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“Do people really eat this?”
These words were quickly followed by “OMJ, this so freakin’ hot!”
Yes, not only had I forgotten what pot noodles were since I last had to consume them on a semi-regular basis nearly 25 years ago but I had stumbled onto the hot and fiery world of Korean Pot noodles and had found a particularly hot one.
The reason I picked up this tiny pot of burning Hell was that I needed to eat quickly before collecting the youngest of the family.
Dashing into the nearest grocery store I blitzed past the pre made food in the coolers and ran towards the international section. There, I could, possibly obtain English Jaffa Cakes or perhaps a pot of pickled onions for the cupboard but, no, I bypassed them all to source something to quickly satiate my immediate hunger.
I passed the prepackaged curry sauces and lo and behold found myself staring at an 8 foot square wall of ramen instant noodles. Mission accomplished.
My mind flashed back to college years: memories of running frantically from class to class and the ubiquitous smell of prepackaged noodles and that golden yellow “soup mix” which came in small foil wrapped packages.
Luckily, I didn’t have to endure many of those meals when I eventually went to culinary school. I did however forget what they were like and so I found myself staring blankly at a large ramen filled wall and started to reminisce.
So I collected a couple of samples, this time not in the brick formation but in a small tub. Its cover showed a steaming bowl of noodles and a small chilli placed on top.
I realize now that the chilies on the top of the picture signified that the soup would be hot but this South Korean bowl was alarming in its heat.
Not only was the soup hot from the boiling water poured over it but the intensity of the seasoning was not something I remembered from before.
Pot noodles have come a long way. As has the commonplace acceptance of this interesting dish.
Noodles are wonderful when they are fresh and served with a clean and delicious broth.
This however was a rotten looming pot of cheap extruded noodles with a great green assortment of dehydrated vegetables like those found at the bottom of your vegetable storage cupboard (but lacking any flavour or texture of discernible taste except that, texturally, the bits were chewy).
The only discerning thing about this bowl was that as a winter warmer – it did its job. I almost sobbed as the gluey and somewhat pasty noodles were slurped though a less than clean smelling “broth”. It was quite displeasing as a food source but as a nasal decongestant this worked remarkably well. My nose was running in no time and my tastebuds still have not recovered from the industrial strength spice.
Some foods are nostalgic for their time and place, like aspic or anything in the 1970’s that involves jello and the word salad. Other foods are nostalgic because they remind us of a time and place in our lives that we try to hold on to and remember. Think of the “I ate KD for four years to earn this” for any college graduate and you get what I am saying.
But some foods are nostalgic because we don’t want to remember them again. They are the stories that conjure images of boarding school and inch thick skinned blancmange. Or the lunch lady who would fill your plate with peas the moment you said you didn’t want them. These memories are forgotten for a reason. This bowl of ramen..will be forgotten…forever.
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2019