I don’t eat ramen very often, but I always seem to have some on hand just because I can’t resist trying whatever is on sale. I’ve taken to having some packs of ramen on hand at work for whenever I’m hungry and didn’t bring a lunch and don’t want to spend money.
Today I made the ramen without thinking about it, just noting I took the last one out of my locker and I’ll have to bring more in later.
Since I’m an expert at making packaged ramen in the microwave and not picky about my flavors, I didn’t bother to read the packaging except noting that any packaging with red in it means spicy. I think my brain assumed it would be like my go-to fave Shin “Gourmet Spicy Picante” which is a spicy but a heat I tolerate and even enjoy.
Which is why I was bewildered as I started to tear up from the skin tingling heat as I ate my lunch. Did I suddenly lose my ability to eat spicy things? Why am I crying? Why is my nose running? Why can I no longer feel my lips?
What I didn’t realize was that I’d carelessly been slurping down the infamous Paldo Teumsae ramen. Now, it’s not the spiciest (would I even survive the Fire Noodle challenge?) but holy heck this is one bowl of spicy noodles.
It took about a half-hour for the lip-tingle and tears to evaporate, and honestly I’ve mostly forgotten about how spicy my lunch was – except when I realize why I have such a strong and inexplicable craving for the cold milk goodness of a bowl of ice cream.
The Obsessive Dilettante 