By Rob Bricken in
Tech
Wednesday, May. 5 2010 @ 2:00PM
Some of you might remember back in March, when I made fun of the Japanese for creating a pasta fork -- basically, a fork with a extra, almost-certainly-mouth-damaging tine to keep pasta, once wound, on the fork itself. It seemed silly and unnecessary and dangerous. And yet, if it at all led to this new utensil, I take back everything I've ever said about it:
Behold, the Ramen Fork. A fork with both tine for noodles and a small bowl for soup base. It's basically a spork, just a little more professional. As a frequent ramen eater -- mostly thanks to Ramenbox -- I am constantly irked by the difficulty of eating noodles and slurping soup simultaneously. Their supposed to be eaten together, and yet, no utensil has been able to accomplish this. Until now. Because of the Ramen Fork. Japan, I'll take 100. (Via JapanSugoi)
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61 comments
Comments
The_Shrubbery said:
Do I really get to be the first to comment about how amazing this is? It's the holy grail of utensils...*reverent awe*
Tara said:
Holy Crap! Just add a serated edge to the handle, and you'd have the ultimate utenstil EVER.
DJRM said:
I just want to say on behalf of all of humanity, Thank You Ramen Fork for all of the good you are sure to do in the world.
The_Shrubbery replied to DJRM:
We need a Ramen Fork Appreciation Day...
Greymattersplat said:
The ramen fork is awesome...but HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT RAMENBOX?!?!
It seems a little pricey, but damn!
Jaymus Yawsley replied to Greymattersplat:
Let me say that it's worth it. The quality of the ramen is apparent the moment you take a... umm, bite, I guess. It doesn't taste like incredibly salty beef stock; each flavor tastes like what they're supposed to taste like, and each one I've eaten so far has a nice spicy kick to it. Plus, several of them come with dried vegetables, so it has added sustenance. Sort of.
Thanks, Rob, for introducing us to Ramenbox.com. You have no idea how delighted I was to open it and find Sriracha packets inside.
Their, they're, and there. said:
Their...
*twitch*
RobP replied to Their, they're, and there.:
Y'all ain't from 'round here, are ya?
Lizzie replied to Their, they're, and there.:
i thought the exact same thing.
Adam E. said:
Fuck that. Give me two wooden sticks and I'm good to go.
Coronel Hapablab said:
Must... remember... Ramenbox website for later... tired... of... eating strange ramen called Kung-Fu...
mskeito said:
This picture makes me so hungry.... :(
Ramen fork = extra cool!
Nick Danger said:
Or you could not be be a metro pansy and take the whole bowl, tilt it and simultaneously pour and and drag noodles into your gaping maw.
Whenever I saw Zatoichi the blind swordsman eat out of a bowl he did it. No arguing.
RunnerX13 said:
I imagine Rob scraping the roof of his mouth with the prongs, as he slurps down boiling hot soup, that he left in the microwave way too long.
Nepheliad said:
1) This fork is so much awesome. How could it have taken this long to devise something like it? Too long spent using chopsticks, too long...
2) Rob, y'know, you could always just hop over to your neighborhood Asian store and buy the brands for a much cheapter price than that of Ramenbox... And you'd get a wider variety to boot. There's not a single brand on there that I haven't seen at H-Mart or most Chinese grocery stores, but I guess putting up with all the "disgusting" smells and foodstock of one isn't something most non-Asians are willing to do, haha.
Greymattersplat replied to Nepheliad:
Or, you could live someplace...for the sake of argument, let's call it Indianapolis...that only has a couple, and they're way on the other side of town! (though I did just find out there's one near my sister's place...might be time to visit my nieces and nephews.)
Nepheliad replied to Greymattersplat:
Gas fare is still prolly cheaper than ordering it online. The price on that page struck deep into my cheap, Asian heart.
But hey, I'm much partial to Asian food, so I have to stop by Asian markets once every few months, just to keep my supply of snacks and seasonings from the other side of the ocean. I guess it doesn't seem a hassle to me, haha.
The Man With Two Brains replied to Nepheliad:
The only "Asian" store within a good 60-70 miles of my house has ONLY Indian food and spices. If I COULD buy good East-Asian spices and imports at it, I would, but I have to rely on stuff like RamenBox when I want my fix.
Matt Henke said:
Do the noodles really have to be eaten simultaneously with the soup broth? I eat a lot of ramen (usually in the winter) but I like to either drink all the ramen broth first, then eat the noodles, or vice versa... kind of like how not too many people eat whole Oreos - they unscrew the cookie, eat the filling first, then eat the chocolate cookie part... Everybody has their own way, I guess. Would still like to try that fork, though, just for shits and giggles...
Scooter Atreides replied to Matt Henke:
Since I eat whole Oreos does this officially make me a member of a minority?
mozarkite said:
I just checked : Some store is already selling them on ebay at a cool 24.95 apiece (but free shipping, and the item's coming from Japan). They sold three-anyone from this thread a purchaser?
Wintermute said:
Seriously, no one here has heard of the spork?
Rml replied to Wintermute:
We have. He won a (totally deserved) TR shirt a few contests ago, btw. However, one might find eating ramen with Spork somewhat difficult.
