Ramen

July 22, 2012

In front of the ramen restaurant a long line appeared every day. That ramen's taste was kind of simple but somehow fascinated customers. The owner of another competing ramen restaurant which was almost bankrupt because of this ramen restaurant's good business, came to the restaurant and ordered the ramen and it came. He said to the cook in front of the counter. "What a flavourful ramen! The stock must be from a lot of ingredients and some complex procedure."
The cook glanced at the man without any suspicious appearance and said. "We only use chicken bones, onions, carrots

and celery and just boil it and put some soy sauce in it." The cook didn't look like he was telling a lie. The man thought the staff were just the same as his ramen restaurant. He said, "In that case you must use special soy sauce made from a complex process." The cook said teasingly, "You like the word 'complex', don't you, mister? But I don't think using this is so complicated." He showed him a bottle of soy sauce on the counter. It was one of the major brand names and his restaurant also used the same kind.
He was puzzled.
"But I think this flavor is kind of complex..." He smiled bitterly. The cook said cheerfully. "You customers always want to think that things are so complex, but things are usually much simpler." Finally he took a big bottle of transparent liquid from under the counter. He said still in a cheerful voice. "We used this water. This is just plain mineral water. Of course water is one of the most important things for any foods though." He winked.
The label on the bottle was not familiar to the man. His eyes shone and he said. "Of course it must be plain water but I simply want to drink this water that the best ramen restaurant uses. Can you sell me some?" Surprisingly the cook said yes. The man paid the cook and rushed to his restaurant with a big bottle of water. In the kitchen he made a bowl of ramen using the special water and ate it. It wasn't any different from his original, plain dull tasting ramen.
(To be continued...)