
JapaneseMigration
The Origin of Ramen: Chinese Noodles, Japanese Hunger
Ramen began as Chinese noodle soup in Japan's treaty ports, then took off in the hungry years after 1945. Here is what the records show, and what is only legend.
6 min read
Where dishes really come from, and how far the popular story strays from the record. Every claim checked against cookbooks, newspapers and food historians.
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Ramen began as Chinese noodle soup in Japan's treaty ports, then took off in the hungry years after 1945. Here is what the records show, and what is only legend.

Sushi began as fish packed in rice to keep it for months, and the rice was thrown away. Vinegar and Edo street stalls turned it into the nigiri we know.

The Earl of Sandwich gave the sandwich its name, but not its idea. The card-table story rests on one French travel book, and Britannica calls it apocryphal.
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