I'm a bit saddened that we don't seem to have too many of these kinds of "multiple ingredient, endless variation" style foods here in the US. Most regional fare (pizza, BBQ) is comparatively simple. Or is it just me?
Isn't pizza a prime example of "multiple ingredients, endless variation"? After all, at a fundamental level pizza is oven-baked "stuff on flatbread", even the flatbread (dough) can be customised (different styles, seasoning, stuffing), to say nothing of the base sauce, cheeses and other toppings.
The US has lots of sandwich variants. Sometimes we use dipping sauces or soup sides, sometimes the ingredients are unusual, there are various styles of bread, toasted vs. untoasted, etc. This is a food genre that is shared with Europe and the Commonwealth, of course, but original variants abound here.
True, I was just thinking about that! But on the other hand, it's hard to compare a sandwich — something that usually takes no more than an hour of cooking, total — with ramen, whose broth can take several days to make, and whose flavorants alone have rich traditions and endless varieties.
EDIT: But I suppose it becomes a lot more true if you factor in the bread, and include things like bagels.
I think you're looking at the other side of the fence with too rosy of glasses. Is not bread for those sandwiches labor intensive? The fillings too -- all sorts of roasts and vegetables and pickles and meats that can each take a while to make. Why is it that 'broth' is allowed to add to the time of Ramen when these things arent allowed to add to the time of a sandwich?
Not to mention BBQ is something that does take a lot of time -- 2, 4, 8, 24 hours of BBQing, even multiple days if you sous vide it.
Yes, you're right. I thought of Katz's right after I posted that!
As for BBQ, I am not saying that it's an unworthy food in any way. It's just that ramen seems to have a lot more variations on account of all the different combinations of ingredients. (Broth, base, fillings, noodles.) Same with pasta in Italy. That's what I mean by "simple". (Though, yes, I suppose there are a whole lot of sauces and rubs, too.)
I think people who aren't heavy BBQ fans don't fully appreciate the number of decisions that goes into a well-made BBQ. The sauces and rubs alone show a huge amount of variation that can make or break the entire thing.
Others have argued for pizza, but I'll add that pasta in generally is like this (tons of variety both in how you sauce it and how you make the dough). Many egg dishes are great for this as well, such as quiches, omelets and frittatas, all of which are great for using up random leftovers :)
