A review of my own...

Jan 11, 2005 19:12


Tonight, I had my first cup of Ramen cup noodles. I decided that it might be interesting to post up a review of the two variations on everyone's favorite poor college student(or otherwise, I'd suppose) food.

Packet Ramen
Packet ramen is the traditional staple noodle/stock product that we all love and enjoy on a semi-regular or regular basis. It requires a stove, a pot, water, three minutes of your time, a bit of stirring, and a bowl(or not).
Time - Packet ramen takes very little time. About 30 seconds to fill the pot to the two cups required, two seconds to set the burner on high, and about three minutes or so to boil the water. Then it takes another three minutes to cook the noodles, depending on your taste. I personally like them more al dente, so I cook them closer to three minutes or less. Take another thirty seconds to pour the soup in the bowl and get silverware, and you are done. Total time= ~7 mins.
Flavor - Ramen is a very salty food, as we all know, depending on how much of the stock you use in the soup. I personally throw the whole packet in, because that's how I like it. The chicken stock flavor and the salt all stand out, and the flavor of the noodles is a pleasant bland flavor, nothing less than what you would expect from a noodle.
Consistency - Depending on how you cook the noodles, the consistency can range. This is a very big benefit to packet ramen, because you can control that to your liking. I'd say that most prefer it al dente, but I'm sure there are some who like more mushy noodles. It can be a very personalized cheap food.
Other Ingredients - Ramen is a great food because it can be paired with almost anything. In fact, I'm sure that I could make a seemingly gourmet meal with ramen noodles, a couple of vegetables, and some spices relatively quickly. However, packet ramen does not come with any vegetables pre-packaged. This might be a good thing. It probably is, but this can increase the time requirement, depending on if you think you want other things in your ramen or not. And of course, you can make other dishes with it too. PB+J is great with Ramen.
Fill Factor - Packet ramen is a very satisfying meal, surprisingly enough. Ramen and a coke is a good lunch. Or pepsi...whatever. What does this mostly is probably the strength of the stock that is added, but overall it's a cheap and efficient meal.
Synopsis - Packet ramen is quick, flavorful, can be personalized easily, goes with anything, and is filling. It may take a little while longer, but as compared to other foods, it is still a very quick meal, and for how long it takes to make it, it's very satisfying.

Cup Ramen
Cup ramen is the bastard little brother of packet ramen that rushes out of the house as quick as it can, stays in one place for very little time, goes to the next place, but not before stealing all the money in your wallet. Just kidding, but it is the faster version of Ramen.
Time - Cup ramen is extremely quick to make. Really, all you have to do is get some tap water hot by turning the faucet to hot(time here varies on your water heater), and fill the cup to the line, and then re-cover and wait three minutes. Theoretically, it should take roughly 3.5 minutes to cook, which makes it ideal for a day on the go. It may take a little longer if you like your ramen to be steaming when you take it out, in which case microwaves and about a minute of your time works wonders. Total cooking time= 3.5 to 4.5 minutes.
Flavor - What do we sacrifice for the time variable? Flavor? I would say yes. The stock is pre-added, so you can't control the strength of the flavor, and thus your experience is determined by the Ramen corporation, and their pre-set stock filling presets. I personally think it's a bit weak. You can't really taste the chicken flavor too much, and the salt flavor is very weak. The noodles are quite...different. They taste kinda cardboard-ey, but in a wierd way. Not quite like the packet ramen. It's not bad, but it's not good. It's edible is what it is.
Consistency - These noodles are quite al dente. The cooking time and quality can be offset only by the temperature of the water you pour/fill the cup with. The noodles are also smaller in width than the packet ramen noodles, which was quite odd at first. It just seems more stringy and cheaply made, which it is, but the packet ramen just pulls it off better. Personalization factor=0, but I'm sure that the market for this product doesn't have half an hour to sit around making food, otherwise they would be eating something better.
Other Ingredients - Cup ramen shines in this category. There's not just noodles, not just broth, but there are vegetables as well! Carrots, peas, corn, and I think some peppers or something like this. For being prepackaged, they are not that bad either. I must say, I was quite impressed. It was a good addition to the whole ramen experience, and seeing as it took no extra time to cook those along with the ramen, it was quite a good thing. I'd say that it half makes up for the whole lack of flavor thing, but I'd be going too far. Maybe a quarter would be better. The time factor makes up for the flavor, though, depending on the situation.
Fill Factor - Cup ramen is somewhat filling. If you can eat the broth that sits at the bottom of the cup after finishing the noodles, it might be better. I personally couldn't. I also had something to eat before the ramen, but that's not relovant. The noodles alone maybe make you queasy, and therefore not able to eat, more than anything, but again, that could have been offset by how full I already was, which wasn't much. For the time invested, though, it's about an even return.
Synopsis - While being very very time efficient, and having vegetables already included, cup ramen is not a very satisfying meal. For the time investment, I suppose it is worth it, but for another 4 minutes, and a sit-down period, you can have a much more satisfying meal, and have it much more to your liking than you can with the cup variant. However, cup ramen still holds up the reputation of ramen of being a quality, quickly made food, which fast food companies have been trying to duplicate for a long time...rather unsuccessfully.

The Winner?
Overall, because of quality, customizability, and the ability to add whatever you want, I'd say that good old packet ramen wins this match. Cup ramen puts up a good fight, and in a pinch, I'd definitely pick up a cup of cup ramen to eat, but I have a feeling that I might not be filled up, and may not feel 100% afterwards. Packet ramen wins, this time.
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