Contents
Noodle for lunch
Favorite breakfast for Japanese is bread (Bread for breakfast・Noodle for lunch・Rice for dinner ①,)
Top choice for lunch in Japan is "NOODLEs".
Noodles are quick and easy to prepare and eat. According to the survey taken by "allabout (allabout.co.jp)", the top 10 favorites for home lunch are:
Top 10 Lunch Pick
10th: Cold Ramen noodle (ひやしちゅうか・冷やし中華）
9th: Curry w/rice (かれーらいす・カレーライス）
8th: Soba noodle (そば）
7th: Fried rice (ちゃーはん・チャーハン・焼き飯）
6th: Sandwich (サンドイッチ）
5th: Udon noodle (うどん）
4th: Yakisoba noodle (やきそば・焼きそば）
3rd: Sōmen noodle (そうめん・ひやむぎ）
2nd: Ramen noodle (らーめん・ラーメン）
1st: Pasta noodle (パスタ・スパゲッティ）
7 out of 10 are NOODLES!
This result is highly likely for any subject groups.
How much Japanese people love noodles
Another survey taken by "マイボイスコム(myvoice.co.jp)" in 2019 with 10,289 participants also shows how much Japanese people like to eat noodles:
- 34% eat noodles 2-3 times a week.
- 9% eat noodles 4-5 times a week.
- 28% eat noodles 1 time a week
So, more than 70% eat noodle at least once a week, and 60-70% of those have noodle for lunch.
The top reason for choosing noodles is because they like it (65%), and also because it's easy (41%).
When you have noodles at home, you can be creative by adding toppings and sauces, making the dish a complete nutritious meal.
What is your favorite noodles? Japan has endless choices for you
The easiest are instant noodles or "かっぷめん・カップ麺・Cup men" which means noodle in a cup.
At any convenience stores or super markets, there is an entire aisle dedicated to "Cup-men". The variety is amazing: ramen, udon, soba, yakisoba, spaghetti, and each with different flavors, different toppings. Price is around ￥150～￥300 each.
Most Cup-mens are easy to prepare. Only thing you need is hot water. Open the lid, take out packets, usually empty packets into the bowl before pouring hot water. Pour hot water, close the lid, make sure it doesn't open. Wait for 3-4 minutes.
Because Cup-men market is very competitive and profitable, quality and value are quite high. Big manufacturers are staffed with top level food scientists that come up with innovative new flavors every week. YES! Every week!
The popular national brand "Nissin" releases 200-300 new products each year. There are other big names, so it's likely that you see something new every day.
The next is instant-men in a bag (not in a cup).
These are not in a serving cup, so you need to cook them in a pot. A bit more work... but, everything is in a bag so you boil water in a pot, add noodle and soup packets, cook for a few minutes, and it's ready to eat in your own bowl.
Good thing about this type is that you can add some toppings like egg, vegetables, meats, etc. Most of them are in dry food section, but more and more gourmet types are sold in refrigerated section of the market.
Tip on Yakisoba
Instant Cup Yakisoba is great, but remember to drain hot water!! Yakisoba is the noodle without soup. Cup Yakisoba often comes in square container.
You pour hot water, and let it cook for 3 minutes, then drain hot water before you add flavor packets. The container usually has 2 separate openings on opposite corners. One to peel off and pour hot water, the other to drain hot water (this one has small holes so you can drain only hot water and not the noodles (very clever design!)
After you drain hot water, open the lid completely, add flavor packets, mix well, and serve.
Among popular noodle shops, instant noodles, cup noodles, you will never get tired of noodles in Japan. Noodles are quick and easy, inexpensive, tasty and satisfying meals that have special place in the life of Japanese people.
いただきま～～す！(Slurp slurp slurp!)
See you next time! 
Please note
