It’s Nissin, not Nissan.
Lots of great info, though. I love those little noodles.
Whoa, thanks. I’ll make sure it gets edited.
Jill
I thought it was Datsun - or am I having a seventies flashback…? (If you didn’t understand that, you must be under twenty-five…)
I must say, while reading this piece I really felt that Ramen Pride swell up inside!
Let me point out that the column in question is What’s the deal with ramen noodles?. Let me also point out that JillGat’s guess was wrong. The Japanese word for “pervert” is hentai (or chikan), not zotti.
Zouchi, however, means “establishment of more offices”.
Ramen is bad for you? NOOOOOOO!!!
Anyhoo, I tried the baked ramen…blech. It was pretty gross.
Amazing, stupendous, unbelievable revelation:
I’ve never seen ramen noodles.
I gather from the article that they come in blocks, and you cook them (boil?) and add flavoring. But, do you end up with a bunch of cooked noodles which are lightly coated with something like chicken broth and dried parsley, or is it more of a gravy or a soup? Or what? What, exactly, is the cooking process? And so many flavors - what are they all? Chicken, beef, pork, some sort of fish, cheese, parsnip?
Dude, they cost 20 cents. Go buy a pack. 
There is a chance, however remote it may be, that Sparteye has never seen them because they are not sold in his/her vicinity. Heck, I went nearly three decades before I knew they existed!
But now that you know they’re out there, Sparteye, it works like this. It’s basically a congealed block of noodles. You plop it into boiling water, then drain the water after it’s done cooking. Then ya plop it onto a plate and munch on it. It’s salty, though.
[[You plop it into boiling water, then drain the water after it’s done cooking. Then ya plop it onto a plate and munch on it. It’s salty, though]]
Drain the water? You might, but that’s not what the directions say.
Not that I’m a purist… I also like em dry in a cabbage salad.
[Edited by JillGat on 06-13-2001 at 09:55 PM]
Guess I’m misremembering. I have a ton of them in my pantry, but I haven’t touched them in… Oh, it has to be months, now.
I also like 'em dry. The throught of actually eating that sludge water as soup makes my stomach turn.
That leads me to this question:
As has been discussed, Ramen is pretty bad for you. How much of the unhealthy stuff do I get rid of by draining the broth and just eating the noodles? The nutrition information on the back of the package is for noodles + flavor packet.
The column said that the noodles are fried in palm oil, which leads me to believe that they are the part that’s bad for you. However, I must be adding some years back on to my lifespan by not eating the powdered bullion cube as well. Anybody know?
Aw, dude, you don’t eat the sludge water, you pick out the noodles with a fork and dump the sludge water.
They may sell ramen noodles where Sparteye lives but he’s just never noticed them. I never did, until the Better Half brought some home one day. They lurk in the soup aisle, by the Cup-A-Soups. The end product, Sparteye, is a batch of tiny skinny long noodles in a clear, practically tasteless (but salty) broth. The ones in the styrofoam cups, you pour boiling water over them, let them sit for 5 minutes, and as I said, scoop out the noodles with a fork. Don’t eat the soup, it’s awful.
The ones that come in a plastic pack, you put into a BIG ceramic bowl, like a small mixing bowl or one of those big Corelle salad bowls that holds about 4 cups–a cereal bowl won’t work, it’ll boil over in the microwave–with enough water to cover, plus the contents of the little flavoring packet, and you nuke it for anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes, depending on your microwave. Stand time is important with ramen noodles–let them sit for 5 minutes. Then you scoop out the noodles with a fork. Don’t eat the soup, it’s awful.
The noodles themselves are amazingly filling. Now I know why–it’s the palm oil. Hits that “satiety” button smack in the middle, every time.
Frobozz, I would assume that draining the soup would save on total sodium intake, but since the noodles themselves are “lightly fried in palm oil” at the factory, it probably wouldn’t help with the cholesterol.
So do what we do. “Your body makes its own cholesterol, you know,” the Better Half and I remind each other as we wolf down ramen noodles.
You guys must get lousy ramen noodles on your side of the big pond. I loves me some ramen soup, especially chicken flavored. The best are the ones with directions that are barely recognizable as English. (“Never be exposed to sunlight!”) Slurrrrrp, slurrrrrrp.
The kind in the styrofoam cup, however, are an abomination.
You’re microwaving them, DDG??? No wonder they’re coming out so bad. You bring water to boil on the stovetop (two cups per package of noodles), and then, only once it’s boiling, you break in the noodles (you’ve got to break the block before putting it in or you’ll get noodles too long for consumption with Occidental utensils). Boil three minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat, mix in the flavored MSG, and you’ve got the food of Heaven.
OK, I lied about that last part. Pierogis are the food of Heaven, but ramen’s still pretty good.
According to the Book of Ramen, you can lower the calorie content of ramen by rinsing the noodles well after you cook them. I imagine that makes them taste pretty bland, though. Just don’t eat em at every meal and use half the “flavor” packet (to lower your sodium intake). That’s my advice.
This just struck me as soooo cool. The Book of Raman! According to the Book of Raman, the noodles taste best with the blood of a virgin mixed with yak’s milk and the head of Alfredo Garcia.
[sub]or is that Willy the Mail Boy?[/sub]
I don’t use the flavor packets that come with them - I make my own flavoring with bullion (as opposed to flavored salt), dash of soy sauce, and a couple drops of hot sauce. Use just enough water to boil the noodles without burning them on the bottom of the pot. Add vegetables. Yum.
As for the cholesterol - if you don’t add meat to the mix it’s probably not any more than the average American meal.
My mom also likes to gussie them up with her own ingredients and addititives. I think that defeats the whole purpose of a 10-cent meal.
Thanks for the tips, everyone.
Sheesh, does it ever! Man, it’s so freakin’ simple. Ya make it on the stove in a few minutes, then you eat it. If I wanted a more complicated meal, I’d go to Taco Bell…
When I first stopped drinking, Ramen noodles became my substitute. Whenever I wanted a drink, I would mix up a bowl and put crispy fried noodles on top. I don’t know why I did this, but it worked.
I haven’t had them in years, but I’m getting some this weekend!