Noodles + Soup Etiquette

Global Noodles + Soups 7: A discussion of how to eat noodles + soup in various countries. The etiquette of eating noodle soup varies, but is generally around these questions: Slurp the noodles or not? Slurp noisily or quietly? Use chopsticks, or forks, or spoons? Then review various soup packages from USA, Asia and Southeast Asia.

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Soup Utensils

In some countries, to eat noodles and soup people grab chopsticks and perhaps a Chinese spoon, in other countries they use a soup spoon and perhaps a fork. Since it varies by country, and noodle soups are so “hard” to eat, this post is focused on how the world eats these bowls of warmth and yummy.

History of These Utensils

• Sapporo: The earliest examples of chopsticks can be dated back as far as 1200 B.C. They were originally found in the Henan province of China … however, by the 5th century, they had become widespread across Asia, especially in Japan and Vietnam.
• Wikipedia: The Chinese spoon or Chinese soup spoon is a type of spoon with a short, thick handle extending directly from a deep, flat bowl. It is a regular utensil in Chinese cuisine used for liquids, especially soups, or loose solid food.
• Wikipedia: Although its origin may go back to Ancient Greece, the personal table fork was most likely invented in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, where they were in common use by the 4th century. Records show that by the 9th century in some elite circles of Persia a similar utensil known as a barjyn was in limited use.
• Thrilllist: The first remnant of spoons as we know them were found in the ruins of Ancient Egypt, and harken back to 1000 BC. These were ornate, made out of ivory or slate, and believed to be used primarily for ritualistic purposes.

Some Generic Chopstick Etiquette

In the USA we know how to use forks and spoons. So let me focus a bit on using chopsticks.

First, according to Starry Kitchen, sticking your chopsticks straight up in a bowl of noodles (or rice) is not recommended in most every Asian country. In some of those countries this taboo act symbolizes death, stabbing, or piercing one’s soul. Below are some recommendations, based on Japanese and Chinese etiquette.

• Do not stick your chopsticks into food in the bowl (like rice or noodles).
• Do not rest chopsticks on the rims of the bowl, use a chopstick rest if there is one, or leave it neatly at the side of the bowl on the table.
• Do not use chopsticks to move a bowl closer to yourself.
• Do not pass food chopstick to chopstick.
• Do not “spear” food from a bowl to mouth, but it is okay to spear if in the process of tearing the food item apart.
• Do not point to people or things with chopsticks.
• Do not rub the chopsticks or clack them together.

Second, crossing chopsticks while eating is considered uncouth, so practice at home before you eat out in public.

Third, not every country that is considered ”Asian” or ”Southeast Asian” use chopsticks.

• The Philippines does not use chopsticks..
• Thailand will offer chopsticks only when noodles are served (1).
• The main chopstick users are China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

Noodle Soup Etiquette

USA WASPY Manners

When our son was a child, my spouse created and would initiate the “manners game” at our dining table. We all had to eat “properly” and try to catch each other making a mistake. (Of course, I made sure to always lose by putting elbows on the table, blowing my nose, or some such thing. Which made my son laugh really hard, delighted I made a mistake.)

What makes this interesting, is that my spouse is a person who was raised in a traditional WASPY family that spent most of their lives only in the USA; and the parents were sure they knew what was proper etiquette. Whereas my family lived all over the world, and have experienced various understandings of what was considered good manners. So eating noodle soups, in particular, brings that difference into conflict.

American Polite Society

Here is my understanding of what the American “polite society” would consider proper manners. (I made sure my spouse reviewed the list, just to make sure.)

• Do not suck-up strands of pasta.
• Do not cut your noodles, but follow the Italian process of using a fork and a spoon where you twirl pasta on a fork and use the fork to bring the pasta to your mouth.
• Do not make slurping noises.
• Do not drink broth from a bowl, use a spoon (and technically as you scoop broth into the spoon sweep away from your body, not toward).
• Do not hover your face directly over your bowl, sit up straight and bring the spoon to your mouth.
• Do not lift your bowl towards your mouth.
• Proper utensils are forks and spoons.

American Ramen Chefs (2)

According to these Chefs there is a proper way of eating Ramen noodle soups. Using chopsticks, pull a small amount of noodles completely out of the bowl, Then dip the noodles back into the broth to capture some of the broth and fat, and quickly bring the noodles to your lips, and “sip” or “slurp” them into your mouth. If in Japan or USA, they say, feel free to slurp quickly and loudly.

To make this work, so you do not have lots of soup spots on your shirt, hover your head directly over the bowl minimizing shirt exposure. Or be like me and feel free to tuck in a napkin (this does embarrass my spouse).

There is a rhythm, slurp a bit of ramen, take a bite of of any meat, drink some broth, and repeat. Once all the noodles are gone, drink the broth from the bowl to finish it all off.

