A post on the social site Reddit caused a debate recently after Redditor u/enotonom shared to the r/interestingasf**k subreddit a photo of a menu at a ramen restaurant they went to in Japan.
In the photo, the ramen eatery gave patrons a choice of spiciness at 10 different levels, which are notably matched to several countries, including Malaysia.
Ramen eatery in Japan says Malaysians’ spice tolerance level is just ‘mid’
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The post then made it to the front page of Reddit, garnering over 6,700 upvotes and being crossposted to many other subreddits on the platform.
In the title, u/enotonom wrote, “Ramen restaurant in Japan matching spice level with nationality”.
In the comments, the Redditor revealed that the Ramen eatery is called “Gyumon Ramen”, a Halal ramen eatery that has several branches around Tokyo.
The eatery said that the choice of spiciness levels is only for their spicy ramen, with each level having its own prices.
For Level 1, Gyumon Ramen matched the spice level as suitable for Japanese people, while Level 2 is recommended for everyone regardless of nationality.
Levels 3 to 5 are matched with Malaysians and Singaporeans, with the eatery basically saying that the spiciness levels are ‘mid’.
Gyumon Ramen then matched Levels 6 to 8 to South Koreans, the 2nd highest tiers of spiciness on the list.
As for the ‘Danger Zone!’, which is associated with levels 8 to 10, Gyumon Ramen said that these highest spiciness levels are only tolerable by Indonesians.
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Malaysians are divided on the spiciness tolerance ranking
Crossposted to the r/Malaysia subreddit, many Malaysians gave their 2 cents on the ramen eatery’s spiciness ranking system.
One commenter said that without trying to have any bias on the matter, they think that the rankings look about right.
However, one commenter disagreed and said that it was a ‘joke’ to put Malaysians’ spiciness level so low.
A Redditor then replied to this comment, saying that given that Malaysia is a multicultural nation, not everyone has a high tolerance for spiciness in their daily menu.
So, what do you guys think of Gyumon Ramen’s spiciness rankings based on nationalities? Do you agree with Malaysia’s position on the list? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: BuzzFeed Tasty Claims ‘Ramen Omelette’ is a “Famous M’sian Dish”, Leaving M’sian Netizens Confused