Food For Thought
You'd think I'd never been to college. I missed most of the stuff other people experience in college. When you struggle through a two-year college, bored and uninterested, then take a break for about 15 years before finishing your Bachelors and Masters degrees, you miss a lot. Like pot parties, frat parties, panty raids and long, esoteric discussions over coffee with other equally callow young minds.I wouldn't change a thing. I got a lot more out of my education in my thirties than I ever did in my twenties and I loved every minute of it. But, I did miss a bunch of things that most college students try - like Top Ramen.
Yes, here's another convenience food that I had never experienced. But, after a long walk with my dog, an hour's hard swim with my sadistic Masters coach and two errands, I was so hungry that when I saw the Top Ramen package in the store and read that it becomes edible within three minutes, I grabbed it.
The package lies; it takes more than three minutes to boil two cups of water on my stove, then comes the three minutes of noodle cooking and another 10 seconds of mixing in the contents of the flavor packet - but who's counting?
It was exactly what I needed. It was hot and sustaining and salty and lightly chickeny. After a bowl of that, I was almost ready to pull an all-nighter.
Labels: Top Ramen
posted by Zoomie at
5:19 AM
10 Comments:
You bought name brand? When I was in college, that stuff was four for $1. Generic on the other hand was five for $1. Hey. One still need money left at the end of the week for parties and whatnot. Actually that frugality led to a lot of creativity in the kitchen.
No, Kailyn, it was ten for a dollar! (Well, I do go back a bit further in time.)
I'm tickled you liked it, Zoom. I do too, once in a while. Then... (here comes the "then") you can do ramen cuisine. Crumble unboiled noodles over a salad. Use the seasoning packet to flavor sour cream for potato chip dip...
I had the temerity to order ramen in a restaurant in Hawaii, thinking I'd get the "real" thing. Nope. This.
Ramen is a guilty pleasure of mine. I do buy more expensive brands though (at Mollie Stone's or Asian Market) because of the list of stuff added to the less expensive packages. I seem to have a need for it several times a year. Since the original is what I crave, I only toss in some scallions and peas and a small glug of sesame oil -- if I went so far as to add meat or chicken, it would defeat the purpose.
Love Cookie's adding the seasoning to sour cream!
PS I was in college pre-ramen.
Kailyn, there are generic brands of ramen? Who knew? I'm learning so much about life through this blog! :-)
Cookiecrumb, ramen cuisine. Will wonders never cease? I will need to Google that!
Kudzu, you're right, adding meat to ramen is just wrong. But I like your idea of adding scallions and peas. If I wasn't so starving, I might have thought of that.
Ah ramen - those little noodles sure came in handy when I was almost broke. You could buy 10 for a dollar in the Mission and then, for another dollar or two, scavenge through the bins of almost gone vegetables to find toppings. I would not skimp on eggs for they were my major source of protein but I was able to feed myself for about $25 a week for the longest time.
We will tactfully ignore the issue of nutrition.
Nancy, it might be kind of interesting to add "egg drop" to ramen, to make a sort of bastardized egg drop soup. Nutrition be damned! It's good, it's quick and it saved my life!
Cookiecrumb, once more you are right. I got the price confused with another college staple -- generic mac and cheese. That's the stuff that was four for a dollar. Oh how I kind of miss the days in which one could eat for $10 a week if necessary.
Kailyn, as Nancy says, we will tactfully ignore the issue of nutrition. :-)
Kailyn: OMG. Right, "Kraft Dinner" was a quarter. And I still love it.
I was never a huge fan of the mac like my friend, Jade. Still remember the day I went shopping with her and she reached for the name brand.
Had a group of friends who always had rice in the rice cooker. They spent a month trying out different condiments on rice. A good day meant they had some veggies and egg to mix with the rice.
Strange to think these are the same friends who join me at Cesar's these days. Also might explain why I stockpile condiments, butter and dried herbs & spices these days. All kind of expensive if you don't have much money but can make the world of a difference in a meal.
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