Chinese Guides (3)

From what I have read, Chinese seem to consider the broth of higher importance than the noodle. When eating noodle soups, chopsticks are in one hand and the soup spoon is in the other; the chopsticks pick up the noodles and the spoon is filled with broth. Then the chopstick full of noodles is dipped into the spoon and both are brought to your mouth. So you eat out of the spoon, using the chopsticks to help shove the noodles into your mouth. (I suggest you watch a video and practice how to do this at home, otherwise it can be a mess and impolite in public.)

Easier, and also okay to do, is to put the noodles in your mouth and alternate with slurping the soup. Slurping is de rigueur among the Chinese, for practical reasons. “It’s a way of introducing cool air into your mouth to cool off the noodles and the broth if it’s a noodle soup. … Chinese food is generally served hot, often served piping hot.” One thing you do not do is wait for the soup to cool off. Often it will make the fresh noodles too mushy.

Japanese Guides (3)

Again, noodles + soup are eaten with chopsticks, but also a Chinese style spoon is often provided to help eat the small toppings and soup broth. It is also alright to drink the soup directly from the bowl.

Ramen noodles can get soggy quickly (I’ve seen references to 10 minutes after serving) and it is recommended that they should be eaten immediately after served.

As with other noodle dishes in Japan, a slurping sound is made when eating ramen. The slurping enhances the flavors and helps cool down the piping hot noodles as they enter your mouth. At the end of the meal, compliment the Chef by eating all the noddles and drinking all the broth; although if you have to leave a bit of the broth in the bowl that is considered okay.

Thailand Guides (4)

Use the two-handed approach as described above. While you can slurp noodles a bit, keep the noise low as vigorous slurping is not the norm in Thailand.

Vietnamese Guides (5)

With chopsticks in one hand, soup spoon in the other, sip the broth from the spoon first while grabbing noodles with chopsticks. Many suggest you stick your face above the bowl while slurping noodles to allow the aromatics to infuse your senses. Keep in mind that Vietnamese Pho is all about the broth, so appreciate those important flavors.

So while you sniff in the aromatics, you can also avoid making a mess as you eat the noodles over the bowl. Once the noodles are all eaten, drink the remaining broth from the bowl (hold the bowl with both hands).

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√ Korean Potato Noodle Soup

Korean Nongshim’s Potato Noodle Soup tastes great. The potato + wheat noodles are very chewy, easy to slurp and tasty as well. (I can hear my son now, “yea, but you love potatoes!”) The broth is a light veggie broth with medium heat. Befitting the good flavor is higher calories and sodium for this soup.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Per serving: 460c, 68k, 10p, 2f and 1790mg sodium.
• Total time was ~5 minutes.
• Contains a bundle of baked noodles, and packets of veggies (cabbage, bok choy) and seasoned broth
• Heat: Medium and lingers for a bit.
• Cost $3.29

Cooking: I boiled 2C water. Added all the packets to the water and cooked for 3.5 minutes.

The packaging shows they recommend adding thin slices of carrot, scallion, and red chilies.

Certified Halel. Contains palm oil, wheat, MSG, and soy. Made in a factory that may expose the food to egg, milk, fish, shellfish, peanut and treenuts.

√ Nissin Top Ramen Soy Sauce Soup

Nissan’s Top Ramen brand features a soy sauce flavor. First off, this is the grandma of instant ramen soups, a Momofuku Ando company. Second, their enriched wheat noodles taste good and are both slurpy and chewy as expected. Third, the broth is a simple soy sauce type flavor that is vegetarian and has no added MSG. This mean it is a clean broth, easy to drink with no leftover residue in the bowl.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Per serving: 380c, 53k, 9p, 2f and 1620mg sodium.
• Total time was ~5 minutes.
• Contains a noodle puck, and a packet of broth.
• Heat: None
• $0.39 USD from national chain

Cooking: Boil 2C water, Once boiling put the noodles and packets into the water and cook ~3 minutes. Pour all into a bowl.

Because of the TBHQ I do not plan on eating this in the future. However, this is an extremely cheap amount of money for the calories. This is a soup that would be easy to improve the nutrition of by adding veggies, eggs, and protein. If I was hungry or had very limited money, this would be an acceptable dinner or lunch 2-3 times a week.

This company has naturally occurring MSG in small amounts. They support sustainable palm oil. They do list TBHQ among their ingredients as well as the potassium carbonate, but note TBHQ is the last ingredient listed so it must be a very small amount overall. It also notes the usual factory warnings of potential egg, milk, peanut, tree nut, shellfish and fish contamination.

