Friday, May 18, 2007

RAMEN IS A BIT OF A REACH

Before I get started

Happy Birthday Mom-
I love you so much and am so glad to have you as my Mommy. You're the best.

Now back to the task at hand. I know that a ramen recipe is bogu as far as true foodieness goes. However, this was the most delicious bowl of ramen I have ever had and I wanted to share it with you all. It may be able to be improved upon as Monica has discovered that cooking ramen in V-8 is delicious. I didn’t have any V-8 so I couldn’t find out.

Sapporo Ichiban Ramen is essential to this recipe. Mainly because it is one of the only vegetarian ramens out there but also because everyone (that I have asked) agrees that as far as ramen goes, this one is the most delicious.

1 package Sapporo Ichiban original flavor Ramen
Juice of ½ lemon
2tbsp scallion diced
4 oyster mushrooms sliced
1tbsp chili powder
3 dashes cayenne
1 dash garlic powder
1-2tsp Sriracha hot sauce

Put all the stuff in the pot while the water boils. Cook ramen 3 minutes. Add seasoning packet. Enjoy.

As an added bonus, I saw this bit about a ramen noodle shop on my cousin’s myspace page. It just fit so well with Foodie Friday that how could I not include it.

Oh and the Ugly Betty season finale was awesome. Monica is right, depending on what angle you look at her from she looks just like both of us. Super scary. One of my clients told me the other day that I looked just like Ugly Betty. I told him, “thanks seeing how she is all ugly and stuff,” he replied that he didn’t mean it that way and thought we both were cute. I told him it was ok. I think she is cute too, it’s just that no one likes to be told they look like someone whose name is Ugly.

The Egg, Quasi- This reminds me of this movie I saw in Imax called The Egg when I was young. It was very basic computer animation but nothing I have ever seen worked so well with the Imax effect as that movie did. I followed that egg hither and yon through trains tracks and the ocean. I wish I could do it again.

Marriage, Divorce, and Motels, Lenny Bruce- When you listen to this stuff and realize all the mess Lenny Bruce was in for his comedy, you really get an appreciation for how much more we will put up with from comedians these days.

A Peak You Reach, Badly Drawn Boy- Listening to Badly Drawn Boy makes me miss Monica. Good thing I am off to meet her for lunch. Cheerio.

23 comments:

little things said...

Ramen has its uses, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Cousin on which side of the family? (Or have I already guessed...)

Danielle said...

That was one crazy vid, girl, crazy scheme but it sure did work.

Have a great weekend!

Danielle said...

A big big Happy Birthday to Mom another lovely Taurus.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Natalie! It's a pleasure and a privilege to have you in my life. I love you too.

Foofa said...

Little Things- It sure does, that stuff is delicious!

Mom- You know now cause i called you to go back and look at my blog again so you could see the message I added while you were reading. so again, Hippity happity buthuftathufta

Danielle- Wasn't it funny. I loved him frolicking with the children. Thanks for wishing my Mom a happy b-day. That is nice.

Anonymous said...

Yeah -- thanks, Danielle!

(Natalie, I did go back. That's why I wrote the "thanks" comment. BTW, dinner at the Dakota was a huge success, and everyone had a fabulous time. It was especially nice to see how much Zach and Warren enjoyed the music. And the band played "Spain" which is a longtime favorite of mine, so that was real cool. I am looking forward to taking you and Tony there next time you're in town!)

Pawlie Kokonuts said...

Happy birthday (actually, it's the anniversary of her birth, in't?) to your Mom.

CS said...

Ramen with snow peas and carrots added is also good.

Johnny Yen said...

Lenny Bruce was a genius! It is hard to believe they gave him such a hard time, given what we hear now.

Janna said...

I love how one of the Ramen recipe ingredients is Sriracha hot sauce! I LOVE that stuff. I've got a bottle of it in my fridge right now. Love it love it love it! :)

Francis Holland said...

Good morning, Natalie. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. Would you like to join the Afrosphere, share in our efforts and trade links with all of the Afrosphere blogs?

Pardon me for hijacking your thread. Over at the Electronic Village, where I posted arguing that we should forever ban the word "race" from our vocabulary, except when referring to it as the pseudo-scientific white supremacist fallacious concept of "race," you argued that Blacks might scientifically be effectively a sub-species of the human species. I think this is something important to Black people and worth discussing some more.

