Ramen: Nothing lost in translation

Posted on Jan 10 in Uncategorizedby nikaPrint

In the appreciation of Mr. Momofuku Ando, the late inventor of ramen noodles (1-9-07 ed New York Times by Lawerence Downes) Downes said,

“Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Give him ramen noodles, and you don’t have to teach him anything”.

Mr. Downes does a beautiful job of summing up the pros and cons of ramen-eating, it all rang so true. Its a beautiful appreciation of an interesting man who sought to make cheap good eats and who ended up feeding a globe of students.

I am not ashamed to admit that I rather like ramen noodles or that my kids like them.

I am sure there are a million million different ways to make them. Here is my way. I boil it 3 minutes, drain completely, add a bit of butter and then about 1/4 of the seasoning MSG package. I mix and wolf. Sometimes when I am really hungry (tho I did this more back in the grad school days), I add a raw egg after draining the noodles. I put it back on the stove until the egg is cooked (I am not all that fond of salmonella).

My husband makes it more like a soup.

Thanks to the ramen-conditioning I received as a youngin I have moved on to more adventerous territories like nuclear hot Korean ramen and miso soups directly from Japan that have no english on the package whatsoever. I just wing the directions and try to guess at the intended flavor(s).

Momofuku-san, we will raise a bowl of noodles in your memory today.

Some interesting links:

Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum Wiki entry

Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum (新横浜ラーメン博物館, Shin-Yokohama Rāmen Hakubutsukan) official site

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, Tokyo Food Page

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7 Comments

• Sarah says:

  January 10, 2007 at 11:58 am

  I enjoyed Mr. Downes’s piece, also. I don’t buy the dried ramen, anymore, though. I stock up on the fresh kind whenever I’m at the Japanese store–it’s healthier and almost as easy to make (seasoning packet and all!). It’s pricier, of course, but by no means expensive. . .

  I have a couple of Japanese-American church cookbooks from California and they include ramen salads, in which you crumble the uncooked dried noodles, mix them with cabbage and other veggies, and toss the whole thing with a rice-vinegar dressing. It’s actually really good!

  Reply
• nika says:

  January 10, 2007 at 12:56 pm

  sarah: wow sounds delish! I am going to try to track that recipe down.

  Reply
• Homesick Texan says:

  January 10, 2007 at 3:05 pm

  In my ramen days, I always added an egg as well. Instant egg drop soup! I also made cold noodle salad with the stuff, dolled up with a can of tuna.

  I SO regret not going to the Ramen Museum when I was in Tokyo, it’s supposed to be one of the coolest shrines to all things ramen.

  Reply
• nika says:

  January 10, 2007 at 3:47 pm

  HT: Oh yeah, that would have been too kewl. Will put a link to it in this post in a few.

  I would want to visit the Ghibli Museum for sure. http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/

  Heck, just getting to Japan is purest of fantasy!

  Reply
• nika says:

  January 10, 2007 at 3:57 pm

  This is a better ghibli link
  http://www.ghibli.jp/

  Reply
• Cate says:

  January 13, 2007 at 10:57 pm

  Mmmm, I have a great recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad with ramen noodles – delish, and now, totally craving it.

  Reply

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• Nikas Culinaria » Whats in Your Ramen? says:

  September 24, 2007 at 11:03 am

  [...] Ramen: Nothing lost in translation [...]

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