Do you slurp your Ramen noodles? If not, you might be missing out. Studies in Japan, the birthplace of Ramen noodles, say that slurping your Ramen can make it taste 4 times better.
Why does slurping Ramen taste better?
It’s about aeration. Because most Ramen noodles have an oily broth, the flavour and aroma are trapped in the oily coating. When you slurp noodles, the aroma is able to pass through your nasal cavity, activating smell sensors. Without slurping, this passage is cut off and you only experience a fraction of the flavour and aroma as the noodles enter your mouth.
Slurping is also beneficial for eating Ramen noodles when they’re hot, because the aeration cools it down immediately before it enters your mouth.
How to Slurp Ramen
If you don’t know how to slurp noodles, here is a helpful way to practice called “Air-slurping”
１．Prepare your lips slightly open ready to suck up noodles
２．Suck up air through your mouth as if vacuuming up noodles
３．Hold your breath for 3 seconds
４．Breathe out through your nose
Practice a bit of Air-slurping a few times between actually trying to slurp noodles and you may find it easy to learn.
Personal advice
Don’t think you have to slurp the entire length of the noodles. Often noodles are twisted underneath and you can’t get them out with slurping alone. Keep your face close to the bowl and let the chopsticks guide the noodles into your mouth as you slurp them up. Bite off the noodles if they’re too long, hold the remainder in with your chopsticks, then resume slurping after you’ve swallowed. Be careful with the last bit of the noodle, it can fly around on the way into your mouth and spray soup on your clothes. Be really careful if you’re slurping curry noodles!
Did it work? Were you able to slurp noodles? Do you think it made it taste better? Let us know in the comments.
