I read with great interest the July 13 editorial "The price of ramen," because I've been working on an article on ramen in America. Undoubtedly, rising prices for this convenient foodstuff will be a challenging problem for some time.
However, a recent news item indicated that Japanese scientists had already "tweaked" rice flour, to use it instead of wheat for the more demanding chores of making bread and pastry. I e-mailed the agriculture ministry asking for confirmation of the news, but have had no reply.
Using such rice flour to create noodles with body and flavor similar to that of current wheat noodles might help solve two problems: reduce wheat imports and encourage Japanese land owners to become rice growers again.
There would be also an added bonus -- the traditional Japanese genius would attain another valuable scientific and commercial feather for its cap.
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