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Mmmmmm…
Ramen noodles. How can one possibly begin to explain all the potential that lies waiting to be discovered beneath that unassuming plastic wrapper? The flavor begging to be released from those tightly bound cubes of flash-fried freezer-dried noodles? Steep them in boiling water! Liberate them! Let them dance! How can anyone not be excited about the endless array of recipe possibilities, about a food item that probably has a longer lifespan than the average human being if left untouched? Imagine! A meal that costs less than a quarter!
Not enticed? It’s okay. After freshman year, the prospect of eating another pack of ramen noodles is probably enough to make even the most stringent penny pinchers wrinkle their noses in distaste. Though a cool idea at first, the novelty quickly wears off and ramen noodles become the one food that everyone is sick of eating.
However, ramen noodles are versatile and incredibly affordable, and although sometimes difficult to stomach, filling, even though they have virtually zero nutritional value., Unless, of course, you consider sodium, (37 percent of the recommended daily intake), transfats, and MSG major food groups. But that’s okay. The typical college student consumes very little that has substantial nutritional value. One can always toss down a multivitamin while debating how much broth creates that perfect bowl of Ramen.
A quick foray online will reveal something very interesting: ramen noodles are not solely the food of destitute college students. Some people in the real world with real jobs and real money eat this delicacy regularly. They even serve it to their children.
The variations on the ramen theme are limited only by the imagination and available ingredients of the consumer. “Dave used to eat them with peanut butter. He would unwrap it, smear peanut butter on it, and just crunch into it like it was a cracker,” says Jeff Maclay, 21, of his former roommate. “Actually, Dave made it with Mountain Dew sometimes, instead of water. I was pissed because he kept wasting a can at a time of Mountain Dew to make ramen. But he liked it.”
Liz Hollis, 20, a Health and Wellness major, considers ramen noodles “convenient, classy, delicious.”.
The possibilities are seemingly endless. “I can see people combining it with peanut butter. I can see people combining it with wine,” she says.
Hollis divulged a late-night reipe she dubbed Mac-a-Ramen Noodles that she used to whip up for her friends during her freshman year.
“Mac-a-Ramen Noodles are a delicious and inventive way to combine macaroni & cheese, Easy Mac specifically, and ramen noodles, specifically chicken,” she says. “You can try other flavors, but they taste horrible. It’s just a good combination: cheese and chicken. It’s kind of a way to make ramen noodles a more filling meal. It’s a good meal for under two bucks. It’s best describable as a Rice-a-Roni kind of flavor.”
College students are always on the go and often aren’t picky about how to stave off hunger pain.
“I’ve seen a lot of people just pouring the ingredient packet inside the thing of [dry] ramen noodles and just eating it straight like that,” Hollis says.
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Instant ramen noodles (the kind with which college students everywhere are most familiar) were created as a solution: an inexpensive and convenient way to better feed the working class in post-war Japan.
“I happened to pass this area and saw a line 20, 30 meters long, in front of a dimly lit stall from which clouds of steam were steadily rising,” wrote the late Momofuku Ando, the inventor of “Instant Ramen Noodles,” in his 2002 autobiography “The Story of the Invention of Instant Ramen.”
Here, he was walking down the rubble-strewn streets of Osaka. “People dressed in shabby clothes shivered in the cold while waiting for their turn. The person who was with me said they were lined up for a bowl of ramen.”
Ramen already being a popular style of noodle in Japan, Ando began experimenting with noodle flavoring and preservation in the shack in his backyard to create a type that would feed people more efficiently. He eventually came up with the first marketable instant form of it, calling it “Instant Ramen Noodles.”
Ironically, Ando was propelled from rags to riches by inventing a cheaper food product for the working class. Even more ironically, ramen noodles are now immensely popular in a very wealthy country where students are paying thousands of dollars per year to go to school, but still relish in the purchase of a 25-cent lunch.
“It’s cheap and it’s easy and it’s a college staple,” says Daelynn Fielders, 21. “Everyone’s poor. It’s all we can afford.”
But for those who want something more exciting than a bland bowl of mushy ramen, have hope! It can be made better with a couple of extra bucks and a little innovation.
Ramen noodles, when drained and plain, can be used as the base for a stir-fry. Chicken or tofu can be marinated with sesame oil and one of the seasoning packets. Add a bag of frozen vegetables. Add a sauce (soy, teriyaki, peanut, Worcestershire, barbeque ? whatever works.) Heat it up. If boiling with broth, add chopped up bacon, hotdogs or ground beef. Drop an egg in it to make an improvisational egg-drop soup. Consider using tomato, cheese or onions. Crush the noodles or keep them whole. Eat them well done or al dente. Or don’t cook them at all. Break them up over a salad. Spread with peanut butter or jelly and eat them like a cracker. Drizzle them with melted chocolate and caramel, refrigerate, and toss them in with a Chex mix or a trail mix. Use mayonnaise, horseradish, nacho cheese or hot sauce. Try adding it to chili.
Although not always the most appealing food, the one great thing about ramen is that it is so simple that it can be made into pretty much anything.
For actual ramen noodle recipes, check out these sites: http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen; http//www.budget101.com/ramen_noodle_recipes.html.