Oishinbo 3: Ramen & Gyoza
Posted: May 15, 2009 Filed under: Oishinbo 3 Comments »Now, this volume had a topic I could really get into. I actually enjoy eating ramen and noodle dishes quite a bit when I’m out, and my roommate recently turned me on to gyoza. I was pretty excited about reading this volume.
Weirdly, these stories don’t quite go into the pornographic detail of food preparation that the other volumes did. Also, most of the stories are about ramen and noodle dishes, and there was only one extended story about gyoza.
One of the ramen stories was about how the noodles were prepared and how care needs to go into both making the noodles as well as cooking them. A couple of the stories in this volume (including th gyoza story) were about either Japan making Chinese food their own, or making Japanese interpretations of Chinese dishes better by looking at how they are prepared in China. Also, quality of ingredients is stressed again and again, including things like unbleached flour for noodles, free-range chickens, stuff like that.
Many of the stories were battles between Yamaoka and his father Kaibara. I wonder how frequently this happens if you were following the series chronologically. These always strike me as a little humorous. They follow a very rigid structure, where the two men will happen into one another, Yamaoka will decide he wants to show up Kaibara, the two will glare menacingly at each other for a while, the food will be prepared, and somehow Kaibara will come out on top because he knows the ingredients better. The menacing glares are really what tickles me, especially coming from Kaibara.
One of the duel stories was kind of interesting, because each one of them took a side between two feuding towns that were both trying to invent a local dish in an attempt to stage a “revival festival” and stimulate the economy. The approaches in this story were unexpected for this series, where you would imagine that the two would each come up with an elaborate dish made of the finest ingredients. That wasn’t so much the case.
There’s also an interesting chapter at the very end about the Japanese words for “China,” what Asian countries prefer to be called and why the English titles prevail, the etymology of some of the country names, and some background about how the old name for China is considered racist. It was a pretty interesting discussion.
While it didn’t go into the insane detail the other two books did, it did what neither of those two could. I’m going out for ramen and gyoza tomorrow night. Congratulations, Oishinbo! Mission accomplished!
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
[...] (There it is, Plain as Daylight) Edward Zacharias on vol. 35 of Naruto (Animanga Nation) Connie on vol. 3 of Oishinbo: Ramen and Gyoza (Slightly Biased Manga) Connie on Over the Rainbow (Slightly Biased Manga) Lissa Pattillo on [...]
Hi, I have also read Oishinbo: Ramen and Gyoza and I found it highly enjoyable and entertaining.
As has been noted before, the characters and storyline are secondary, and the culinary “battles” between Kaibara and his estranged son Yamaoka are hilarious in their cheesiness and in how its all taken so seriously, I mean come on even Iron chef doesn’t take itself THAT seriously! XD “The true path of gyoza?” Ok.
The art is rough and almost childlike at places, while the food is drawn most realistically. There are no memorable female characters and really the only two characters with any character at all are Kaibara and Yamaoka themselves, who are frankly assholes, if in a funny way. XD
I myself am no cook and can barely muster up instant noodles, so all this discussion about wheat, the temperature for cooking ramen, etc was extremely interesting and kind of useful to me.
As a person of Chinese descent, I was most intrigued about the very last chapter which related the etymology of the Japanese name for “China.” Because of World War II and other events many Chinese people still do not like Japan and I realize how the term “Shina” as used in Japan can be seen as extremely racist and derogatory by Chinese people, especially of the older generation. It was also refreshing to see that Kariya acknowledges how Chinese feel about the war, if only in a very small way, and in the story everything turns out well at the end, with the name of the offending shop changed from “Shinasoba” (an old term referring to ramen noodles coming originally from China) to simply “ramen”, which is ethnically neutral and much, much more politically correct.
I believe this manga is worth reading further, as my knowledge of noodles and dumplings have been increased exponentially. Despite his assery Yamaoka really is truly passionate about food, no matter what his dad says, and it is clear that Kariya loves good food in all its forms, whether Japanese, Chinese, or French.
Thank you for your thoughts! I’m always happy to see another perspective. This was my favorite volume so far and one of the most entertaining. And I’d agree that the most interesting chapter was the one discussing the Japanese name for China. I was completely engrossed in the discussion and all the cultural implications the characters were laying out as the names of countries throughout the years were discussed. I think that was the main thing I took away from the volume.
Thanks again!