Think ramen is 100% Japanese? Think again! Whilst ramen is now a very famous Japanese food, its roots actually trace back to China, and the word itself comes from the Chinese characters 拉麺 (lāmiàn) — meaning “pulled noodles.”
Ramen is originally a Chinese dish that Japan took, adapted, and turned into the rich comfort food we know today. Japanese chefs have transformed the dish in a lot of ways, but its humble beginnings were in Chinese noodle soups brought over by immigrants in the late 19th or early 20th century.
Even the Japanese word ラーメン is just the katakana version of the Chinese pronunciation!
If you’re curious to learn more about the history of ramen or some ramen-related vocabulary in Japanese, check out this blog:
Ramen in Japanese 
| Flexi Classes Blog
