News: Death Cab for Vietnamese: Nick Harmer's Guide to the best Pho in Seattle

I know I've been neglecting this blog lately and I promise that I haven't forgotten about it. Truth is, I have a few reviews in draft, but I just don't have time to touch them up and post them. I've been busy watching lots of movies, taking lots of photos, and working on my new podcast.

However, today I read a noodle-related article written by the bassist of my favorite band, Death Cab for Cutie. In "Death Cab for Vietnamese", Nick Harmer writes about his top three favorite phở restaurants in the Seattle:

1) Than Brothers (516 Broadway East)
2) Pho Cyclo (406 Broadway East)
3) Cafe Pho (401 NE Northgate Way)

I've stated my complaints against phở restaurants in Seattle on this blog before, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any decent places to grab a bowl of the rice noodles. I have not been to any of Harmer's favorite restaurants before, but am now curious about trying them. If I ever do try them out, and get back to writing on this blog again, I'll be sure to share my experiences.

Nick Harmer's article can be read here on Drowned in Sound.

News: The Three Mysteries of Cup Noodles

Consumerist.com linked to renowned consumer product investigator Rob Cockerham's website in which he takes a look at three mysteries about Cup Noodles:

Mystery #1: Why is Cup Noodles Triple-Wrapped?
Mystery #2: How is One Supposed to Close the Lid?
Mystery #3: What Happened to the "OF"?

It's an interesting little write-up, though I can't say that I'm surprised about anything.

My Answer to Mystery #1: The paper seal at the top is to keep the contents in the cup, the plastic wrap is to keep all of the contents fresh, and the paper vest adds some needed vanity to the product. Cup Noodles is not the only brand to do these things. In fact, I would say that most cup noodles and bowl noodles are triple-wrapped.

My Answer to Mystery #2: Very true that the instructions are quite vague, though there might be legal issues of telling people to use something to weigh down the paper. For example, say a bowl of plate is awkwardly placed on top, it could cause the cup to fall over spilling all of the hot food on the table, carpet, or even worse, someone's lap. >.<

My Answer to Mystery #3: Noodles expand when they are cooked. Some space at the top and bottom is necessary. Take a look after you're done cooking the noodles. Top to bottom, yes siree Bob.

News: David Beckham's Golden (Meat)Balls

Pot Noodle has announced that it is making a new flavor inspired by British soccer star David Beckham. Pot Noodle is a popular brand of cup noodle manufactured and sold in the United Kingdom.

From the article:

Snack bosses claim [David Beckham] is a fan of the food and have created the Golden (Meat)Balls variety to lift his spirits after he missed out on the tournament with an injury.

"The tournament" they are referring to is the FIFA World Cup, which starts next month in South Africa. Beckham suffered a torn left Achilles tendon in March while playing for A.C. Milan and had to have surgery. Thus, he will not be able to play for his home country. However, he will be honored during the finals.

The flavor will be called Golden (Meat)Balls due to Beckham's nickname "Goldenballs", which his wife Victoria Beckham (a.k.a. Posh Spice) gave him and revealed on British television chat show.

I'm going to try and get a friend of mine who lives in England to send me Beckham's Pot Noodle flavor. Hopefully you will see a review here later this year.

News: Ramengate

On May 9th in San Francisco, Hapa Ramen previewed their food at Coffee Bar on Mariposa near Florida. This is before they are opening a hotly anticipated stand at Ferry Building Farmer's Market. Well, things didn't go quite as expected and the night is now forever being known as "Ramengate".

Read more »

News: Ramen Heaven

There's a new game available for download on the Sony PSP called "Ramen Heaven".

Game summary from IGN:

Who says you can't play with your food? In this game based on the delectable Japanese staple, players maneuver their oil floating around in the bowl so that it can congeal into as big a blob as possible. If your blob comes in contact with some of the other ingredients floating in the broth, the oil will break up, so work carefully with your chopsticks to make it as big as you can. Mmmmm, that's good soup!

Sounds like a silly game. Do you even see the noodles in it? I've never tried making giant oil blobs in my own bowl of ramen. Have you? And if you've played Ramen Heaven, how is it?

The game was developed by SCE Studios Japan and was released on May 4, 2010. It costs $1.99, and is rated E for Everyone.

News: World Instant Noodles Summit Encourages Less Salty Ramen

The World Instant Noodles Summit took place last week and one of the main themes of the conference was "less salt to lure health-conscious customers".

Koki Ando, the son of the inventor of instant ramen and the current president of Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd., seems to think that it'll be difficult.

From the article:

"We have to do it gradually, step by step," said Ando, who claims to eat 500 servings of instant noodles each year. "Our longtime customers enjoy the salt in our noodles, so we cannot simply reduce it just like that."

I think it's a huge challenge. A lot of the flavor and savoriness is enhanced by the salt in instant noodles. Just look at my reviews for Shin Ramyun and Annie Chun's, which contain a whopping 1200 mg difference in sodium content. In my humble opinion, you're sacrificing a lot of taste when you bring down the salt.

Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the first step towards a more healthy instant ramen, but I'd sort of like it to taste good too, no?

News: Ramen Rallies Relief for Haiti

Two exchange students from South Korea at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia organized a ramen noodle cook-off to raise money for Haiti. Students competed in the "National Collegiate Ramen Noodle Cook-Off" this past Saturday.

From the article:

Students and community members used ramen noodles, $5 in ingredients of their choices and the supplied ingredients such as brown sugar, garlic powder, honey, ketchup, hot sauce and cinnamon, Rowland said.

The participants had 30 minutes to prepare a unique ramen noodle dish that was then judged for flavor, ingredients and plating.

All proceeds went to the Palms for Life Fund, a nonprofit organization helping with earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

I think it's really cool to see something like ramen being used for good like this.