How to Eat Ramen with Chopsticks

How to Eat Ramen with Chopsticks

Slurping Up the Noodles

1. Hold your chopsticks between two fingers. 

Hold the top chopstick like a pencil with your thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Place the bottom chopstick in the nook of your thumb and index finger and rest it on your ring finger.

Noodles can be hard to eat with chopsticks if you don’t have any practice, so make sure to master the art of holding chopsticks first!

2. Pick up a few noodles with the tips of your chopsticks. 

Don’t grab too many noodles or you’ll end up with a big tangle that you won’t be able to lift out of the bowl. You want to have a bite-sized portion each time you pick up more noodles.

Make sure the tips of the chopsticks are aligned and pinch them together to grab the noodles.

3. Place the noodles in your spoon in a small pile. 

Lift the noodles above the bowl until they separate from the rest, then dip them. Soak up a little extra of the broth and fat with your portion of noodles by dipping them back in the soup for a few seconds. Don’t twist the noodles in the bowl or you may end up tangling them up with the rest again.

Some varieties of ramen come with the noodles in one bowl and the broth in another. Simply follow this process, moving your noodles between the two bowls, to eat this kind of dipping ramen correctly.

4. Put the noodles that are pinched between your chopsticks in your mouth. 

Shape your lips as if you were about to sip a really hot beverage. Now slurp all of the noodles into your mouth quickly and loudly! Although slurping can be considered rude in some western cultures, it is considered quite normal and even encouraged in Japan. It is a way of showing that you are enjoying a meal and is customary when eating ramen.

Slurping also allows you to eat things at higher temperatures, and ramen is best enjoyed piping hot and should be eaten quickly!

5. Drink some of the broth with your spoon and eat some of the garnishes. 

After you have slurped up your noodles, have a bite of pork with some of the broth, or any other of the garnishes that come with the ramen. There are no rules to enjoying your ramen, just follow your senses!

If your ramen comes with nori, the traditional Japanese seaweed often served with ramen, eat it before it gets soggy in the broth to enjoy the texture and flavor.