I mention this because you have not. Unless you've been to Asia, gone to a ramen house, and ordered yourself a piping hot bowl of heaven, you have not had ramen. Speak not of your college dorm, your $0.45 microwave dinner special, your packet of shrimpish MSG. You have not had ramen.
I'd been hearing about the stuff since we arrived here August first - a big bowl of miso, soy, or pork broth with a treasure trove of noodles at the bottom, flavored with hot chilis and covered in bean sprouts.
My new friend Mary Poppins (I haven't asked permission to use her real name) took me to her favorite ramen house and I ordered the spicy green onion soy ramen. As I had feared, it came with a big hunk of pork on the top, but they took it off for me. Let me tell you, though, that stuff is HOT. Not too spicy - they gave me the gaijin level of heat - but the broth was nearly boiling. Add to that the 95 degree heat and the lack of A/C, and it was a doozy. Mary Poppins and I took turns fanning her baby and each other while we ate, and it was worth every minute. Here I am, at the beginning of ramen bliss:
See how big that bowl was? I ate the whole thing. The whoooole thing. Can't wait to go back!
In other food news, here's a picture of Josh making me comfort food, at the end of that really hard day I had a while back.
He is such a great husband. He made real comfort food - sundried tomato polenta with extra-sharp cheese, and salsa for drizzlin'. It was better than a burrito.
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