Mr. Noodle - a Tribute

College. I was broke. A lot. To prove my abject poverty (okay, so it wasn’t THAT bad) I did not purchase condiments at the grocery store. I would just take handfuls of ketchup packets, mayo packets and salt and pepper pouches from fast food restaurants and store them in a drawer of the kitchen in my little one bedroom apartment. Shallow pockets meant creativity in the acquisition of yummy foods.

But there was always one food that was there for me. It was quick. It was easy. It was tasty. And most importantly, it cost about 19 cents per serving. Those tasty tasty bricks of Top Ramen. I loved ‘em. I rarely got tired of eating them. I even perfected the way to prepare them in the tastiest way possible.

Michelle’s Ramen Regiment

1) Fill a small sauce pan about half full with water
2) Turn the burner onto “high” (hey, this is supposed to be a quick meal)
3) Dump the seasoning packet into the water and stir with a fork.
Michelle’s Tip: You boil the water with the seasoning in it, allowing the flavors to permeate and evenly disperse through the liquid.
4) Drop the noodle block into the water shortly after it begins to boil
5) Slowly break the noodles apart from each other with a fork as they soften
6) Once the noodles look done, grab a colander (yes, you just eyeball the “done-ness” – I can’t teach this step. It comes with practice)
7) (This is where I normally receive many objections to my method) I don’t like the tons of salt in the noodle broth, so I drain off the liquid and eat the noodles only – all soaking rich with the flavor of that little metal pouch’s contents.

It’s a ritual I have performed hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times in my life. And oddly enough, I have never taken the time to really think about ramen and where it came from. There is, or I should say “was”, a Mr. Ramen. Well, that wasn’t really his name. His name was Momofuku Ando, a Japanese man who invented the noodle treat back in the late 1950s, and he passed away this week at the age of 96. He wanted to develop a quick, healthy meal for those in the working middle class. Top Ramen was the result of his work.



The NY Times ran an obituary on Mr. Ando, and someone else contributed an excellent essay to him and his lovely noodles. I ask that all of you who have ever taken culinary pleasure from these little noodles to take a few minutes and read through these articles. It’s the least we can do for a man who has done so much for us, our pocketbooks and our tummies.

Obituary
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/business/worldbusiness/09ando.html?fta=y

Opinion Essay
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/opinion/09tue3.html?em&ex=1168664400&en=96b63f2de85b1b61&ei=5087%0A