TRENDING: ASIAN NOODLES

Asian Noodles: One Twisty, Tasty Trend

Consumers have their forks in a twirl – especially when the fork is over a bowl of steaming hot Asian noodles. Whether it’s the hand pulled lamian or cut ramen, these noodles and more are making their way into bowls, onto plates and even into the dessert course. Asian food has become a fast food and fast casual mainstay as global fast food sales have increased 500% since 1999, giving lots of pull to the appeal of the noodle.1 Hand pulled noodles have also been named one of the top 10 trends to watch for 2017.2

The capitol of hand pulled noodles or lamian is Lhanzou, China but the Japanese pronounce it “ramen” hence the name. In the 1970’s, the Japanese transformed ramen into an instant version happily slurped by all. Today, restaurants all over the globe are featuring ramen and hand pulled noodles on their menus to critical acclaim. Either way, consumers are tongue tied in their love for noodles.

GETTING SOCIAL / asian noodles by the numbers

• Google search for “Asian noodles” yields almost 34,800,000 entries with ramen searches almost triple that amount.3

• Specifically, “ramen noodle” searches have more than doubled in the past five years.4

• Delivery honcho, GrubHub reported tonkotsu ramen orders increased 223% in 2016 in third place behind orders for #1 chicken and waffles and #2 southern fried chicken.5

• Chicago ordered more tonkotsu ramen than any city through Grubhub in 2016.6

• 31% of American diners named ramen their favorite food trend in 2016.7

• #ramen references 3,447,559 posts on Instagram while #ramennoodles reports 200,389 posts.8

SPOTTED & SEEN / foodservice • chefs

• Japanese ramen sensation, Ichira Ramen planted some Western roots in NYC to huge crowds. Boasting 15 second ramen, the individual booth carousel serves as both ordering and serving station. Diners write their order and pass it through the window at the back of their booth; almost immediately, steaming hot ramen appears for the diner to get started slurping- if they’re quick about it.

• Menkoiya, a restaurant in Ebetsu, Japan, is serving up ramen pizza. Ramen stars as the crispy crust and is topped with cheese, bell peppers and corn, a popular Japanese pizza topping. Expect this innovation to come to the U.S., where consumers covet burger buns made out of ramen. SPOTTED & SEEN / foodservice • chefs

• Dashi, in Durham, S.C., treats both college students and locals to a variety of ramen styles but the Mazemen dish on the menu treats ramen more like “fi ne Italian pasta” topping it with pork meatballs, rapini and a sauce of spicy chili oil.

TRENDING: ASIAN NOOODLES • NOLA’s getting in on the action with haute cuisine ramen at Kin, courtesy of Chef Hieu Than. The famous huxta bowl features tonkatsu ramen with confi t, lemongrass, pork shoulder, yuzu and more—the lines are over two hours to get a taste.

• Chicago’s Chinatown boasts Slurp Slurp Noodles, where diners devour their hand pulled or shaved noodles with beef, pork belly, tripe or more. One slurp will defi nitely lead to another.

• Of course, NYC has one of the best hand pulled noodles shops in the country. The Handmade Noodle Shop stretches hand pulled noodle dough into a variety of forms including the traditional lagman noodle. The Spicy Cumin Lamb is mouthwatering and unexpected.

• Momofuku chef, David Chang, experiemented using spicy ramen to create a fabulous fried chicken. Talk about a mash-up to get fi red up about.

• Sweet ramen? But of course! The Dessert Kitchen in New York City takes Japanese kanten, a noodle made from algae, fl avors it with green tea, peaches, HAND PULLED or brown sugar and serves it in a bowl of crushed ice and condensed milk. NOODLE KNOW-HOW Consumers top the sweet version with mango, cantaloupe, or mochi.

Be sure to visit Chicago’s Imperial SPOTTED & SEEN / retail Lamian for a meal that is both art and magic as chefs hand craft lamian that • Samyang Ramen - Its Spicy Noodle Challenge of 2016 challenged participants stars in a beef brisket and bone broth to fi lm themselves attempting to handle the heat this ramen brought—don’t try soup laced with Chinese rose wine. this at home without lots of H2O.

Lamian noodle • Iconic brand, Coca-Cola is promoting its fl agship beverage as a partner (“la”means pull; “mian” means noodle) – to ramen among other Millennial dinner favorites.9 the traditional hand pulled noodle originated in China. If you have seen pretzels made, this technique is similar with the dough being twisted, stretched and rolled into long strands and repeatedly folded. The weight of the dough and the slapping against the counter help determine the thickness and width of the noodle.

Lagman noodle – Nikken Foods USA, Inc. A thicker version that is similar to the 4984 Manchester Ave. lamian that is found in Central Asia. St. Louis, MO 63110 314.881.5858 ph 314.881.5850 fx nikkenfoods.com

Source: 1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/03/the-fastest-growing-food-in-the-world/ ?utm_ term=.2781c1de9f30 2 Sterling Rice Group, 2016 3 Google 4 https://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=ramen%20noodles 5 https://www.grubhub.com/thecrave/a-year-in-food-delivery 6 Ibid 7 http://www.eater.com/2016/9/13/12891454/food-trends-2016-avocado-toast-food-pics 8 Instagram 9 http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/coca-colas-new-push-pair-coke-with-lobster-paella-ramen/