dsi1 wrote on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:16:57 -1000:

> On 11/12/2010 5:53 AM, James Silverton wrote:
>>
>> This is not being asked in any spirit of sarcasm, but just
>> what makes a bowl of Ramen great? As far as I can tell, it's a rather
>> simple bowl of noodles in a reasonably good tasting sauce or soup.
>> Commercial dried Ramen, as sold in
>> supermarkets, is remarkably high in sodium and fat and is not
>> something I am attracted to. Is making Ramen one of
>> those Japanese things where a seven-year apprenticeship is
>> necessary for mastery, like that alleged for Miso production?
>> I'd like to know how to make Ramen but details are
>> surprisingly hard to find on the net.

> The dried instant ramen is a different product than the real
> ramen. That stuff is fried to make a noodle that can be stored
> on the shelves. Proper ramen is made from fresh noodles which,
> I suppose, can be refrigerated for a short while. I can't say how
> difficult it is to make a great bowl of ramen because I
> mostly buy the stuff in restaurants. I'm pretty sure that you can't
> make a great bowl unless you have a source of fresh
> noodles.

>> Another question, thinking about Hawaii, what makes Ramen
>> different from Saimin? When I was last in Hawaii, you could
>> get Saimin at MacDonald's. The stuff did not reach the level of
>> interest of Hamura's on Kauai but wasn't bad for a quick
>> lunch.
>>
>The saimin noodle is thicker than a ramen noodle. My guess is that
>saimin is not served anywhere but Hawaii. I grew up eating saimin, not
>ramen.
Thanks for all the information!

It may well be that ramen nooles as served in ramen shops are not fried
and I will have to look out to see if anyone opens a Ramen place around
DC. Certainly, I have just spent an interesting, if frustrating, time
inspecting the numerous packages of ramen both plain and flavored in my
favorite Kam Sam supermarket. All the servings of ramen indicate about
25% of the recommended daily fat intake and are way above my personal
limits of about 1/10 of that. The sodium levels are similar.

The same problems occur for all packages of Japanese curry and I will
not be experimenting with them for Katsu curry either.

By the way, I just had a most enjoyable low-fat lunch having Pho Ga
(Chicken) at a Pho restaurant. They use two thicknesses of (I think)
rice noodles and serve large quantities of bean sprouts, basil, sliced
jalapeno peppers and lime as well as sliced whitemeat chicken in the
soup. That's going to remain my standard noodle lunch, I guess.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not