What do these ramen packets contain? (me fail Japanese!)

Deusfaux

So I used to have Mr Noodles, if anything back home, and it would just have the one packet with seasoning/flavor referred to on the outside (chick or beef, mostly).

But the ramen I got here is particularly more Japanese in branding and packaging, so I dont know what the hell the (now) three packets contain.

Technically there are just 2 packets, but one has 2 compartments for 2 different things. One looks like the seasoning/flavor I might normally see in a Mr Noodles, one has little pepper shapes on the packaging and I'm guessing is some kind of curry powder or something? And the other is kind of a sludge-y brownish paste... not very appealing.

So whats up? What are these things

Reiten

You really need to give us a picture of the packaging to help you. I'd guess the brown paste is probably miso. The pepper shapes is probably pepper in case you want to make it spicier. Japanese often add white pepper to their ramen.

Gabriel_Pitt

I'd guess the seasoning flavor is seasoning flavor, the peppers are spicey peppers you add to taste, and the sludge is the rest of the broth ingredients and oil.

Drag

they are essentially ingredients that generally make the noodles taste far far better than your standard single packet of chicken-flavored salt. Unless you're allergic to a lot of things, you should just try them out.

LondonBridge

I'm guessing just more sodium and MSG.

Deusfaux

K I'll try and get some pics

UncleChet

I've gotten ramen with various packets and what everyone else is saying is most likely true. The sludge pack is flavor and oil alot like the standard seasoning pack. The chili packet is likely just to make it spicier. I've gotten vietnamese ramen and it was set up the same way. Dump em all in and see how it goes...

Skullmatrix

typically ramen here in japan has 2 or three packets and directions for cooking them vary from place to place. here is what "I" usually do and what my wife (who is japanese) reccomended.

First, never heat the water in the ramen. This will change the way the noodles taste and not for the better, its a bigger pain to heat the water on the stove or in a seperate bowl via microwave but you get noodles that dont have the taste of the styrofoam container nuked into them. It also lets you have a firmer noodle, which is the way it is typically served, not hard mind you, but not all soft and limp. Once you have hot water add it to the ramen and toss in any of the following...

Dry sauce packets
Dry Vegitable Packets
Egg packets
Meat packets

If you have a wet veggie pack you can add it now or with the paste as you like. Some like a veggie crunch, some dont...

Stir everything a few times and cover it up with the foil top. If you have a paste packet put this on the lid to hold it down and so the heat from the water softens the paste.

After a few minutes (you decide how "done" you like your ramen) uncover the ramen and add the paste. Grab some hashi and enjoy.

When making ramen in a resteraunt the ramen is added to the soup/paste mix after it has been cooked and strained, the thinking being that you want the ramen to have the paste/oil flavors "cling" to the ramen and not cooked into it. I actually watched a two hour tv show on the subject of why ramen is added to the broth and not the other way around. I dont reccomend you suffer through it but it was certainly interesting how much time and thought was put into the subject.

Oh, quick word of caution, make sure you are only making ramen this way, if you have soba or something else it will be different