ついつい誰かに話したくなってしまう日本のこと。
今回は日本発祥モノをフカボリ！
『インスタントラーメン』を説明してみましょう。

まずはKey Words & Phrasesから。

テーマに関連する語句

instant（即席の・インスタントの）　
dried noodles（乾めん）
broth（スープ・だし汁）
unflavored（味付けされていない）
cup noodles / plastic bowl noodles / noodles in plastic bowl（カップめん）　
packaged noodles（袋めん）

一般的な語句

origin（起源・生まれ・発祥）
accepted as（～として認められる）
Taiwan-born（台湾生まれの）《 -bornの前に地名をおいて「●●生まれ」》
has been around for centuries（昔からずっとある）
successfully（うまく・成功裏に）
local taste（現地の嗜好・好み）
at that time（その当時は）
come up with（～を考えだす・思いつく）
generally speaking（一般的には）
in the first place（そもそも・最初に）
food shortage（食料不足）

続いて、今回のテーマに挑戦！

Did you know the origin of instant noodles is Japan?
（インスタントラーメンは日本発祥って知ってましたか？）

・Instant noodles are internationally accepted as a quick and convenient meal, they were originally born in Japan. It was actually invented by a Taiwan-born Japanese.
・Although dried noodles have been around for centuries in Japan, these noodles were unflavored. Broth needed to be prepared separately and it required time to cook.
・The inventor of instant noodles successfully made the cooking process simpler and easier by making it possible to cook broth while cooking noodles.
・Instant noodles can be arranged to the local taste and culture for any religion in the world, they are now sold in more than 80 countries.

3 Questions for Digging Deeper! 《 もっと掘り下げてみよう！ 》

1. What kind of instant noodle flavors are popular in Japan?
（日本ではどんな味のインスタントラーメンが人気なの？）

Generally speaking, popular flavors in Japan include salt, soy sauce, soy-bean and pork-bone broth. It seems like different flavors are popular in other countries such as beef, vegetables, and shrimp.

2. Are cup noodles also from Japan?
（カップめんも日本生まれなの？）

That’s right. It was invented by the same person who invented instant noodles. The original instant noodles were packed in a bag and needed to be served in a bowl. The inventor found that there were no customs of eating noodles in a bowl with chopsticks in the western countries at that time. He came up with the idea of cup noodles, which are already in a container and can be eaten with a fork. Now, both packaged and plastic bowl noodles are popular worldwide.

3. Why were instant noodles developed in the first place?
（そもそもインスタントラーメンが開発された理由は？）

The inventor started his business with the corporate mission of “sufficient food makes the world peaceful”. It is said that one of the reasons why he developed instant noodles was to help food shortage after the second world war.

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普段、何気なく食しているインスタントラーメンですが、日本が世界に誇る発明品と言っても過言ではないですね。

まずはビジネス英会話力チェック(無料)をお試しください

BBTオンライン英会話はポイント制で、 受講ペースと4つのコースの組み合わせは自由自在です。