One Ingredient Ramen

My friends better be poor, because they don't buy me enough presents to be anything else. That being said, I think it wouldn't be awful to post ramen noodle recipes that require only one ingredient besides spices and ramen noodles. In this case, the ingredient is one dried pasilla pepper, found at any Mexican grocery. It's the big black one that smells like a raisin.

Start with 3/4 cup of cold water in a small sauce pot. Cut the dried pepper into very small squares, about the size of the tips of your pinky finger. I personally used scissors to do this since it was easier than a knife. Wash your scissors first-- they are undoubtedly filthy. The pepper goes directly into the water. Please note that the water must be cold to properly steep the flavor from the pepper. Here, I added the flavor packet from the ramen. I personally use Maruchan Oriental Flavor, but you can use any kind. If you are using the noodles only, then add onion powder, garlic powder, ginger powder, and soy sauce to taste. A little chicken or beef bullion wouldn't hurt, either. Now, heat the pot over medium heat until it is simmering for about 5-10 minutes. If you added unsweetened dark chocolate at this point, you would have an excellent mole sauce, but we won't because this is ramen. Instead of chocolate, you will add the brick of ramen. Don't overcook it; overcooked ramen is much worse than raw ramen, so keep this in mind. This ramen will be spicy and delicious. The pasilla has a slight citrus and clove flavor when dried and reconstituted and is extremely delicious in the context of the ramen.

Continuing with the Men of Science best of picks, let's examine Songs from a More Primitive Time, the sophomore effort by the two wiseacres. This album is more consistent that Robot Surf, but lacks the power tracks like "Attenuation" and "Robot Surf". This might be due to my personal involvement, but it's impossible to say. Let's take a look at my picks for the greatest hits album-- there are three of them.

"West Coast Aliens" is a fabulous and fun way to start off an album. The song is quite rich in humor and upbeat in tempo. It's catchy and smart, not to mention short, so I recommend it. Then there's "Bucephalus". The song itself is almost dadaist in its execution. It swings from twee sentiment, schmaltzy patriotism, and utter bafflement. I love it. The last song would have to be "Fading No. 1". This song was done pretty much entirely by Graham and was meant to be the first of a series of songs with similar structures. Unfortunately, this is the only one done so far. It is frightening, somber, and romantic; one of the few overtly austere songs on the album. It really is powerful, however, and haunting certainly.

Okay, I know the big question, "what about 'The Primal Scream?'" Yeah, that song turned out really well, but the others I mentioned are more about what the Men of Science are trying to do and more appropriate for the best of. There are other very good songs on Songs from a More Primitive Time such as "it's alright" and "Country Eyes". Both of these songs really indicate where Kelly and Graham wanted to go and almost get there, but are eclipsed by later songs on later albums. This, of course, might only be because of the recording quality, since I think the songs themselves are well composed.

Some of the monologue tracks are perfectly realized, however, and have convinced me to later compile a second album entitled Men of Science: Pure Comedy Gold. I mean, "Carry-on" really is pure comedy gold.

Other good tracks: "He's an Animal" is fun. I wish I would have sung "Darkling Woman" better, because it could be a pretty good song. I would like "Marsha" more if I didn't get angry every time I listen to it, but that has nothing to do with the actual song. Overall, this is a solid album about on the level of Robot Surf, but without those two amaza-crazy good tracks. The goodness is more spread around which makes it harder to choose "best" tracks, but this is much less of a problem here than in some later albums when the bar has been raised over and over, and every song is dynamite.

Thumbs up.





Oh yeah, I updated the site again with a new Halloween doodle and new Humor Illustrated.