Taiwanese Instant Noodles

I love ramen cup of noodles. I know it is a little disgusting, but I do love them. There is something really satisfying about eating them. They are also EXCELLENT for getting rid of hang-overs.

I was really excited to be in Taiwan so I could eat lots of cup of noodles without being such a weirdo. AND they have about a million different varieties of them here, and just about everywhere has hot water, making them an easy snack or lunch.

(Package of Taiwan Cellophane noodles)

Anyway, I stocked up on some cup of noodles just in case the typhoon made it too difficult to leave my dorm. When I went to the grocery store last night it was being torn apart by millions of young Taiwanese. I could hardly make my way around the narrow aisles. Everyone must have had the same idea. When I got to the cup of noodle aisle (yes, they is a whole aisle in the grocery store designated to cup of noodles, also known as heaven) the supply had been horded. My favorite kind of noodles was all gone, pillaged in a typhoon, noodle buying frenzy. There were only a few kinds of noodles left that I had never tried before. There was an entire shelf of noodles, in fact, that no one had touched. I wondered why no one had bought these noodles. My friend took one look at them and said, “Those look nasty, that’s why!” I thought the picture looked just like all the other noodles package pictures so I bought them. I had to buy something. And did I mention I love noodles?

So today during the wind and rain and storm I was very excited when it came lunch time, noodle eating time. I open my package and, to my dismay, realized why no one wanted these noodles. They were cellophane noodles, thin, clear, wormy noodles made out of god knows what. They are called cellophane. Does that mean plastic or something? I will have to look up what they are made out of. I don’t know.

I have a strong aversion to this type of noodle. When I was a child my mother really loved to make seaweed soup with this type of noodle and tofu. As an American child, of course, I was not into this. Something about the texture of the weird clear noodle was appalling to me. Now, as an adult I was again faced with the noodle, and soon discovered that the broth was seaweed flavored as well. Of course I ate the noodles. I do not like to waste food. But from now on I am going to examine my noodles a little more closely. I need to look up the characters for cellophane noodles to prevent further eating of these noodles.