Why We Love Ramen: A Generation of Shared Taste between Korea and Japanese Food Culture
SEOUL, Thursday, November 19, 2015 – The Asia Society Korea Center celebrated the 50th anniversary of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations by co-hosting a special event with the Japanese embassy in Seoul: “Why We Love Ramen: A Generation of Shared Taste between Korea and Japanese Food Culture.” The welcoming address to the event was given by Dr. Hong-Koo Lee, former Prime Minister of Korea and Honorary Chairman at the Korea Center. The Embassy of Japan was instrumental in the organization of the evening and Japanese Ambassador to Korea H.E. Koro Bessho was in attendance to give the congratulatory remarks in which he spoke of the importance of ramen to Japanese society while also thanking those who had traveled from Japan just to be here.
Dr. Lee kicked off the evening by explaining how he had not heard of ramen during his days as a college student in Korea, but upon his return from the U.S in 1968, the whole nation seemed to be enjoying this new food. He also made a reference to current United States Ambassador to Korea H.E. Mark Lippert who had earlier admitted to surviving his own college days by eating ramen. H.E. Koro Bessho talked about how ramen is almost like a religion back in Japan, with each region and even restaurant being proud of their own special dish. Put simply, ramen is much more than just noodles and soup. He also introduced and thanked the special guests from Japan, in particular: Mr. Nakamura, Chairman of Nakamura Culinary School in Japan; Mr. Nakao, founder of Butanchu Ramen; and Mr. Kobayashi of Aoitori Bakery.
The three visitors all gave a brief talk in which they explained the history and relevance of ramen to Japanese culture and cuisine. Once all of the presentations had finished, it was time for the 125 people in attendance to enjoy the ramen cooked by experts using ingredients that had been shipped from Japan. Kloud beer was sponsored and provided to accompany the food and the rest of the evening turned out to be a resounding success in celebrating Korea-Japan relations.
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