Ramen Hats

Ramen is a mass identity food with two tracks. Instant came first: Nissin's Momofuku Ando introduced Chicken Ramen in 1958, Cup Noodles arrived in 1971, and Cup Noodles passed 50 billion sold worldwide in 2021. The restaurant bowl has its own vocabulary of tonkotsu, chashu and ajitama, and its own etiquette: in Japan, slurping loudly signals enjoyment and compliments the chef. In between sits the home cook upgrading a packet, and a Mumsnet thread about it has posters adding an egg, spring onions or fresh kimchi. Nissin itself opened an official "Send Noods" merch store in October 2018, embroidered snapback hats included. These ramen hats play critic pomposity against a very cheap bowl. RAMEN and RAMEN LOVER are the badges. The sentence designs cover the slurping motto, an 18-hour broth from someone who sleeps five, a self-awarded Michelin star for cup noodles, the egg that turns instant ramen into cuisine, finishing the broth as a matter of honor, the Send Noods slogan, and a Rome pun. The Michelin star and Send Noods each earn a second colorway. Pho Lover Hats covers Vietnamese noodle soup; ramen has its own vocabulary and now its own page. Every design is custom embroidered on an unstructured dad hat.