Shrimp Noodles, Mama-Drop-the-Noodles Style

20220809 #breakfastdiary 518, 25°C/cloudy, 10min/exercise For the #shrimpnoodles, boil the noodles, rinse under cold water, and drain. Mix lime, palm sugar, and fish sauce in equal parts for the dressing. Toss the boiled noodles with cilantro and tomato, mix well, and finish with flying fish roe on top. Call it #MamaDroptheNoodles, as in "Mom, I dropped my ramyeon"— or call it a tribute to #MamaDroptheNoodles, the Thai restaurant in Itaewon. "Myeonchigi" refers to slurping up noodles—ramyeon, guksu, whatever—without biting them off, pulling the whole strand up with sheer lip power. In the process, the long noodle comes flying up and makes a loud, obnoxious noise. Doesn't just imagining it make you cringe? If I were eating noodles somewhere and someone next to me did the myeonchigi thing, I'd set down my chopsticks and walk right out. My appetite would already be shot. Lee Yong-jae, Who Made That Myeonchigi Noise? There's a theory that Zen Buddhist monks, who prized abstinence and restraint, were only ever allowed to eat noodles audibly, and that this is one origin of myeonchigi. Still, in Korean culture, slurping noodles out loud remains a bit much. On a rushed morning, I'd rather sip my noodles quietly than slurp them loudly.