To slurp or not to slurp??

[neko_girl22]

ok, I TRY to slurp my udon, somen, whatever! but I can't!! my J-hubby has tried to teach me but I can't so I have given up. It's not a big thing, but I would like to have the option of slurping ;)

Can you slurp? Or perhaps it offends you? (would you walk out of a ramen shop in protest??)

[jeisan]

slurping is fun. there used to be a site (jp.from-hanna.com) that had a comical way of showing you how to slurp amoung other things like how to celebrate "barentains dei" but they have since quit doing it, which sucks because it was a really good site.

[neko_girl22]

oh I remember that article,that guy wrote really funny pieces about cultural things in Japan. I will miss reading those!

oh and by slurping I mean sucking the noodles into your mouth with some soup. I can make the noises but the noodles don't go anywhere hehe. Of course I have no problem using chopsticks, but that just doesn't seem as fun

[Anguz]

slurping is nice... I asked a japanese friend if it was or bad manners to do it and she told me it was actually good manners, that you were showing your were liking the food... that was all it took to not make me feel bad to slurp

first it wasn't that easy, now I can do it with lots of ramen or udon hehehe... at the beginning I tried with ramen and I couldn't make it go up either, but I noticed that I was closing the mouth to much, fearing the ramen would fall if I didn't hold it with my lips

with some practice, I noticed that I shouldn't be trying that, that I had to hold them and bring them up sucking them, so I let go the ramen a bit with my lips, enough that I wasn't holding them any more, and sucked hard... they went up really well!



with more drilling, you'll get to a point where you won't spill the soup on the table too much, or your face when the last part of the ramen -or udon or whatever- goes into your mouth, by controlling your suck hehe

you have to suck just enough, not too much so you don't throw soup around, or so little that it'll fall... of course, if you need to stop to get a breath, you hold it with your teeth of lips for a moment... you can help them up a bit with your chopsticks too, although you won't always need it

I do put my chopsticks on both sides of the ramen, a bit under half way up to my mouth, so that they don't move around when I get them up, more to keep them straight than getting them up, but without holding them

slurp away ;)

[Himura]

Yes, I can!! Iｴm a Slurp-Master! Haha

[SalaryMan]

I won't troll here. I'll just say I dont like it as it runs the risk of inhalig liquid.

[kirei_na_me]

Call me a slurping prude, but I don't like to slurp nor do I like to hear slurping. I guess it was because of my upbringing. I was taught that it was bad manners, and I guess it just stuck. I don't really think it's necessary to slurp. I don't really buy the theory that they do it because it's hot, because I really don't think slurping does anything to cool it off or whatever. If I am eating any noodles that are in soup--or any noodles in general--I pick them up with my chopsticks, push them into my mouth a bit, and bite them off. I will not suck them up. Besides, when I slurp, I make a huge mess!

[neko_girl22]

I would never slurp in NZ because it's bad manners there too. and I think Japanese people who visit should adjust accordingly - I remember my Mum being a little offended by my sister-in-law who made quite a bit of noise slurping her green tea.
In Japan it's not bad manners so I give it a try ;) We only think it's bad manners because of our upbringing - there is no real reason for us to think that really.
but whether we slurp or not, it doesn't really matter ;)

KNM, doesn't your husband slurp? I know it took a while for me to get used to the noise Achan makes - especially with somen hehe... It doesn't bother me at all now - which is a good thing since I LOVE going to somen nagashi, full of people slurping away.

[kirei_na_me]

Hehehe...yeah, he slurps! He slurps like a madman. I sometimes wish I had a picture of myself hearing him slurp for the first time. I'm sure the look would've been priceless. I'm sure it would've been much like the looks on my family's faces when they heard him do it for the first time. Sometimes I don't mind it and I don't even pay attention to it, but sometimes it really gets on my nerves. Say if we were by ourselves and there was no background noise, it would bother me.