Mak replied to Wintermute:
The spork was an exciting, yet ultimately disappointing, utensil. I am still bitter about it. The curve of the bowl makes using it as a fork almost impossible, and the fork tines make it useless as a spoon. This is like spork 2.0. Looks much more promising. DO NOT DASH MY HOPES AGAIN, JAPAN.
The Man With Two Brains replied to Wintermute:
Have you tried actually reading the article rather than just looking at the title and picture? Rob specifically described this item as "like a spork, but a little more professional." READING COMPREHENSION: TRY IT.
Also, you do realize that spork tines are too damn short for noodles, right?
Rml said:
Japan, this is ridiculously well-thought-of!
All the silverware peasantry shall bow before Ramen Fork!
(However, I must say that eating ramen without chopsticks is only half the fun... Besides, Pai Mei would totally gouge one of your eyes out for this...)
Lizzy Kaelar said:
So the pasta fork was definitely odd... but this, this is AWESOME!!!
Matt said:
I like Ramen and all, but I never eat that "soup". It's horrible. Disgusting even.
Matt,
something tells me that you haven't had good ramen. I used to skip out on drinking the broth all the time, but with the local asian supermarket always close at hand, I decided to try it once.
It's very brothy.
If you like chicken broth, then with the chicken flavored noodles, it tastes remarkably close to the taste of chicken broth.
The cheap crap that regular American grocery stores tend to carry, however... can't drink it. Bleah.
Gleeman said:
I'm stocking my safe room right now...
Scooter Atreides said:
How the hell did Japan lose WWII if they're capable of inventing things like this?
The Man With Two Brains replied to Scooter Atreides:
Two words: Atomic Bomb.
Scooter Atreides replied to The Man With Two Brains:
If the men behind the Manhattan Project had been given ramen forks, they'd be so occupied enjoying noodley goodness and rhapsodizing about the fork's ingenuity they'd forget to build the bomb!
wingdarkness said:
Wow, I wish I knew what it felt like to win the internet...Congrats Ramen Fork!
VisforVice said:
meh. it could be designed to look less dumb. right now it just look ungainly
Boredlizzie said:
SPORK 2.0!
Bingo said:
That fork is very funny but that ramen soup looks delicious :P
Big Mac said:
you can get these at any KFC
Fylisfe said:
o_O the japanese make me love them more and more everyday... i need to get a ramen fork! specially since i plan to eat ramen everyday once i get to college xD
Brick said:
Dear Japan,
I've already graduated. Thanks for showing up late to the party.
Wishing I had a Ramen Fork when I needed it,
Brick
Josh said:
All I want to know is... Where can I buy one, damn it?
G c0de said:
you could stop by taco bell and get a handfull of sporks for free
Denjiro replied to G c0de:
And still have a use for the ramen fork as a Spork is largely useless for what the ramen fork there is designed for.
Avenger said:
Just... yes. A super terrific article about something awesome. I'll take a dozen please.
Ben Dale said:
My mom got me 2 for christmas because she knows i love my ramen. They're pretty amazing. You can get them from the MOMA NYC gift shop for $14 a pop.
Dag said:
This item is meant to distract you from the fact that most ramen noodle mixes have enough salt in it to make the Dead Sea appear drinkable. Seriously, I get chased by deer after I eat ramen noodles.
Andrew replied to Dag:
"Oh, boohoo, ramen isn't healthy!"
rickicker said:
i'll take TWO HUNDRED!! XD sweet evil flying jesus, about GOD DAMN TIME somebody made this!!
Blackrabbit said:
This broth/noodle "dilemma" has been solved, a long, long time ago...
1. Chopsticks in left hand.
2. Soup spoon in right hand.
In a few seconds, you'll get the hang of putting noodles in your mouth while slurping from the spoon. In fact, the spoon helps you get the bottom end of the noodles in at the same time. SO. EASY.
kyle said:
i want to see more.... =]
Phil E. Drifter said:
You gotta be stupid if you think this is useful in any way.
First off, who the hell doesn't crush the noodle block up before even opening the baggy it's in? Then you just eat it with a spoon, not having to worry about having to twist a fork multiple times to get a big-as$ pile of noodles with no broth.
Linda said:
These looked very useful, but I googled them for prices and I won't be buying them.
$14.00 a piece is too steep.
oakworm said:
These look very useful, but when I googled for prices, I was shocked to see them priced at $13.00 ea. Too steep for me.
marvin nubwaxer said:
i pour out the liquid
Mayra said:
shitballs. my dream came true :D
BArry Eagen said:
The worst food on Earth. MSG
K said:
I'm confused when you say that the soup and the noodles are "supposed to be eaten together." We (as in the Japanese) generally eat ramen with chop sticks, and possibly a Chinese spoon. It's practically impossible to eat both the soup and noodles together, unless you manage to do some crazy move, or slurp the noodles directly from the bowl. So, I have to disagree, the soup and noodles are not "supposed" to be eaten together, although you may if you choose to.
Either way, that is a creative product. Personally, I wouldn't buy it, but I do find it interesting.
G said:
dude.......thats a spork.
Bleubarry said:
You people are a bunch of douchebags. Eat the damn noodles with chopsticks like you are supposed to and get over it. Ramen noodles are only "delicious" when you have nothing else to eat and have a few dollars left to your name.
