodthetestoftimeandtheirevolutiontellsmorethanarecipe,butthestoriesofnationsaswell.TheresilienceandmalleabilityofnoodleshaveallowedthedishtopersistallthroughoutAsia,aswellasactasamirrorofthenationstheyareincorporatedinto.
Noodlesaretheultimateadaptablefoodbecauseoftheirgenerallackofflavorandsimpleingredients.ChineseimmigrationbroughtChinesefoodallacrossAsia,andnoodlesaboveallelsewereablestickunlikeanyotherChinesefood.ThenewformstheyhavetakenonoutsideofChinaarereflectiveofhownoodleshavemanagedtoadaptinthefaceofdifferentcuisines,cultures,andexternalforces.
Adoptionofnoodlesintoacuisineisnotanimmediateprocess,ittakestimeatspecialization.Thisconceptisbestexplainedonacontinuumrangingfromnoodlesbeingmostintegratedintoacuisine,toleastintegratedintoacuisine.SincenoodleswereinvitedinChinaandhaveexistedthereformorethan4,000years,noodleshavebecomeverywellintegratedintothecuisine–evenbecomingastaple.IndiaisonthefarotherendofthespectrumastheyhavebeeneateninIndiaforacomparativelyshortperiodoftimeandareyettoeverbelabeled“Indian.”Japan,Thailand,andMalaysiacanbeplacedalongthecontinuumbetweenChinaandIndiainthatorder.
Theadaptablenatureofnoodlesnotonlymakesitpossibleforthedishtoconformtoacuisine,butalsoactasamirrorofthecultureofthecountryorregionaswell.Theyhelptorevealaspectsofthecountrylikeitsreputationandeatingculture.
Japan – DespiteramenhavingoriginallybeenmadeforworkingclassJapanese,itisnowsoldcommonlyinhigherendrestaurantsinJapanandabroad.ThisisreflectiveoftheglobalopinionofJapan.
China – Chinesenoodlesarecommonlypresentedwithlessglamour,restaurantsaresellinggood,cheapfoodandnotanexperience.ThispresentationofChinesenoodlesmaybereflectiveofChina’sreputationofbeingpoorercountrywhoproducescheapgoods.
Malaysia – ThewidevarietyofnoodleoptionsavailableinMalaysia,isrepresentativeofthemultiethnicmakeupofMalaysia.OnoneblockyoucanfindMaggigoreng,laksa,andChinesenoodles.
Thailand – Thailand’sownnoodledishpadThai,istheultimatemirrortoThaicultureasitisreflectiveofapowerful,manipulativegovernmentwhoaltersthecourseofthecountry’scuisineandacountrysodevotedtofoodthattheyareperhapsknownbestforthisonedish.
India –Themost“Indian”noodleavailableinIndiaisMaggi,acheapandeasyinstantfood.Withaboomingeconomydrivenbyalargeandhardworkingworkforce,IndiaisneedofaneasyeatandMaggifillsthatniche.
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PacificRimStudyAbroadProgramstudentsKamila,Gabby,Sara,andSophie(lefttoright)eatnoodlesatnightmarketoutsideofHwaNanWomen’sCollegeinFuzhou,China.
PorkramenfromramenshopHonke Daiichiasahi inKyoto,Japan.
China Japan Thailand Malaysia India
MostIntegrated
LeastIntegrated
“Malaysianfoodsoftencondensesymbolicmessagesabouthybridityinamulticulturalsocietywhereeveryonegets
alongandeatseachother’sfood.”- PennyVanEsterik,FoodCultureinSoutheastAsia
References
Greeley,Alexandra.“FindingPadThai.”Gastronomica 9.1(2009):78-82.ProQuest.Web.25May2017.Kushner,Barak.Slurp!aSocialandCulinaryHistoryofRamen:Japan'sFavoriteNoodleSoup.Leiden:GlobalOriental,2012.
ProQuestEbookCentral.Shelke,Kantha.PastaandNoodles:AGlobalHistory.Reaktion Books,2016.Wu,DavidY.H.,andChee-beng Tan.ChangingChineseFoodways inAsia.HongKong:ChineseUP,2001.Print.