It can be embarassing here. When we first started dating, we'd go to our friends' restaurant(they are Chinese) and when they would make ramen for him, he would slurp the noodles and everyone around us would be staring. He would also order it extra spicy, so he would also be snorting and sweating like crazy. What a scene!!!!

[budd]

slurping here, but rather inept, whars mah spoon?
anyway, nothing is more noisy than being at a barbecue fest with five/ten/twenty men at a table
or messy -- an constipated werewolf in bugtussle, for real
edit: sweating here with the nabeyaki udon AND donburi variations

[SalaryMan]

My wife's mother sucks up (slups) the following foods which I can remeber.

Pizza - Purukogi pizza from Pizza hut ( was the first time i'd seen someone attempt to suck up a pizza ) This was the most amazing thing i had ever seen , a 3/4 inch wide peice of pizza DOESN'T fit into the average mouth whilst sucking.

Fries - yup! supprised she hasn't sucked one into her lungs yet.

Chicken from nabe - Cut a peice of and suck it into your mouth for some stupid reason.

Somen , ramen , udon blah blah

yaki niku , any vegetable , curry , ... well , anything really. I really don't see how sound with your food makes it taste better. Besides , we are never in complete silence. If we were we would be able to hear our own blood pumping. So making extra sound really makes no difference.

[budd]

hey, how does she look? i had to ask

[silver angel]

I always do it when I'm in an asian restaurant because then my sister can't yell at me for being rude...hawr hawr

[beastiebacon]

I learned to slurp when I was in Japan, but it's not appretiated in the US

[kov]

I'l a bit like nzueda -- slurping is not a problem for my ears, it's a problem for my mouth. Although I voted "Yes, I can", it's a pity there's no item in the selection for " ... but I'm lousy at it". While I can eventually slurp in some noodles, it's only after I've had my head in the bowl hoovering madly for a long time.

Why is this? Is it something that you can only learn as a child? Why are people like us so abysmal at it?

[neko_girl22]

oh yay someone like me at last. but it sounds like you're even better than me..... I slurp...make all the right noises but the noodles go nowhere so I end up eating lady-like with my chopsticks. My inability to slurp never fails to amuse my friends.....

[ragedaddy]

Yep, I am guilty of becoming acclimated to slurping ramen, soba, udon, miso shiru etc. The bad thing about it is when I go back to the states I will probably unconsciously slurp my spaghetti noodles or soup, and the people with me are probably going to think was this kid born in a barn or what? Oh well, at least my chopstick skills will definitely exceed most of theirs, so it`s all good.

[neko_girl22]

still can't slurp.... but I wont give up
at least I have absolutely no problem with chopsticks .....I feel more at home with a pair of hashi than a knife and fork

[nata_no]

I can slurp, and it means good manners in Japan.
However, I try not to, its not healthy, slurping means eating air too, lol, will cos tummy to be filled up with air.

[boroboro]

I'm sure everybody reading this post must have seen the movie Tampopo. I can't watch that movie wthout going out to eat. No killer ramen shops in Denver so it's usually a vietnamese pho joint. But as to the manner thing, I think the common sense rule, "when in Rome," applies. Sayoo nara Daisuke

[Ayumi-chan]

Yeah, I can slurp... I usually suck at it, but I occasionaly get some in! It's fun, but it grosses out my parents...which gives me even more reason to do it in their presence! Whenever there's silence, SLUUUUUURRRRP!

[beluga]

Just one advice... Don't slurp too hard as it may go into your nose. It has occured to me before. Luckily it's cold soba not hot udon...

[kirei_na_me]

I think I've ruined a shirt or two trying to slurp...

[beluga]

Heh heh... I guess the noodle you were slurping is kinda wavy huh? As you slurp, it starts to wriggle. Heh heh...

[Hachiko]

I think slurping noodles is fine. Not to have anything against not slurping, but it's not like we should be living in a Victorian society or something...this 2004, not 1904, for cryin' out loud!