Punch Up Simple Ramen Noodles
Source of Recipe
source: the Los Angeles Times
Recipe Introduction
Little Effort Needed To Punch Up Simple Ramen Noodles
Maybe there's no free lunch, but 16 cents is pretty close. That's roughly
the cost of a package of instant ramen noodle soup mix.
I seem to be addicted to these curly-knitted blocks of noodles, and I make
some version of them for lunch about once a week. Ramen noodles would make
an ideal lunch or supper for anyone who feels too busy, too tired or
otherwise barely interested in cooking.
The label says boil some water, add the block of noodles, submerge, cook for
3 minutes and stir in the flavoring packet. The result is a
lowest-common-denominator meal - filling but pale, bland and weak. The trick
is to doctor the noodles big time. Here are some options.
List of Ingredients
Liquid - Use broth instead of water. Canned chicken, beef or vegetable broth
improves the flavor from the start. If the broth seems too salty, use only
half of the flavor packet.
Lumps - Add bits of food. A couple of leftover shrimp, a diced piece of
chicken, little beef slices, one big mushroom (sliced) or some diced tofu.
Or you can break an egg into simmering broth and stir until it cooks into
strands.
Vegetables - Add 1/4 cup peas or corn. I buy frozen vegetables by the bag so
that I can dip out as much as I want at any given time. Or you can give a
reprise to chopped leftover veggies.
Flavors - Add a few drops of toasted sesame oil, nickel-size slices of
ginger and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce. I almost always stir in a
good shake of hot pepper flakes to ante up the taste.
Colorful garnishes - Add chopped green onions, a torn spinach leaf or two,
chopped parsley and a grated mini-carrot.
Recipe
You can throw all of the add-ins into the bottom of the soup bowl and pour
the hot, brothy noodles over all, or add everything to the pot to heat
through.
OK, so there's a ton of sodium in the flavor packet, a little of which comes
from that maligned flavor additive monosodium glutamate (MSG). If that's a
problem for you, pitch the packet and season your noodle broth with soy
sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce or
Worcestershire sauce. When I use beef broth, I never use the flavor packet.
Then again, waste not, want not. When I have a flavor packet from roast
chicken flavor noodles, I add the seasoning stuff to mashed potatoes along
with some chicken broth and olive oil and eliminate the butter, milk and
salt. It's mysteriously good.
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