Just to share T.M.I. with you, I am laid up in bed this week with an unidentified illness- strep throat, or mono, or the flu or something.  And, as swallowing is excruciatingly painful, I have been ingesting mostly liquids (water, tea, jello mix). And Doritos. But mostly, my savior in this febrile time of aches has been…ta-da! Ramen Noodles!  Glorious, salty, preservative-full Ramen Noodles.

Ramen Noodles have also saved me a few times when I was on the brink of starvation, unable to afford anything more substantial on my paltry student’s income. So, with that thought in mind, I proceeded to write a small Ode to Ramen:

Ramen, oh Ramen- I cannot just sip
I gobble you up by the pound, just oodles
Your sodium-rich broth is just the thing ere the snot from my nose doth drip
Never was there a better soup of noodles

Chicken, Shrimp, or Beef
It is all quite tasty
No matter the flavor
Spruce it up with a bok choy leaf
Five minutes makes the preparation quite hasty
And when it’s all made, one can share with one’s neighbor

And because I love them so much, I wanted to share with you some recipes that let you take the Ramen experience to a whole other level:

Pepper Curry Ramen
Spam Doodles (a great compliment to my SPAM recipes in a previous article)
Batter Fried Ramen

You can find these recipes and more at The Official Ramen Homepage and ramenlicious.com