A subtle Dig

 

Yesterdays walk

 

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I am a fan of our most JMG’s fiction writing.  I was informed recently by an informed source that his latest foray is NOT young adult fiction as the protagonist is eighteen at the start  (I am leery of this, having raised two sons and comparing that age with the actions/mental attitude of what is categorized as “young adult).  So I might just take a stab at reading about Ms. Maravec’s adventures.

That being said, I want to discuss his representation of a delicacy that I still rely on in my dotage.  The name of my recipe is “pimped out ramen” though JMG may well have a more culturally appropriate name for it.  For some reason, I thought that I had bought a kindle copy of his “Weird of Hali Cookbook” but it isn’t in my library.  The cost of getting old I guess.

JMG wrote of this delicacy in a moderately disparaging manner in “WOH-Innsmouth and WOH-Providence.  I was somewhat irritated by the dismissive tone of his description, but being a bigger person than that, I put it behind me and very much enjoyed the series.

I ran across this today in my reading:  https://x.com/RabidLagomorph/status/1924725776865485013

Now, I agree with a lot of the sentiments here, but there is more to it.  

Ramen is a staple food.  The ½ price brand that he is mocking is one of those “elite” brands that yuppies buy to make themselves think that they better than other folks.  The birds eye frozens are always overpriced, and the price of spam is relatively expensive.

But the theory is sound for the actual meal, the execution presented is more a function of a sleazeball corporation marketing a phony narrative to relieve themselves of stock that isn’t moving.

Pimped Out Ramen

Ingredients

↦ Two (2) packages of cheap ramen noodles (about $0.37 each)

↦ Tablespoon of peanut oil (guess=$0.05)

↦ 1-½ teaspoons of onion powder

↦ 1 teaspoon garlic powder

↦ ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes

↦ Tablespoon of peanut butter (I am guessing around $0.15??)

↦ 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce (for god's sake do not buy la choy!!!)

↦ 1-½ cups of frozen vegetable (I like the traditional provided they have baby lima beans)

↦ 1 egg

↦ 2 ounces mystery meat (1 jumbo hot dog or ¼ can of spam) (≅$0.25 for the hot dog or $1.00 for the fancy spam, I suppose you could use other meats that are “healthier” and probably cheaper, but in the day, spam was cheap…..now it isn’t.

Directions

First, boil enough water to cook the noodles, when it comes to a boil, cook the noodles (reserve the flavor packets),  and drain. Reserve until after the next step.

Fry the egg in the oil, add all the spices and peanut butter while it is hot, and saute for a minute or two, dump in the frozen vegetables and the chopped up mystery meat and saute until the vegetables get unfrozen.  I am personally ambivalent about dumping in the flavor packets for the last stir.  Sometimes artificial ingredients are damn tasty and they haven’t killed me yet.

When all this is ready to your liking, dump in the drained noodles and mix everything until it looks the way you want, dump it into the bowl, and go eat it on the kitchen table while reading.

Just remember, this is a meal for one.  Serve this at dinner and prepare to be looked at funny.