Nutrition Facts?

Yes, I'm still planning on preparing those Korean acorn noodles I received in the mail (and no, contrary to the vicious rumors flying around, I'm not still trying to figure out how to first boil the water).

Partly I'm trying to summon the courage to eat from a package with a slight tear and that expired Feb 23, 2009.  But don't worry, I never let expiration dates come between me and packaged food before, I'm not about to start now.  Plus, acorns are eternal.

In the meantime I took a look at the nutrition facts on the package.  Per serving - and they list a serving a whopping 7 ounces:
2g Total Fat (0g Sat or Trans)
Carbohydrate 103g
Protein 15g

All of this compares very closely to Creamette pasta as listed on their web site.  Then I came to:

Sodium 560mg... huh?

Then I realized the nutrition information includes the flavor packet that comes with it for making acorn noodle soup.  The main ingredients in the flavor packet are: Salt, MSG, Garlic and Salt.

Which makes it right up my alley, nutrition-wise; I'm the guy who refers to a 16oz pretzel bag as the "handy single serving size."  But it will be a tough sell for the rest of my much more nutritionally-aware family.  (On that note, I am, without question, the only person in the history of planet Earth to ever shout at the dinner table: "No one gets any more tofu until you finish all of your french fries!")

Based on the acorn starch and acorn noodle packages I have, the Koreans either have acorns with much lower nutritional content than those we have in North America (And I, for one, consider fat to be an essential nutrient.  So does my - and every other mammal's - body.), or they are particularly adept at taking one of the most complete and nutritious food sources in the world and bringing it down to the level of a mere cereal grain.  I need to look into this more.

In the meantime I love the final instruction on the acorn noodle soup package:  "Combine noodles with the soup and garnish with boiled beef..."  Now that's my kind of garnish - beats the heck out of parsley!