How to Slurp Food in Japan!

When you hear a slurping sound, how do you feel? Is it rude or uneducated? Or do you feel uncomfortable? When you visit ramen or soba restaurants in Japan for the first time, you might be surprised that Japanese people slurp. Today I’m going to share my opinion about this. Let’s dive in!

Rude or Tradition?

One day, I came across the term “noodle harassment” on the internet. I’ve never heard of it before. It says an idea that you should refrain from slurping because you might make others, especially foreigners, feel uncomfortable when you eat something. Wow, it shocked the heck out of me. For sure, I agree that it’s rude when you chew with your mouth open and slurp Western foods. I was taught that it’s impolite by my parents. Especially, chewing sounds make others feel uncomfortable. However, 啜る (susuru: slurping) is totally different. It’s part of our culture to appreciate Japanese food. Plus, you can’t always slurp every single Japanese food, there’s food you can slurp. I’ll tell you about it. 

History 

According to the internet, they say that it started from the Edo period. It seemed 粋 (iki : cool and sophisticated) to slurp soba noodles. When you’re busy, the way of eating, which is slurping, would be effective because you can eat it faster and avoid the soba getting soggy, plus slurping helps you eat soup and noodles at the same time! In that way, you can taste soba well by intertwining the noodles and the soup. That’s one of the reasons why people started slurping. One more thing, there is a traditional manner of slurping matcha at tea ceremonies. It is called 吸い切り(suikiri), which is slurping your tea at the very end. It shows appreciation and respect for the host who served the tea. But nobody does that with coffee or tea in their daily life; it’s only at official tea ceremonies. Thus, it’s safe to say that slurping is part of Japanese culture.

What Types of Foods Can You Slurp?

As I said earlier, you shouldn’t slurp everything in Japan. You may do it with ramen, soba, udon, miso soup or natto. It doesn’t necessarily mean hot foods. We also do cold noodles like ざる蕎麦 (zaru soba: cold soba). This is because you can taste the noodles and the soup with air. Compared to eating it without slurping, the taste is way better. 

Let’s Do It Now!

Let’s try slurping ramen! First step, you grab 4 or 5 strings of noodles using your chopsticks. Next, you inhale the noodles and the intertwined soup together. The trick is speed, and you need to do it very quickly. You might choke on it at first, but it’s OK. You can adjust the amount of noodles and the speed of inhaling. Rome wasn’t built in a day, right? You might slurp one or two strings of noodles first. Now you get the hang of it. Remember, you don’t have to be ashamed of yourself because you can’t slurp. It’s totally natural. 

Here’s my slurping sound sample at a ramen stand for your reference below.

To conclude

Strange enough, chewing and making noise while eating is usually considered impolite in Japan. Parents tell their kids not to eat with their mouths open. However, the only exception is when you eat these types of foods. I think I might feel a little bit rebellious because I was suppressed in my childhood, in a joking way. To be honest, breaking the rule is fun, isn’t it? Practically speaking, this way of eating enhances the taste because it can come with air and soup. In 落語 (rakugo: Japanese traditional comedy), the actors express how delicious the food is using only a slurping sound. Whenever I hear the sound, I can imagine the moment you eat noodles easily.  That being said, don’t play like a wine connoisseur; it looks funny. There is a comfortable volume of sound. You can tell when you carefully look around.  Well, it is said, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” If you ever visit Japan, you might want to try it. If you get the hang of it, your time in Japan will be amazing, at least I hope so. Thank you for taking the time to read my article to the end. See you in my next article!  

Kazu. K

I worked at a trading company for many years. I live in Tokyo with my wife. Love skiing, traveling, IPAs, wine , X-treme sports, fashion, and learning English and Chinese.