The gold standard for instant noodles

When people talk about food they use words like “awesome” or “disgusting” or “tasty” and so on. But these words are not very useful on their own. We have no idea what “awesome” actually means.

Like, we could say being pushed out of trolley car is awesome, relative to being run over by it. But that doesn’t mean it’s awesome compared say, winning the lottery or taking a shower.

There needs to be some root element or experience upon which we base our adjectives when talking about stuff. We need a better sense of what people are saying, especially when it comes to food.

How many times have you heard someone say a food or a restaurant is “great” only to try it yourself later and find that it’s just not true? More than once, probably.

So, when we talk about instant ramen noodles, what standard should we use to compare all other noodles? Well, that’s a no brainer. It’s always going to be Maruchan chicken flavored noodles.

A star is born

In the early 1950s, a young Japanese visionary named Kazuo Mori started a frozen fish distribution company in Tokyo, Japan. Through hard work and determination the company grew into a successful food company, known as Toyo Suisan.

In the conquest of more, Toyo Suisan branched out and entered the instant ramen noodle business in 1961. Their mission was to create a convenient, high quality, and affordable noodle product for all the people of the world.

By the late 1970s, the company had expanded into the United States market under the name Maruchan, Inc., and the rest is history.

Maruchan chicken flavored noodles with seasoning packet

Maruchan’s chicken flavored instant noodles

Maruchan sells a number of different flavored instant noodles, but their most popular is the chicken flavor. This is the one that comes in the orange and yellow packaging that makes us salivate just by looking at it.

We must all have fond memories of eating this as a kid. In fact, these noodles were probably the first meal we ever made for ourselves. Granted, they were super easy to make; boil some water, add the noodles, stir in the seasoning packet, done.

The noodles have a smooth chicken-like flavor that’s not too loud or sharp but more soft and delicate. The broth is bright yellow and it tastes delicious. It’s perfect at any time of the day.

As of this writing, Amazon sells a 24-pack of these noodles for $7.36. That’s $0.30 per pack! The price is insanely cheap! Snooty people and their designer purses and their 600-hundred dollar haircuts will snip, “Well, you get what you pay for.”

We have to politely disagree because those noodles are probably worth twice that price. Betch!

Admittedly, the affordability of instant noodles is partly what makes them so popular. They are affordable because they’re so cheap to make.

The back of a Maruchan noodle package showing the nutritional information

In a world in which the cost of living is far outpacing the rise in salaries, you can be sure that instant ramen will become even more popular in the years ahead. This is both sad and exciting.

It’s sad because we don’t know how to answer the question, “What the fuck are we doing as a society?” It’s exciting because of the endless potential of the instant noodle industry.

As more people turn to cheap food, more money is spent on instant noodles and the industry grows. We see new companies popping up that offer a greater variety of noodles than ever before.

We see organic noodles, vegan noodles, weird flavors like pumpkin spice noodles, gourmet noodles, and so on. It seems like the number of instant noodle products are increasing by the year.

Because of the number and variety of instant noodles we need some kind of measuring system to describe the cornucopia of ramen. But what standard should we use to measure noodle quality?

The gold standard

We have to use Maruchan chicken flavored noodles as our baseline standard when comparing instant noodles because these are the noodles that pretty much everyone has enjoyed at some point in their lives.

Most people are familiar with the taste, texture, and quality of Maruchan chicken noodles. With these noodles as the standard, people will have something to relate to.

Everyone will know what you’re talking about if you say, “These are only half as good as Maruchan chicken noodles!” or “Damn, these are awesome compared to Maruchan chicken noodles!” The world becomes a much better place when we’re able to communicate with one another.

It’s also good that Maruchan chicken noodles are a kind of middle-of-the-road kind of noodle. There are definitely better and worse noodles out there. This allows us to gauge the quality of other noodles more easily as our point of reference is somewhere near the middle of the quality spectrum.

Now that that’s out of the way, there is one other thing that’s lingering on our minds. How can we make instant noodles healthier?

How can I make Maruchan noodles healthier?

Let’s be honest. Instant noodles don’t contain a lot of nutrients. It’s basically just wheat flour and salt, with a little seasoning. Not much in the form of vitamins and minerals.

If you’re going to eat instant noodles you have to add vegetables to them. Do not eat instant noodles without adding extra vegetables. Vegetables are the most nutrient dense foods you can eat.

Maruchan instant noodles with added vegetables

Just walk into the produce section of your local grocery store and start selecting vegetables at random. Pick up a knife and cutting board and slice the vegetables into thin strips to put in your noodles.

It takes a little while before you get to know your vegetables and develop a taste for which ones go with which noodles. Not everyone is the same. Some might like carrots, or mushrooms, or celery. Others might take a fancy to tofu, jalapenos, and kimchi.

Any last thoughts?

We forgot to mention the smell. There is a pleasant aroma that’s created when cooking Maruchan chicken flavored noodles. It smells like a home-cooked meal and reminds us of the good ‘ol days, back when money used to be worth more and we didn’t have to spend our lives staring at glowing screens.

What gives the noodles their nice smell? It must be the perfect combination of MSG, TBHQ, turmeric, natural flavors, dehydrated vegetables, powdered chicken, and cabbage extract. Maruchan definitely got the ingredient ratios right on this one!