Fueled By Ramen

I can clearly remember the days of my instant ramen eating. At my school during snack time or recess, you were everyone's best friend if you had a ziplock baggie of uncooked ramen, broken into chunks and sprinkled with the seasoning packet. Kids would abandon their game of four square to ask you for some "dry saimin," as we called it, and as your generosity increased, your supply of ramen decreased, and soon all you had left were some crumbs and an abundance of salt and MSG. Nothing substantial remaining for you to eat. But hey, at least you got to be the most popular kid for 10 minutes. The next day you would be smarter and shoot for 20 minutes by bringing two packages worth of ramen.

As I grew older and my tastes more unsatisfied with just the seasoning packet, I began to experiment with what I could do with this 19 cents worth of food. I started with adding an egg to the broth while the noodles were cooking, trying to see if I liked it better poached or scrambled in the hot liquid. Then I started to add in slices of spam and chopped green onion to vary the color of my finished bowl. At the peak of my ramen experimentation, I was able to make a giant bowl of fried noodles by combining the seasoning packet with sesame oil and soy sauce to pour over a hot wok full of cooked noodles and vegetables. Throw in some leftover meat, and it's easy to see why I was a chubby kid. Ah, the good old days.

Created by: HackCollege.com