√ Sapporo Ichiban Miso Ramen

This pacakage had a good puck of baked noodles that were tasty, chewy, and and had a good mouthfeel. The broth was miso, with just a hint of heat, and felt rich. The noodles were wheat + tapioca starch. Overall, this vegan-friendly noodle + soup package tasted good.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Per serving: 460c, 62k, 9p, 4f and 1800mg sodium.
• Total time was ~5 minutes.
• Contains a noodle puck, and a packet of chili, and a packet of broth.
• Heat: Mild
• $1.99 USD

Cooking: Boil 2C water, Once boiling put the noodles and packets into the water and cook ~3 minutes. Pour all into a bowl.

I cooked it a bit differently. I added the water into a pot, once boiling I added the packets and one whisked egg to make strings of egg in the broth when I added the noodles to cook. The cover suggest added egg, meat, corn kernels, and bean sprouts with sliced scallion.

Contains palm oil, seaweed, and MSG. May be made in factories with mlik, eggs, shellfish, peanuts, or tree nuts.

√ Chikara USA-made Udon Hot + Spicy Soup

This is one of the few Udon noodle soups that actually say it can be microwaved, as opposed to boiling. Udon noodles come in additional packaging to keep the noodles sanitized and moist. These are not baked or fried, but doughy, and need to be boiled to cook. Love these noodles, thick, chewy, easy to bite, and tasty. The broth was a reddish, beef and chili broth with medium heat.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Per serving: 250c, ok, 7p, 4f and 1846mg sodium.
• Total time was ~5 minutes.
• Contains a bundle of noodles, and a packet of dried seasoning broth.
• Heat: Medium with a little bit of linger.
• $2.29 USD

Cooking: Boil 1qt water and cook the noodles in the boiling water for ~3 minutes. Take 2C of that water and reserve as you drain the noodles. Place the cooked noodles and soup packet into a bowl, pour the reserved hot water into the bowl and mix.

The broth contains hydrolyzed soy protein, MSG, lactose, coloring and non-dairy creamer. The noodles are enriched wheat. Made in a factory that may expose shrimp, milk, and eggs.

√ Mama Non-Fried Ramen Noodle Soup

Mama Oriental Style Non Fried Instant Noodle with artificial duck flavor. The noodles were good wheat-tapioca ramen, although the puck was one of the smaller ones. The broth was flavorful, although since I have only eaten duck once, I am unsure if it tastes like duck. To me it tasted like a Thai veggie broth.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Per serving: 210c, 43k, 6p, 2f and 1480mg sodium.
• Total time was ~5 minutes.
• Contains a small bundle of ramen noodles, and packets of broth, chili, and seasoning oil.
• Heat: Medium and lingering.
• $1.39 USD

Cooking: Boil 2C water, and put the oil packet into the serving bowl. Once water is boiling, put the noodles and remaining packets into the water and cook ~3 minutes. Pour all into a bowl.

Serving suggestions on the cover include duck meat slices, mushrooms, chilies, peppers, bok choy, and scallions.

Contains MSG, and disodium 5’ ribonucleotides to enhance flavor; both are FDA approve. Palm oil and artificial flavors. The factory also processes eggs, milk, fish, crustacean, and coconut.

Thai WaiWai Tom Yum Noodles

I expected WaiWai Noodles with Tom Yum to taste really good and found that it did not taste like what I expected. The noodles, even after soaking for ~4 minutes were not chewy, they felt a bit underdone, the broth had a little bit of sour lemon taste to me and was a bit off putting.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Per serving: 210c, 43k, 4p, 0f and 1640mg sodium.
• Total time was ~5 minutes.
• Contains a bundle of crispy fried noodles, and packets of broth and seasoning oil.
• Heat: None to mild.

Cooking: Boil 1.33C water, place noodles and seasoning in serving bowl. Pour the water over the noodles and let it steam for ~3 minutes. Stir and serve.

Contains wheat noodles, palm oil, iodized salt, and other ingredients, but no preservatives. Contains wheat, soy, and may even have shrimp, eggs, fish, milk.

My Story

I have 1-2 posts left just to complete the reviews of the instant noodle soups I bought “way back when.” It has been illuminating for me, hopefully for you too. Thanks for joining me.

—Patty

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Articles in this series.

Global Noodles + Soup 1 Intro on the series + reviews
Global Noodles + Soup 2 History + packages commonalities + reviews
Packaged Instant Noodles 3 Info on noodles + Koyo reviews
Instant Noodles + Soups Healthy 4 Info on health + reviews
Instant Noodles + Soups Feed the World 5 Emergency food + Lotus reviews
Focusing on Instant Phở 6 Discussing this soup + reviews
Making Phở at Home December 13, 2019
Noodles + Soup Etiquette 7 How to eat noodle soup + reviews
Instant Noodle + Soup Makers 8 Info on the manufacturers + reviews
Vita Ramen Noodles + Soup 9 Review on Vita Ramen packages