Pointlife
In the raw: Cooking Ramen is becoming a thing of the past
Pointlife Reporter
Nelson is a librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
I saw a young man sitting at a table in the library the other day flipping through his anatomy textbook and chomping on an uncooked Ramen noodle block. He ate it like a pretzel or a giant cookie and gnawed on it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I went to refill my coffee so I could walk by him again, this time more purposefully, and noticed he was eating it – Top Ramen chicken flavor - plain. The sodium-laden powder packet was just lying to the side of the orange cellophane wrap, looking lonely and betrayed.
There’s no question that times are tough and people are busy, but cooking Ramen noodles never seemed to be an activity I considered time consuming. But this raw Ramen eating was a new one for me, and I always considered myself to be close to the edge of a trend. Back in “my day,” we cooked it. The most radical thing we did was to drain the hot water and eat the noodles dry with the flavor pack mixed in – a delicious-salty wonder.
I still couldn’t get that noodle-chomping image out of my head. Later that same afternoon, I informally surveyed 46 English 102 students to see if anyone else ate raw Ramen. Approximately 20% confessed to eating it with great delight: “It’s delicious, like a rice cake.” “It’s really good if you mash it up with the flavor pack. They taste like potato chips!” This sparked my free-ranging curiosity to investigate further.
Then my Chinese friend and colleague told me the Chinese have been eating raw Ramen for years. She said we Americans “suck when it comes to Ramen noodles.” In China, certain brands are specifically manufactured to be eaten raw–or Ganchi, as they call it, meaning “dry eat.” There is far more variety in the dehydrated soup sector in China (Fangbianmian – convenient noodles) than here. There are flavors such as rib, seafood, seaweed and pig intestines, along with our usuals – chicken and beef – and all combinations thereof. Every package is labeled either spicy or not spicy, chili or no chili. Some noodles are made of sweet potatoes, pea flour or rice flour, and frequently these packages come with a separate packet of dehydrated vegetables, meat or seafood.
With this variety, I guess it’s no surprise that China is number one in Ramen noodles sales, but the U.S. is a strong contender in fourth place, according to the International Ramen Manufacturers Association. And while the ramen noodle sector had an explosive growth here in the late 1980s, accounting for roughly $117 million in the $2.2 billion dollar soup market, recent sales have slumped due to an unchanged product and limited flavor selections since its invention in 1958 by Nissin Foods founder, Momofuku Ando.
Despite a dip in sales, it goes without saying that Ramen is versatile, portable and cheap – about 20 cents per pack. And everyone knows Ramen noodles have been a long-standing college student favorite, along with Easy Mac, Hot Pockets, Bagel Bites, Pizza Rolls and grilled cheese sandwiches made with an iron. But the consumption of ramen noodles has taken on its own subculture.
On my Ramen hunt, I discovered 2,622 Ramen-related books listed on Amazon, including 101 Things to Do with Ramen Noodles, Everybody Loves Ramen and The Book of Ramen. Google retrieved 520,000 results with the top link, “The Official Ramen Homepage”, illustrating interesting recipes, such as “Fruity Oriental Ramen Salad,” and my favorite, “County Jail Ramen,” which includes Ramen noodles, two packets of mayo, one tin of mackerel in oil, one hard-boiled egg and two slices of bread or an optional tortilla.
One of my favorite dictionaries, Urbandictionary.com, says Ramen noodles is the “food of the gods.” The “Ramen noodle- ghetto style” entry got 311 thumbs up for people who are too lazy to cook or had their gas and electric shut off, to just smack it, shake it, add the flavor packet and enjoy a tasty potato chip-like treat. Ramizzle!
And in these economic hard times, when people are digging for pocket change, scrounging the sofa cushions for a quarter and turning in aluminum for some extra pennies, this dry noodle Ramen trend is just the convenience-food treat for the fast-paced lifestyle.
