MINAMI-ALPS, Yamanashi — “Momozono Robot Ramen,” a ramen shop that opened here in November last year, is gaining popularity not only for its delicious ramen noodles, but for its robotic chef.

The ramen-making robot was built by 60-year-old shop owner Yoshihira Uchida, who spent about 20 million yen on its construction. Customers can place their orders on a computer in the shop, customizing various aspects such as the levels of soy sauce, salt, and richness of the soup. Uchida says there are 40 million different flavor permutations.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20090704p2a00m0na013000c.html?inb=rs

Submitted By: Michael Boyle
Submitted From: Pennsylvania

Ingredients
• 2 packages of Ramen Chicken (or Chili) Flavor
• 1/4 cup (half medium onion) of onion, diced
• 1/2 cup of green peppers, sliced or diced
• 1/2 cup of green peas
• 2-3 links (appx 1 pound) of cooked and sliced sweet (or hot) Italian sausage
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (fresh preferable)
• 1 can of Ro*Tel Original diced tomatoes with green chili peppers.

Cook the sausage (Grilled Wegman’s Sweet Italian tastes great!), slice after cooking and set aside.
Cut and saute onion and garlic in a pan. Pour the liquid only from the Ro*Tel diced tomatoes into a pot, and add 2.5 cups of water and flavor packets. Boil the water. Place noodles in pot with onion, garlic, peas, peppers. Cook until noodles are soft. Transfer to serving bowl, add diced tomatoes and sausage – TOSS!
Voila…Just hot enough to maybe make you sweat. Substitute regular diced tomatoes for a less spicy rendition.

Unfortunately all the text is in Japanese, but I did find this gem, my entire website from my time at UMR/MST, including some of the TJ 8 South webpage.

Did you know that the Internets used to look like this?

Not shown on the screen-cap is some “breaking news” that I had added a mirror copy of the recipe page that was black text on a white background so printers didn’t have to print the yellow on black.

If anyone can give me a link to some product info that would be great, the bar code/ISBN? number is: 4 516662 003045

(I ended up eating oatmeal, Triscuits, and a peach instead…)

Ramen noodles can be a main dish

Submitted By: RamenRyan

Submitted From: Chicago,IL

Ingredients
• Maruchan chili ramen
• chopped green onion
• finely chopped cilantro
• pinch of garlic powder
• pinch of red pepper or cayenne
• lime (optional)

Prepare ramen and strain, leaving just enough moisture so that chili packet, garlic powder and red pepper will dissolve (a couple tablespoons approximately). Place half of the dry mixture at the bottom of serving bowl before ramen noodles are completed. Throw in ramen noodles, and other half of dry mixture on top and mix. Garnish with green onion and cilantro and sprinkle fresh lime juice to taste (not too much, lime can overwhelm). Your taste buds will thank you.

Submitted By: Wojtek
Submitted From: Toronto, Canada

Ingredients
• 1 packet of ramen (beef flavour)
• 3 slices of dried porcini mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp of Hoisin sauce
• 1 green onion
• 1/2 tsp of garlic/chili sauce
• 1/4 tsp of sesame oil

Chop green onion on angle and separate white from green parts. Bring water to a boil according to packet recipe. Add mushrooms, let simmer until soft (2-3 mins). Add noodles, Hoisin, flavour packet, garlic chili sauce and white part of green onions — simmer until noodles are desired softness. Add sesame oil and green part of onions — remove from heat. Let stand for a minute or two. Absorb wonderful aroma.

Also try with substituting fresh cilantro for green onions; quite a different experience.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book when I started, I mean, I know Momofuku Ando was a great man, but could he fix someone’s love life? Based on the first few chapters, Momofuku has his work cut out for him. Andy seems to have at least two relationships going on at any given time and is not happy about it (I use the term relationships very loosely here). Andy decides that he will follow the motto of an older Japanese TV show and shout out “I want to…” and follow what comes next. In this case, what comes next is “meet Momofuku Ando and make instant ramen with him”. I won’t spoil the book by giving away the rest of the story, but this book is a fun read. Andy’s writing style is humorous and interesting, and I also enjoyed the sprinklings of Momofuku’s biography throughout. Last night I stayed up past midnight reading despite having to get up early this morning and that is the mark of a good book in my opinion.

The Ramen King and I by Andy Raskin will be released today, May 7. I recommend you pick up a copy and maybe even use the Amazon.com button on this site to do so!

Ramen Advice

Here’s a sample piece of wisdom…

Dear Momofuku,
Do you have any advice for how my family can handle all of their financial troubles?
–Strapped

Dear Strapped,
Momofuku Ando lost everything, save his home, when he was 47 years old. He felt that it was the worst moment of his life, and arguably it was. I can’t presume to know the difficulties your family is facing, but I hope it is some comfort that the experience led Momofuku to instant ramen. He once said, “Behind every valley, a grand mountain awaits.”