This morning I woke up craving a bowl of steaming hot and spicy miso ramen soup. Not your usual Sunday morning breakfast of choice, at least in our part of the world.
When people think of soup, they think about familiar, comforting soups eaten when the weather turns colder or sick.
Weather and temperature have nothing to do with soup eating; hell, it was already 81 degrees at 9 am when I made my small pot of ramen.
When I was a kid, older people drank coffee during their lunch, even on the hottest day of the year. My dad and grandmother Mema always drank hot coffee and tea during the hottest part of a summer day. When I asked why they weren’t having iced tea, they told me the hot coffee cooled them off. Huh?
This old wives tale does have some proven truth to it, under the right circumstances. Lots of studies have been done regarding the hot liquid on a hot day question. The results were mixed by 50%. It again comes down to the right circumstances.
Eating spicy foods or drinking hot liquids on a hot day triggers a sensor as soon as you take the first bite or sip. The sensor makes you sweat. When you sweat, and it can evaporate, it cools you off afterward.
My dad and his mother Mema were always on the heavy side, and they were both always hot. When I was a kid, I thought this was why they drank hot liquids. Then I saw skinny older people doing the same thing. The theory of a nine-year-old was wrong.
So what are the right circumstances? The right clothing is one thing that helps with sweat evaporation. Wearing lightweight, easy to breathe clothing is key. What type of liquid also helps.
A cup of hot tea will cool you off more than a cup of highly caffeinated coffee. Now I am wondering if my dad and Mema were drinking decaf? Did their savory lunch have any other effects along with drinking the hot coffee or tea?
This may answer my own question…hot, savory soups have a higher sodium content than a cup of tea, which replaces the sodium you sweat out while cooling you down at the same time. Mema and my dad were replacing their sodium and cooling off at the same time. They were smarter than I knew they were, I guess.
Marty still talks about his mother giving them salt pills in the summertime and then sending them out to play for the day. Interesting right?
Here is another piece of the cooling-off puzzle; as soon as hot spicy foods hit your tongue and the top part of your digestive tract, sweating begins. Think of India, Mexico, all of Asia; most of it is hot and spicy. That spicy food is cooling people down after they eat. I never thought about that before I started researching this piece.
Back to soup for breakfast, every country has its own. They eat congee in China, miso soup in Japan, menudo in Mexico, caldo de costilla in Columbia, pho in Vietnam, lablabi in Tunisia, mohinga in Burma, ezogelin cornasi in Turkey and kao tom goong in Thailand are just a few!
Many of these soups like caldo de costilla have a super high-calorie content; the goal is to fill you up and keep you going all day. When we eat a protein-based breakfast, it will fill you up and keep you going longer than just a carby breakfast. Whenever I eat just toast or a bagel, I want to chew off my own arm. I am so hungry a couple of hours later.
My soup this morning made me sweat my ass off while I was eating it. It was so steaming hot it fogged up my glasses, plus I added a good amount of sriracha to it. I tried both the temperature and spice level for my research. I also was wearing lightweight clothing.
About five minutes after I finished my bowl of soup, I completely cooled off. I am sitting on the front porch writing, which felt hot and sticky before I ate the soup; now, it feels cooler. Am I imagining it? I’m not sure since there is a gorgeous breeze blowing, and the sun has shifted a bit.
The bottom line for me this morning was that I wanted a bowl of ramen, and it tasted so good. Did I prove the old wives’ tale? I have no idea and will have to do more research on the subject. If that means eating more delicious soups for breakfast and spicy foods all summer, I’ll take one for the team!
Hi Julzie
Like minds…I too whipped up a big bowl of GF ramen soup for breakfast. Although mine was not nearly as pretty yours in the photo! But it sure got the job done and was perfect. Speaking of gnawing off an arm…would you consider sharing your recipe for GF pizza dough? In all these years of struggling with the GF dilemma, I’ve yet to master a dough that looks as wonderful as the one you posted a few days ago. We always purchase your spaetzle from the Littleton, NH Food CoOp which has been a real game changer! Delicious! Thanks so much.
Camille