I'm J Arcane, and I endorse this product.

Now, I am a lover of Japanese cuisine. My first cooking experience was in the kitchen of a Japanese restaurant, and it was that experience that really helped kick start my love of food and cooking.

One of my favorite dishes of course, and the one which I have prepared the most often, is ramen. This wondrous noodle soup dish is simple to prepare, tastes delicious, and offers a veritable rainbow of flavor options and possibilities. Everything from a simple shoyu broth, to the slow-cooked creamy pork taste of tonkotsu broth, to a spicy curry ramen, and everywhere in between.

When it comes to packaged ramen however, I pretty much just use the noodles and make my own broth from scratch. Better flavor that way, more control over the salt content, more avenues for creative expression. It's nice to get some fresh yakisoba noodles and use those on occasion, but for the price you still can't beat the packaged noodles, and cooked in a nice homemade broth they're actually better than the crummy frozen noodles we used in my kitchen alma mater.

I generally do conserve the flavor packets however, perhaps out of the same instinct to through nothing away that causes me to stockpile grocery bags, which of course I almost never use. I just don't use the things unless I'm taking part in that oh so delicious handmade snack food: dry broken up ramen brick with seasoning.

But there is one exception to this rule. One ramen flavor to rule them all, the only one that has a flavor that really is worth the price of admission for any purpose other than a half-assed snack seasoning.

I speak, of this fine specimen:

It is, quite simply, the only packet ramen worth eating on it's own. It is the only flavor that stands toe to toe with the quality of the more expensive imported ramens you can sometimes find in the Asian sections of supermarkets. It is equal to even to the wonders of the Nong Shim Bowl Noodle brand.

There's just something about the heat of the dried peppers, and the peculiar, almost smoky qualities of the beef bullion used, that gives it a complexity of flavor that, quite frankly, you just don't expect to find in something that only costs 10 cents at the local megamart.

But it doesn't stop at the spice packet. In contrast to the almost depressing uniformity of your average packet of dried instant noodles, the wonderful folks at Nissin have seen fit to add an additional touch to this simple meal. Infused in the dried noodles is yet more dried chili and spices, adding an extra kick even to the noodles themselves.

And not only does it serve to season a not-half-bad instant ramen, but as I've discovered with tonight's evening snack, a conserved spice packet from this stuff also serves wonderful as a seasoning for some just steamed rice. I have experimented with it's seasoning powers only a few times in the past, but somehow I suspect that if I dared to try, it's flavor would serve well as a seasoning mix for a number of other endeavors.

And so I must tip my hat to this surprising little foil packet, for providing me with some real culinary magic. Next time you're at your local foodservice supply store, do yourself a favor and grab a flat of this stuff. It's a great thing to have around, not just for the noodles, but for the whole flavor combination.