Ramen noodles are like a big warm Asian hug. :)

One of my kids' favorite meals is ramen noodles. You know, those plain old chicken-flavor infused, high sodium square lumps that you can get on sale for like a quarter a package, boil for three minutes and then throw in a seasoning packet. Even I enjoy them on occasion. A bite takes me away to where I'm seated on the floor with traditional Japanese music piping through the screened walls with pictures of pale petite women in kimonos beside bonsai trees as I'm embraced by Jackie Chan or Pat Morita in front of a steaming bowl of noodles. Ok, so maybe that's going a little overboard. The Maruchan brand is not all that. But it makes me wish for something better. And today I tuned into a local show called Windy City Live, where Takashi Yagihashi, owner of the Chicago eatery Slurping Turtle, was making ramen. Lots of different types of ramen with lots of appetizing additions. And they looked amazing.

They also showed a cover shot of his cookbook, Takashi's Noodles - http://www.amazon.com/Takashis-Noodles-Takashi-Yagihashi/dp/1580089658

Visit the restaurant site at slurpingturtle.com. I couldn't find any shots of the noodles on the site, but this looks pretty awesome, doesn't it?