Thursday, March 25, 2010

100 Feet of Noodle in Every Package

Upon catching up on my friend's blogs this morning I realize how ridiculous my life/thought process may be to some of you. But alas, I find joy in the simple pleasures of single life and the fact that I can have advanced conversations about things that "don't matter". With that said...

Upon returning from the gym last night, Linx and I sat down to a smorgasbord of food(cue Templeton). I'd venture to say that there were probably 5 small meals consumed between the two of us, one of hers being Top Ramen. note: She has recently converted from Chicken to Chili flavor, which is upsetting but also a little refreshing. This is when something that has been bothering me for quite a while was brought to the table. Why do I call it "Top Ramen"? The package just says Ramen and "Top" isn't a thing. I think I first realized that people were calling it something else when I moved up here, so is it an Arizona thing? My family? My friends? Then went out the mass text.

The results. 4 people called it just "Ramen". 4 "Ramen Noodles". and 9 "Top Ramen". At first the only people who called it "Ramen Noodles" were from the East so I really thought I was onto something, but with more surveying that night, a couple of westerners ruined that theory. But those two are weird, so I will keep investigating that. The one thing that I am sure about is that all the members of the Tic-Tac-Toe club were adamant Top Rameners (except for Linx whose college life has confused her). This isn't surprising considering the amount of time we spent together.

Anyway, Linx jumped on the computer to figure out what was going. Here's what we've found. A. I'm not the only one with this question bc there is a whole chat on yahoo about the issue. B. The brand Nissin calls their ramen Top Ramen, hence the "Top". And don't worry, my source on yahoo answers is legit. "Supermum" says: "I've known and eaten this product since it first came out on the market." Turns out that everyone is also convinced that Nissin's Top Ramen is just a little bit tastier and has thicker noodles. However, it is more expensive so you can be sure that I've been eating Maruchan for years now.

As for why I call all ramen "Top Ramen" and never realized that that wasn't really what it was called? Unsolved Mystery(like the show I watched religiously while I ate Top Ramen). Nissin didn't start calling it "Top Ramen" until 2000, well after I had memorized the recipe and mastered the understanding of the perfect noodle texture. Both Nissin and the cheaper Maruchan are produced in California, thus shooting down my East vs. West theory. Maybe it's just because I'm from Scottsdale so we splurged the extra 10 cents and went for Top Ramen.

If you think this whole thing is ridiculous then let me tell you that a poll showed that the Chinese believe that Ramen is their MOST important invention. That's above the cd, and some other awesome things that I can't remember. That would have sounded more legit if I could have found the source again.

Let the research continue. In the meantime I'm going to make this Ramen Pizza recipe that I stumbled upon.

7 comments:

Chelsea said...

This makes me VERY happy. It is and will always be just Top Ramen. I was well aware that there was an actual Top Ramen brand which I think we had in Beaver sometimes and I recall it not being nearly as good- but I could be wrong. In AZ our infamous pantry always contained the Marachin brand, usually a box full of it, costing maybe $1.50 total. As to the flavors- what the hook Linx who eats the chili kind?? It's all about the beef, and maybe chicken if your all out of beef. Thanks for the laugh. Peace out.

Brittany said...

You are too funny. Would never guess that you had actual things to study. I had no idea about the 2 brands. I will continue to call both of them Top Ramen, although I must admit I have not eaten it in years.

Liz said...

According to a Japanese poll in the year 2000, instant noodles were the most important Japanese invention of the century. Karaoke came second, with the Compact Disc only coming in fifth.[2]

wikipedia

and you are welcome, for much of this information and mostly my support. which you can always depend on in cases like this (aka trivial things that are the basis and joy of my life)

Lindsay said...

Haha! You know how I feel about all of this. Two more things I thought you should know: 1a. Brandon has tried to have numerous convos with me about how much money we would save if we had TOP Ramen for at least 1 meal everyday. I was even doing it for a while until... 2b. I read that Top Ramen is the #2 worst thing to eat when you are preggo cuz it has ZERO nutritional value. So I've felt guilty eating it ever since. I'm feeding for 2 you know!

*Rach* said...

All I have to say is that I'm glad that the VERY random text that I got last night concerning this has been answered and I will gladly claim my ramen noodle response although I don't really know why I call it that either...nowhere does it say that...

Emily Brooke said...

Oh Moyes girls, I knew I could count on you. And Lindsay, if it makes you feel any better, during my research I discovered, to my surprise, that Top Ramen contains NO preservatives! And Brit, I'm actually proud that you wouldn't guess I have real things to do.

Linx said...

People...I know and have eaten the product and let me assure you that chicken is by far the best. I taste tested all the other flavs once and the only one that wasn't entirely disappointing was chili. Its spicy and i like it but don't be fooled-my heart lies with chicken.