1641

Heat. Not spicy. Sorry for that confusion. In the case of that ramen, it’s a deep savory with a lot of heat. Luke chicken stock on steroids.

1642

I was referring to Timex’s ramen. It’s flavoring is “Gourmet Spicy”. Yours was “Spicy Chicken”. Chicken is a flavor, I’m good with that.
Spicy is… an adjective.

Individual spices are flavors, heck mixes of them are, but as a group… feels wrong.

1643

It’s the king of ramen. Totally awesome. You should try it.

Also, it literally has “capscasin” as an ingredient. Not peppers… but just the raw chemical compound from peppers.

1644

I’ll try it. Looks like the less spicy Shin Ramyun Black is also recommended so I added that one as well.

1645

Actually, Shin Ramen’s Black Label is significantly better than the older red label.

https://www.amazon.com/Nongshim-Shin-Ramyun-BLACK-Packs/dp/B00A733MBO

Do a side-by-side comparison and you’ll immediately see the difference. It cost more, but it is worth it.

1646

I think this 10 pack makes more sense:
https://smile.amazon.com/NongShim-Shin-Black-Noodle-Spicy/dp/B017IRZLKQ

(It’s not different to yours, right?)

1647

That’s the black label. I ordered both just to try them. I have no clue what the difference is, but one is more costly, so I’m assuming it has the broth from pricier “ramen stuff” mixed in. :)

1648

Ya, I see that… I don’t think the black label existed when I first encountered this though.

1649

I don’t eat a lot of instant ramen, but NongShim Black is a great choice.

1650

Yeah, I was replying to stepsongrapes post where he linked a 4 pack but Discourse thinks it’s more important to not show that metadata because, well, because the wump said so.

1651

Ever try jajang noodles? If you like it, both the NongShim and Paldo brands are really good.

1652

I have not had those but if they are based on a black bean sauce, I’m in!

1653

I don’t think it tastes like black bean sauce, but it is good.

1654

I buy those in mini-bulk. I love that the noodle disk is perfectly round and is sized perfectly for my smallest saucepan. It’s like it’s just meant to be, each time I cook them.

Sometimes I do find the spice a bit overwhelming, so I’ve taken to adding extra items to try to soften the effect. Cheese. An egg. Leftover bits of chicken nuggets. It cranks up the “things you should never, under any circumstances, ingest but are technically food” factor (TYSNUACIBATF factor, if you will).

1655

I think it’s a given that you have to add whatever you’ve got into ramen. The other day I had maybe a 1/2 cup of leftover taco meat, and prior to adding to the pot, I pan softened some diced onion/celery/carrot/garlic and added that in as well, followed with some remaining fresh basil I had. That ramen was divine.

1656

An Olive Garden review/essay

I was intrigued by this:

It didn’t strike me as plausible as a generality, but apparently it is. The US seems to eat fewer olives per capita than any major country but Japan. Even the UK, which is pretty American in its tastes for a European country, eats five times as many olives.
Anyway, get with the programme, Americans! Olives are great.

1657

Olives are disgusting.

Olive oil, however, is indispensable

1658

Black olives are great. Green olives are disgusting.

1659

They are both good, but you have to not eat the absolutely crappy versions of either.
Castelvetranos (from Italy) are great green olives. France has some fantastic ones as well.

If you ever happen to wander into a nice wine bar, pair some higher grade olives with wine. As with cheese and wine, there are flavor combinations that are simply fantastic.

1660

I am reasonably confident that if man could live on kalamata olives alone, I would strive to do so.