Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #450

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ARecipeSaysYouShouldPut AmericanCheese On Ramen —And People Are Flipping Out
By Nian Hu
Many of us love a good bowl of instant ramen. The hearty flavor, easy preparation, and low cost have made instant ramen a staple in the diets of penny-pinching college students, and a cultural phenomenon that many people all over the world feel very passion- ately about.
Therefore, when the New York Times declared that the "perfect instant ramen recipe" consists of putting slices of American cheese on top of the noodles, there was imme- diate outrage from some peo- ple on the inter- net who saw it as an abomination.
On Twitter, many people expressed visceral disgust at the idea of put- ting American cheese on ramen.
What many of these people did-
n't realize, how- ever, is that put- ting cheese on ramen is some- thing that many Koreans and Korean- Americans have been doing for decades.
New York Times food editor Sam Sifton told INSID- ER that this recipe came
from Roy Choi, a Los Angeles- based Korean- American chef and creator of gourmet Korean taco truck, Kogi.
According to Sifton, Choi had
explained the cul- tural complexities of ramen to the New York Times back in 2014. "He told us, 'It's our snack, it's our peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it's our bowl of cereal. It's some- thing that's been part of my life for- ever,'" Sifton told us.
In a video for the Tasting Table, Choi demon- strates his per- sonal take on ramen, which includes a poached egg, chopped scal- lions, sesame
seeds, and slices of American cheese.
Choi told the Tasting Table that his ramen recipe is not only "fun and delicious and easy, but it's also a little bit of a cul- tural awakening."
Choi's recipe
may seem unique and even prepos- terous to some people on the internet, but the practice of adding American cheese slices to ramen is actually rooted in recent Korean history.
Hamburo, a con-
temporary Korean lifestyle publication, expla ined that many people who are unfamiliar with modern Korean cuisine are sur- prised to discover cheese in their food, given that East Asian food is usually devoid of dairy products and 90% of Koreans are lac- tose intolerant. But according to the article, "nowadays Koreans put cheese on every- thing."
The reason for this is that
American sol- diers stationed in Korea during the Korean War received "cheap, fatty rations that weren't easily perishable" — including processed American cheese slices. After the war ended and the soldiers returned home, American cheese remained in Korea and Korean cooks started experi- menting with adding cheese to Korean cuisine.
Nowadays, cheese can be found in a num- ber of popular Korean dishes, such as cheese ddukbokki, cheese jjimdak, cheese soondae, and of course, cheese ramen. And for those who prefer to eat their ramen pre- cooked, instant cheese
ramen can even be found and purchased in stores.
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