Magento 2 Remove "Choose an Option..." in Configurable Attribute Dropdown Menu

Question

I need to remove "Choose an Option..." from the configurable option dropdown menu on the product pages. I've already checked similar questions here and this one is the closest so far. The resulting code is below, however, the first actual attribute option is selected instead of removing the "Choose an Option..." default.

<?php
/**
 * Copyright © Magento, Inc. All rights reserved.
 * See COPYING.txt for license details.
 */

// @codingStandardsIgnoreFile

?>

<?php
/** @var $block \Magento\ConfigurableProduct\Block\Product\View\Type\Configurable*/
$_product    = $block->getProduct();
$_attributes = $block->decorateArray($block->getAllowAttributes());
?>
<?php if ($_product->isSaleable() && count($_attributes)):?>
    <?php foreach ($_attributes as $_attribute): ?>
        <div class="field configurable required">
            <label class="label" for="attribute<?= /* @escapeNotVerified */ $_attribute->getAttributeId() ?>">
                <span><?= $block->escapeHtml($_attribute->getProductAttribute()->getStoreLabel()) ?></span>
            </label>
            <div class="control">
                <select name="super_attribute[<?= /* @escapeNotVerified */ $_attribute->getAttributeId() ?>]"
                        data-selector="super_attribute[<?= /* @escapeNotVerified */ $_attribute->getAttributeId() ?>]"
                        data-validate="{required:true}"
                        id="attribute<?= /* @escapeNotVerified */ $_attribute->getAttributeId() ?>"
                        class="super-attribute-select">
                    <option value=""><?= /* @escapeNotVerified */ __('Choose an Option...') ?></option>
                </select>
            </div>
        </div>

<script type="text/javascript">
            require(['jquery'], function ($) {
                $(document).ready(function () {
                    setDefaultConfigurableOptions();

                    function setDefaultConfigurableOptions() {
                        var super_attribute_select_id = '<?php echo $_attribute->getAttributeId() ?>';
                        if($('#attribute'+super_attribute_select_id+' option').length > 1 && $('.fotorama__img').length > 0)
                        {
                            var first_option = $('#attribute'+super_attribute_select_id+' option:eq(1)').val();
                            $('#attribute'+super_attribute_select_id).val(first_option);
                            first_option.remove;
                            $('#attribute'+super_attribute_select_id).change();                            
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            setTimeout(setDefaultConfigurableOptions, 100);
                        }
                    }

                });
            });
        </script>


    <?php endforeach; ?>
    <script type="text/x-magento-init">
        {
            "#product_addtocart_form": {
                "configurable": {
                    "spConfig": <?= /* @escapeNotVerified */ $block->getJsonConfig() ?>,
                    "gallerySwitchStrategy": "<?php /* @escapeNotVerified */ echo $block->getVar('gallery_switch_strategy',
                        'Magento_ConfigurableProduct') ?: 'replace'; ?>"
                }
            },
            "*" : {
                "Magento_ConfigurableProduct/js/catalog-add-to-cart": {}
            }
        }
    </script>
<?php endif;?>

Additionally, removing the following line does nothing. It seems that the dropdown options are constructed elsewhere.

<option value=""><?= /* @escapeNotVerified */ __('Choose an Option...') ?></option>

Also worth noting... the goal is to have the first attribute option in each configurable dropdown menu act as a default. I also need all the other dropdown menus to keep their current selections when making selections in other dropdown menus. I had these scenarios working on Magento 1.9.2, however, the M1 code is not working for M2.

I've also mucked around in a file called configurable.js to no avail. I'm definitely not proficient in Javascript.