Korean Raman Noodles

LMHS Support Program offers assistance to soldiers overseas, their families

The Lee Memorial Health System Military Support Program continues to offer assistance to deployed troops and their families due to its motto "we're not stopping until the last one comes home."

Military Support Coordinator Kim Gaide, who has worked for the Lee Memorial Health System for more than 25 years, decided she wanted to do something for the troops because her son was in the service for many years before he was honorably discharged and now works in the community.

Every month, Gaide and a slew of volunteers fill care packages full of items like Ramen noodles, socks, beef jerky, suntan lotion, hygiene items, magazines, hard candy and snacks for the soldiers who are deployed. She said if there is a need for items sooner, they will send care packages out twice a month.

Since May 2003, 34,000 pounds of care packages have been sent to deployed soldiers in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea and Japan.

Gaide said the group is notified by family members, deployed soldiers or Lee Memorial Health System employees of who is in need of care packages.

The next group of care packages will be sent out July 19. Items needed include wet wipes; bubble gum and hard candy; white socks; toilet paper; chicken flavor Ramen noodles; meat in pouches like tuna, chicken, salami, beef jerky and pepperoni; lip balm; suntan lotion and snack packs like fruit, pudding and cheese and crackers.

There are two locations in Cape Coral where donations can be dropped off - the Cape Coral Hospital human resource office, 636 Del Prado Blvd., and the Santa Barbara Office Complex, 224 Santa Barbara Blvd.

The program has also helped more than 975 local troops and their families since its inception.

Gaide has an email distribution list where she keeps the families and military supporters informed of what is going on at the beginning of every month, so they can participate in different activities, along with meeting a need they may have.

"My phone is on 24/7," she said in case someone needs something. "Sometimes the families (moms or wives) just need someone to talk to who have gone through what they are going through."

The Military Support Program also began clipping coupons for military families to help them financially.

"We had heard from our own local gals stationed with their husbands all over the United States and overseas that coupons would certainly be very helpful since their budget is so tight," Gaide said. "We started sending them to Germany and Ft. Hood, Texas, to see how it would go - it was every woman for herself when that box was tipped over on the table. Everyone has a different coupon need.

Noodle Nirvana: Ramen | 10 Magazine Korea

Until a few years ago, I never realized the cult status enjoyed by ramen in this part of the world. Books, clubs, blogs, websites, smart phone apps and even a museum are dedicated to the enjoyment and glorification of this humble noodle. Japan is the spiritual home of ramen, of course, where they use Chukamen noodles, but this month we are focusing our attention on its Korean counterpart. Ramen, which appears to have originated in China as a dish of noodles in pork bone broth, is essentially a bowl of wheat noodles in soup or broth. The additional ingredients—meat, vegetables, and eggs—are there to balance out these two. Here in Korea, ramen can run toward hot and spicy, of course, but not always. A local style of Korean ramen is developing with both seafood and meat varieties, occasionally miso based. Let’s take a look at the three major parts: noodles, broth and toppings. The ramen noodles sold here usually come with some form of seasoning included, but this is only if you don’t want to make your own. They are generally sold in dried form, but I have seen the fresh article for sale. When shopping for ramen noodles, I’m afraid you are on your own, as the sheer variety is too daunting to even try pointing out some of the different types. As a rule of thumb, go for a simple packet without the added powders and dried ingredients. The broth for ramen is up to the chef: pork broth, chicken broth or broth made with dried fish or seaweed. The best I have ever had was a cloudy broth of chicken which tasted like New York-style kosher chicken soup; it was amazingly rich and hearty. The other one I tried was a mix of chicken and dashi broth; the smokiness of the dashi was beautiful, like a well-made consommé. You are free to add more soy or chili oil to the noodles in most restaurants. Last are the toppings. Actually some of the things that set the domestic version apart are ingredients that I would never have considered Korean by any stretch of the imagination: spam, hot dogs, and processed American cheese, of all things! My best experience was pork neck that was kept simmering in the broth. As you ordered, they would remove it and slice off a few pieces to put on top of the ramen. Hard-boiled eggs, chopped scallions and dried nori are the usual toppings here in Korea, but as I mentioned be prepared to see a lot of new and interesting versions of this classic dish popping up as chefs keep getting bolder and more creative.

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