Menma (メンマ, 麺麻, 麺碼) is the Japanese name forsunsi, which are Chineselacto-fermentedbamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots are dried in the sun or through other means before the process of fermentation. Menma is a common topping fornoodle soups, notablyramen. Menma is primarily produced inChina, with brands imported fromsouthern China andTaiwan being popular.[1] Menma is also known asshinachiku (支那竹), "Chinese bamboo".[1][2]
The trading company that would later become Marumatsu Bussan had been exporting dried bamboo shoots produced inTaiwan asshinachiku. In 1946, responding to a formal objection to the use of the termShina from the Chinese government, theJapanese Foreign Ministry issued a memorandum recommending that the term be avoided.[3] Marumatsu Bussan founder Shūsui Matsumura claims that he came up with the new product name menma, aportmanteau oframen (拉麺) andmachiku (麻竹), the type of bamboo from which it is made, after seeing it served atop ramen inYokohama Chinatown. This name could not be trademarked but gradually became accepted as the common name for the condiment as its popularity grew in Japan.
Menma is not, however, customarily eaten atop noodles in Taiwan; the vegetable toppings on the popular noodle dishzhajiangmian 菜碼 (Pinyin: càimǎ) were once called 麵碼 (miànmǎ).[citation needed]
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