ramen

1. 1
   noununcountable

   A Japanese-Chinese style dish of wheat noodles served in seasoned broth with various ingredients such as sliced pork, egg, and vegetables.

   The chef ladled rich pork broth over the ramen and topped it with sliced chashu.

   Long lines form outside the shop famous for its spicy miso ramen.

   Note

   The name itself records how the noodles began. Japanese rāmen comes from Mandarin lāmiàn, "pulled noodles," and English has also borrowed the same word along other routes, as laghman, lamian and ramyeon. The dish's cheapness has made it a byword for scraping by. Tad Friend, writing in The New Yorker in 2016, describes a founder's first goal as becoming "ramen profitable," which means earning just enough to afford noodles for dinner.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   A type of instant noodle product, sold dried in blocks or cups and prepared quickly by adding hot water.

   Like the instant coffee of the noodle world: fast, cheap, and ready in minutes.

   Students keep packs of ramen in their dorm rooms for late-night meals.

   She doctored the cheap ramen with an egg and a handful of spinach.

3. 3
   interjectionhumorous

   A jocular stand-in for "amen," swapping in the noodle dish's name to express hearty agreement or to humorously close a blessing.

   He bowed his head over the steaming bowl and murmured, "Ramen."

   To good company and full stomachs, ramen!

   Similaramen

   Note

   This pun was born among Pastafarians, followers of the parody faith of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, who use it to close mock prayers: "for ever and ever. RAmen." Writers often capitalize both the R and the A to flag the joke, because spoken aloud it sounds exactly like the noodle soup. It is playful rather than devout, so it is best kept for company that will catch the reference.

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