Saturday 2 May 2015

Ramen noodle soup

Now then, cheap noodles...

Ramen noodles.  I used to love Super Noodles and Pot Noodle as a kid, especially chicken noodle soup out of a packet ...I'd eat anything that was dried, noodly, and made edible with the application of a kettle, when I was younger.  

Safe to say at €0.37 a throw, these aren't going to be Wagamama standard, and not give me fond memories.

*munch*
Your basic common or garden instant noodle is bland, textureless, and is barely enhanced by the MSG.  We need something real in here.

Fortunately... the fridge and store cupboard save the day...


Hell yes herbs, spices, pastes and supplementary ingredients!

 As with any normal (and proper) noodle, there are infinite numbers of things you can do to make them taste better.  Today I am going to make a soup.
I add:

  • Chilli powder and fresh chilli.  
  • Garlic,crushed to a fine paste with a little salt 
  • Scallions (spring onions)  You can see those on the top, and they make it look nice.  
  • One beaten egg - one of the best things you can add to a noodle soup.
  • Miso paste,as if we're making a soup, we want some body to the broth.  You could use a stock cube, I tried it with a budget chicken one and it was acceptable, but miso's dang nice.  Two good big spoons
  • Dark and Light soy sauce, about a tablespoon of each.  
  • Pepper, just a bit..
  • Mushrooms, chopped
  • Herbs - thyme works well with chicken, as does a bit of parsley, but whatever you have to hand.  Coriander is also nice as a garnish.
You could also add just about any other raw vegetable you like to this, grated carrot, beansprouts, alfalfa, whatever you can get your hands on that you can finely grate.  Sadly I had very little at the time.   I also would've liked a lime, some coriander, and some ginger in here
Still... 

The finished improvised egg noodle soup.
*munch*
Not too bad.  Filling, nutritious, pretty tasty.   I'd work fast as well if you're pimping your ramen up, as they don't take kindly to being left around to go soggy.

Some other ramen recipes I found online that I liked are here ,here and here.  I even found two ways to make your own noodles, which would be even more of a win, here and here  So there you go, quick , tasty, a bit more healthy, and above all, cheap!