One Noodle to Rule Them All

[Juvenal]

I did grad school long before the standard trope of "poor graduate student living on ramen," but a) I am about to use a block (dry) to illustrate genome folding in a mitotic chromosome and b) just had a 33-cent dinner of ramen ("Maruchen, chicken [ha!] flavor") to see what the deprivation of "real" food entails.

In regard to point "a," it came to me to wonder just how many separate noodles there are in one bowl of ramen.  A bit of googling told me: about eighty, but when it comes to my visual aid for lecture, "Who's counting"?  I'd hoped for one grand strand, neatly packaged, but in class I'll waffle and say, "The condensing chromosomes fold the DNA and compact up sort of like this."

In regard to point "b," it was actually rather filling and tasty.  In a salty, slurpy way.  Did any forum-folk live to any degree on ramen in grad school?

Now that the noodles are gone, it's time for real food.  I think a BLT.  My own version, minus the "L," which it seemed extravagant to buy for just one sandwich.  I already had the bacon and bought an heirloom tomato today.  And an onion roll.  Mayo covers many sins of omission.

0oh!  I see this is my post #100.  Double digits at last.  I feel kind of shivery.  But focused enough to fry the bacon.

[backatit]

My daughter and I lived on hacked ramen - it was pretty tasty. Keep in mind that I raised chickens, and had a garden.

Cook the ramen, crack an egg into it. Add a slice of american cheese, and cut some green onions on top. It's pretty good!

[mamselle]

I found myself allergic (or just dyspeptic) to something in the flavor packet but used to make the noodles and mix them with other stuff (as described above).

Haven't done that for awhile, but one of my music students' families has a rotating kitchen requirement between the mom, the dad, and the two oldest kids (14 and 12), who do the whole meal and others clean up.

The 12-year old asked as I was leaving, "would this chicken rice soup work with these noodles?" and I gave an enthusiastic "Yes!"

She was also making rice (they like to mix yougurt and raisins in with their rice) and I said, "You could just do it with some rice," to which she replied wistfully, "No, I really just want some noodles...." with that "This is my comfort food" look in her eyes.

So, it's still a cooking option...

M.

[Anselm]

There is something wrong with our economy and society when it is just expected for a student to live on ramen and pasta.  I was pretty close to that lifestyle during my first year of grad school and I blame that for putting on weight and hurting my performance. 

Rant over.

[Hibush]

There is something wrong with our economy and society when it is just expected for a student to live on ramen and pasta.  I was pretty close to that lifestyle during my first year of grad school and I blame that for putting on weight and hurting my performance. 

Rant over.

Students could join the local FSM followers and regard this diet as a sacrament rather than a deprivation. It's a matter of perspective. /s

[Thursday's_Child]

Dried ramen aren't as good as fresh, but they do cost less (and can be eaten 'raw').  For me, it's the contents of the flavor packet that are highly questionable - both for the amount of salt and for the MSG & who knows what else is in there.

My grad school solution:
Slice/grate & steam/lightly boil various veggies - using slotted spoon, remove to heated bowl, leave some water in pan.
Crack egg into leftover hot water, either poach whole or scramble with fork, cook, then drain, & set on top of veggies.
Boil more water with stuff from flavor packet, add noodles, cook, then drain well.
Toss egg (unless whole) and veggies (add any raw ones at this step) with noodles then dump back into bowl and eat.

[downer]

The appeal of the instant ramen is all the salt in the packet flavoring, and also the fat. 7 grams. And the easy availability and low cost.

But if you have an Asian grocery near you, you can pick up quick cooking noodles that are still cheap and are not as fatty. It's easy to make a quick meal as indicated by Thursday's_Child.

Those stores also tend to have a big selection of unhealthy instant noodles in bigger pots and with more packets to use. Some I have had are super spicy. It can be an adventure trying them out.

[AvidReader]

I had a Korean roommate in graduate school, and was delighted to learn the egg and vegetable additions to Ramen, as noted above. Mushrooms and hot peppers are my special favorites. Fresh herbs on top are delicious.

In undergrad, I had a semester when I commuted to campus, and bought a whole flat of the chicken ramen in styrofoam cups to make in campus microwaves. Someone took me to a big box store (like Sam's) and it was only a little more than the flat packs. I had a friend who only had beef cups, and I only had chicken, so we swapped a few. I was horrified to learn that he'd bought his at the campus bookstore, where they went for $1.50 while mine averaged about 19 cents apiece.

AR.

[mythbuster]

Ramen is wonderful if doctored with fresh ingredients. It's the flavor packet that turns it into a salt bomb. We also buy the equivalent udon bowls from Costco. They serve as some of our hurricane emergency meals and  are great for making an udon stir fry.