I have insisted that the pseudo-scientific word "race" is a white supremacists' word created as a badge of inferiority to rationalize the subjugation and enslavement of Black people.

You, correct me if I am wrong, have asserted that the word "race" may be correct after all, because although Blacks may not be a separate but equal species of humans, it may be scientifically correct to assert that we are a something like a sub-breed or "sub-species" of humans. I would like to try to convince you otherwise.

I will NEVER, EVER, refer to us as a separate "race" or a "separate" "sub-species," because (1) it is not scientifically compelled by the evidence and (2) IT IS NOT IN OUR POLITICAL INTERESTS! In fact it is diametrically opposed to our political interests.

My mother, the late Dr. Rachel V. Holland, who died in 1997, was college professor who taught Sociology for 20 years. She focused on teaching about what was then called "racism," but is now coming to be called Extreme Color-Arousal.

Throughout her twenty years of teaching, my mother taught me and all of her students this fundamental principle of Black existence in America, paraphrasing:

"For hundreds of years, whites have perpetuated an argument that Blacks were from a separate and inferior race for the purpose of justifying our enslavement and segregation. Every argument about what "race" Blacks are from and what are the "inherent biological characteristics" of the "Black race" is a politically-motivated attempt by white people to demean Black people, and so you should NEVER engage in arguments about the genetic content of the Black race.

You cannot win this argument, because as soon as you concede that there is ANY scientific reason to engage in this pseudo-scientific "genetics" battle, you have already lost the political war."


There are more whites than there are Blacks in the United States, and many of them have endless energy to discuss and debate the genetic basis of Blacks' inferiority. The discussion itself maligns Blacks and so the white supremacists win for so long as the public believes there is any reason to have the discussion at all. Thankfully, many white now accept the fact that "There is only one race - the human race!" Let's not go backward politically, with Blacks looking to defend the word "race" just so that they can continue to call others "racist" instead of adopting the more scientifically descriptive term "Extreme Color Arousal."

Whites (and Blacks) will NEVER, EVER be able to believe that a separate Black "race" is nonetheless equal.

So, although biologically we could argue over whether Blacks are perhaps a "sub-species" of humans, it ought to be apparent that that is not our best argument for equality! Language matters. When you concede that you are "sub" you linguistically concede that you are "lower-than" on a hierarchy, even if you could (and will have to) argue for thousands of years that this is not what was intended.

If those who disagree with me agree that "race" is not correct and they believe that "sub-species" is more correct, then we have to decide which of the new terms - skin-color or sub-species - can help us move to the next level in America. I think it's obvious that we can get further by insisting that whites abuse us aroused by our skin-color rather than saying that whites abuse us because we are from a separate "sub-species." If we are so foolish as to concede that we are we are from a separate race OR "sub-species" then perhaps we deserve to be abused!

The answer is simple. We must insist, at every turn, that the reason that whites discriminate against us has nothing to do with the fallacious "race" or "sub-species" terms and has EVERYTHING to do with their antagonistic attitude toward our "skin-color."

This linguistic struggle is as important as insisting that we are Blacks instead of "Negroes" or "Colored." Words matter. Defining ourselves instead of being defined by others matters. The way that we choose to define our struggle with whites matters precisely because we are powerful when we assert the right and the power to define our struggle and ourselves.

We can make a huge step forward in decolonizing our minds if we stop using the term "racism" and instead use the term Extreme Color-Aroused Antagonism. The word "extreme" in this term also makes it clear that we are not calling "everybody a racist," but are acknowledging, quite scientifically, the gradations among those who are color-aroused.

The word "race" is not our chosen definition of ourselves; it is a white supremacist definition that we have passively accepted. To the degree that we have made it our own and let it define us, it is like the slave name that Asabagna rejected when he assumed the name Asabagna. The word "race" is politically analogous to the slave name that Cassius Clay rejected when he insisted on being called "Muhammad Ali." Muhammad Ali no longer wanted to be defined by the badges of inferiority sub-humanity created for Blacks during the time of slavery. When he insisted on being called Muhammad Ali, it was revolutionary in America, just as insisting on being called "Black people" rather than "the Black race" will be revolutionary awakening for Black people as well as white people.

Muhammad Ali did not become "the greatest" simply by winning in the boxing ring. He became the greatest by insisting on defining his own reality in relation to white American.

