Originally published at: Why the world needs Leftover Cup Noodle Broth Hardening Powder | Boing Boing
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tt should be noted that Leftover Cup Noodle Broth Hardening Powder itself is not fit for human consumption , so don’t get any bright ideas about solidifying your leftover broth, taking it home, and then melting it back down to use for a future batch of noodles.
what a waste. It reminds me of paint hardening powders used to “safely” dispose of leftover paint in the trash.
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Aahahahaha! I mean, true, but.
If so, they now own it.
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This is basically WHY I eat ramen, it’s my go-to for hangovers and when I feel sick and don’t want to eat, but really need to get some calories. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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I saw “hardening powder” and got all excited.
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Does this cross-post with the recent aspic (hooves gelatin) episode? That is, just gelatin-ify all your food and wrap it in a tortilla. Or as a labtech used to say: “All food should be in a fusiform shape because that’s what your intestines are going to do with it anyway”
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If that got you excited, you probably don’t need hardening powder in the first place! Haha
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Yes, it is available, but don’t eat it…
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I’m using hardening powder right now!
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You guys are talking about meth, right? 
And as for this stuff… gross. Just drink the broth like a normal human being! Sheesh!
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Most of the sodium in cup noodle is in the noodles and not in the flavor packets. There’s approximately and entire bucket of baked baking soda, sodium carbonate(Na₂CO₃), in each serving of the noodles. So eat the flavor packets and toss out the noodles if you want to cut back on your sodium intake.
By the way, in the traditional Nissin Cup Noodles Chicken Flavor, there is about 1070mg of sodium. The daily recommended sodium intake in the U.S. is less than 500mg per day.
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I mean, it’s not like it’s health food or something. It’s like claiming you didn’t commit adultery because it was “just the tip”.
Also, isn’t it a bit weird for a food company to tell you’re not actually supposed to eat the food?
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Even in the biggest cities with plentiful garbage cans, many smokers carry pocket sized cigarette ashtrays. There is some weird garbage self sufficiency energy there.
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I think drinking all of the broth would be the more ecologically sound way to dispose of it, another one would be to find a place with a sink or any kind of drain and just pour it out before tossing the disposable cup. Also beyond the high sodium in the noodles/broth themselves those styrofoam cups are not good for you after being exposed to hot water, and neither are they good for the environment.
If you want some instant noodles use a kettle or microwave the water to be hot and prepare the noodles in a bowl. There are also dedicated portable soup/noodle electric cookers for office workers that work pretty well. Here’s one:
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That was an interesting link! I learned that
Water gel powder is made of sodium polyacrylate. It is non-toxic but should be handled carefully as with all chemicals.
and
Stir in a little table salt and the solid becomes liquid again as the polymer chains are broken.
But it leaves me wondering how this broth-hardening product makes it solid in the first place if the broth is so salty?
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If you want a good laugh, look at the “serving size” on any package in your pantry or fridge…
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500? You sure? I’m seeing it’s 2300mg or less. But I guess 500 < 2300… I was gonna say, it’s easy to just breathe 500mg of sodium in the US.
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I used to save the ramen broth and use it to make flavored rice.
That got kind of old when I was eating a lot of ramen during the first months of the COVID lockdown.
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I used to think the myriad of very specific and restrictive rules governing waste disposal in japan were weird and arbitrary, until I took a step back and realized how completely messed up the way of doing things in America is. Making proper waste disposal something that cannot be ignored is a good idea, I think.
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