Who can forget the decades of support the ramen noodle gave to student life? In fact, these noodles aren't just for ingesting, one Korean sees it as art.
A South Korean artist created an installation recently, "Noodle Noodle," which exhibited at Emory University in the U.S. in January. It's part of Sang-Wook Lee's Ramen Noodle exhibit.
Lee created a type of Native American architectural ruin using the dry-packaged noodle "bricks" – replicating the clay-brick ruins of the southwest. He used about 8,000 ramen noodle bricks.
Lee, who has a bachelor of arts degree in fabric design and fibre arts from Dong-A University in Korea, is an art professor at Georgia College & State University.
"I was inspired from … Native American architecture. And at the same time, it is Korean architecture, like a roof. Something like this, it's called 'a kiwa.' The whole shape that one of the canyon looks like, just a new shape, kind of wall. I used that and then the texture, I used my own, you know, Korean structure," Lee told CNN.
Love of Ramen
Noodles are an Asian mainstay (Party Potluck Noodles, Shanghai Pork Noodles, Glass Noodle Soup, Laksa, Filipino Noodles) and are considered good luck to eat because they symbolize longevity.
Most of the Ramen Noodles exhibits are made mainly out of cotton and glue, some works took almost four months to make.
According to an interview with the Colonnade college newspaper, Lee was inspired to do the exhibit because he loves ramen.
"I used to eat them a lot," Lee said. "Ramen Noodles portrays the act of bringing different cultures to America. I am bringing my South Korean culture here."
One work has extremely long "ramen noodles" hanging to the ground while other small framed items include noodle-like things of different colours. Lee says the multi-coloured yarns represent the many cultures that live in America.
Another installation has noodles spilling over a red wheelbarrow, just like the ramen noodles which can spill over a bowl.
Lee's ramen fixation is clearly a winner. Visitors alike say they're enjoying the visual puns and playfulness of the artist's vision.
Chinese Origin
Although ramen is clearly connected with Japanese cuisine, it is thought to have been introduced to Japan by the Chinese, around the 17th century.
The word "ramen" has mysterious origins. Some experts believe it's a Japanese turn on the Chinese pronounciation of "lamian," meaning hand-pulled noodles. Or, it could be a derivation of the Chinese "lo mien" – referring to cooking noodles by placing them in boiling water before dredging them up with a wire basket.
Ramen noodles became more popular as the Chinese diaspora spread. And, in 1958, the founder of Nissin Foods – Momofuku Ando – created the instant noodle. In fact, it was voted the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century in a Japanese poll (karaoke came in second!) in 2000.
Ando's method required noodles that were boiled with flavoring, deep-fried with palm oil to remove moisture, and dried into a noodle cake. This little brick could be heated up to a delicious meal after being soaked in boiling water. Of course, let's not forget the flavour packets that come with it.
Nissin hit another cultural milestone in 1971 by launching the Cup Noodle, instant noodles in a styrofoam container. The world never looked back.
Interesting fact: More than 85 billion servings of instant noodles are eaten globally every year.