If Muhammad Ali had the courage in the 1960's to abandon a slave name and insist on defining himself and his relation to white people, surely we can find the courage to insist that we are discriminated against because of our "skin-color" and not because of our "race" and "racism." We can put the locus and focus of this problem back where it belongs - on white people's Extreme Color Arousal - rather than on Black people's "inferior "racial" characteristics." In any case, like the name Cassius Clay vs. the name Muhammad Ali, it's our choice to make.

Let me make it clear that this IS NOT an argument for or about "color-blindness." Arguments about "race" actually take the focus off our of color difference, which is obvious, and puts the focus on unspecified "racial differences," a pseudo-scientific myth that has been used by white supremacists to compel and perpetuate our separate and unequal status in America.

Finally, it is apparent that you have a great blog, a great mind and a great commitment to Black people. Please join the Afrosphere, trade links with us and let's take our struggle for equality and dignity in America to a new level!

Michael C said...

I was just wondering if there was any other opportunity the producers of Ugly Betty may have missed to make it even more dramatic.

Eve said...

Ramen's great! I love to make it and fry it up. Definitely one of my go-to quick meals. (Twice fried noodles, yum!)

And Ugly Bette? What a jerk!

Sandra said...

Happy birthday to your mom. She must be a fantatic lady to have raised such a daughter.

And yay for Ramen!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Pawlie Kokonuts and Sandra.

ShadowFalcon said...

Ramen is soooooooooo yummy

RandomlyAccessedMemories said...

Ugly Betty... you mean Betty La Fea.

That's a ripoff of an old Telemundo show!

Foofa said...

Pawlie- Yes, Mr. technically correct, it is.

CS- That would be delicious. I tried to buy snow peas the other day but they had no snap. Yuck.

Johnny- Yeah, the times certainly have changed. He was awesome.

Janna- that stuff makes the ramen oh so delicious!

Michael- It would have been hard to do so. Drama was high!

Eve- I've never fried it. I like it in soup form. That would be tasty though.

Sandra- Thanks, the lady rocks.

Shadow- If only it were good for you

Ern- I have watched the telemundo version. Hilarious.

Foofa said...

Francis- You are inferring much more than what was said in my reply, which was spelled out very clearly. I did say that in biology sometimes things are classified as sub-species. Never once did I say that race qualified as a sub-species or sub-breed because that is false. I don't think there is even such a thing as a sub-breed. The thing with breeds is they are classified by having different phenotypic characteristics which people of different skin-colors do. That is why I mentioned breeds. I also said that people would never use the term, although it is generally correct, because of the connotations of the word. I was making a point that people add things to words that aren't often included in their definitions.

You also seem to assume that I am only classifying Blacks this way. That would be insane. All phenotypic variations of humans could be defined as breed differentials. By your using skin-color instead of race, you are saying it is the only phenotypic characteristic that matters. I would disagree. If skin color was what made one Black, I and many other Black people suddenly wouldn't be. That is obviously not the case. Also, if skin-color is the way you want to classify people many southeast Asians would suddenly be Black.

My point is that no matter what words you use, you are still classifying people. I don't think wording is what matters. I think attitudes are much more important.

I agree that the way the word race is used by white supremacists is incorrect. The reason being they added things like intelligence and personality characteristics to the mix rather than only looking at phenotype, which is what differentiates races, not the other things. However it still encompasses more than skin color.

You also completely ignored the fact that I mentioned that ethnicity is probably a more appropriate term for what we are trying to talk about. Skin color also ignores the shared experiences of people of a certain color. I don't think that is something that should be marginalized or ignored.

You really should pay more attention to what was initially said rather than picking out words here and there to suit your agenda. It's not how someone constructively talks about a subject.

dmarks said...

I don't think that Betty in "Ugly Betty" is actually ugly. However, I do not like the title of the show and do not watch it for that reason among others.

Somewhere I read recently that ramen has become extremely popular in Mexico and has transformed Mexican cuisine.

Foofa said...

dmarks- I think she is pretty cute myself. I agree with you but that show is just great. I am trying to think of a way to make Mexican inspired Ramen sound delicious and I am very confused.

Kiyotoe said...

Any Taurus is a GOOD Taurus. Happy belated to mom.

by the way, I saw "ugly betty" on some red carpet show the other night and she's not ugly at all. She's actually pretty cute.

if my opinion counts ;)