The hugely popular Cronut in New York proved that fusion food was in. Just a few months later, the Ramen Burger came to town and the crowds -- along with their salivating taste buds -- went wild for the new food craze. Well, move over croissant-doughnut and noodle-bun hybrids. There's a new food craze in town and it is epic. Introducing, the Ramnut!
Part Ramen and part doughnut, the Ramnut crams the best of both instant noodle and jelly/cream filled worlds into one glorious fusion that is definitely not for the calorie-shy.
The Ramnut is the brainchild of 21-year-old UCLA student Josh Scherer, who writes the foodie blog Culinary Bro-Down.
More than just a fusion of food, Scherer's Ramnut is also an exploration of culinary delights as well as social commentary and deconstruction of the conundrum: what is food?
"There's more to food than taste ... There's a reason we're so susceptible to packaging and marketing. There's a reason Taco Bell can recycle the same 8 ingredients to make 300 test items per year and keep their menu fresh. There's a reason generic soda brands have less than a 3 percent market share, despite performing just as well as Coke and Pepsi in double blind taste tests," he writes.
Seriously now, how does the Ramnut taste?
You can try it for yourself, as Scherer generously shares the recipes to his concoctions online and urges all who ask that question to find out for themselves.
According to the recipe, a Ramnut is instant noodles boiled in traditional Mexican horchata (usually made with rice, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon). Once tender, you mix in eggs into the ramen and lay it out on a tray with plastic wrap over it and place it in a freezer until "semi-frozen."
Once it's a good, pliable consistency, cut the ramen sheet into circular shapes and cut out holes in the center with a knife.
Once you have your ramen cut into neat donut shapes, fry them in oil at 325 degrees for around 5 minutes on each side. Drain the oil and top the Ramnuts with your favorite icing, sprinkles, jelly, creams, or whatever your heart (or taste buds) desires.
The Internet is already going wild for Scherer's food mashup and he is offering up provisional copyrights for recipe for the mere price of $50 and a gift card from Olive Garden.
Perhaps a hit, or perhaps a complete culinary miss, the Ramnut is certainly a work of foodie art and adventure.
One commenter on the blog entry that debuted the Ramnut posted: "'Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.' You and George Bernard Shaw babe, pretty flashy company."
