Oodles o' Noodles: Ramen Redeemed!

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably eaten more than your share of ramen noodles during college and whilst working shoveling-shit-in-hell-for-peanuts jobs. Believe it or not, I actually know guys who were so dependent upon ramen for sustenance at one time or another; they can barely abide the thought of eating them. This is a shame, because with food prices rising as rapidly as they have been, ramen noodles are a great way to fill the belly without emptying the wallet. (Because they’re lightweight, easily portable, and cook rapidly, survivalist-types might do well to consider them a “poor man’s MRE” of sorts.)

 

Until fairly recently, the choice of packaged noodle soups was fairly limited. Sanwa, Nissim, Maruchan and a few other brands offered a rather narrow range of choices: beef, pork, shrimp, chicken, mushroom and a flavor known only (and with appropriate inscrutability) as “oriental.”  In the last fifteen years, though, things have changed for the better. The more familiar brands now offer a dozen or more flavors each, and new “players” have emerged, among them Nong Shim (South Korea), Indofoods (Indonesia), Vifon (Vietnam), Sakura (USA), and President Rice Products (Thailand), just to name a few.

 

As the number of companies and countries represented on supermarket shelves has increased, so has the range of products. In addition to the familiar ramen, packets of instant cellophane noodles (a.k.a. “bean threads”), rice vermicelli, and even vacuum-packed udon are now available, in a wide variety of flavors. In other words, these ain’t the ramen noodles yer daddy ate in college.

 

Despite the availability of more and better products, these packaged noodle soups are still very economical, ranging from the humble $0.15 packet of “bare bones” ramen with which we’re all familiar, to $1.00 of thereabout for vacuum-packed udon, noodles prepackaged in microwave containers, and even yakisoba in plastic trays. This being the case, ramen and its “cousins” should be major weapons in the culinary arsenal of those who like to eat well, but cheaply.

 

Now like any other product, ramen served as-is is unexciting fare. Fortunately, there are ways of “upgrading” prepackaged noodles without breaking the bank.

 

Before I cover a few of them, let me share a very simple trick for improving the flavor of prepackaged noodles. Many people of my acquaintance have complained about the quality of the broth in prepackaged noodle soups. In my experience, this is because the directions on most packages simply advise adding the flavor packet as soon as the noodles have cooked. When this is done, though, the residual starch from the cooking process permeates the broth, leaving it heavy, cloudy and unappetizing. The best way I’ve found of getting around this is simply cooking the noodles, draining them, cooking the broth separately and then combining them. This makes for a much lighter and tastier soup. I’ve also noticed that preparing both with distilled or filtered water improves the flavor markedly.

 

Another easy way of making noodle soups tastier and more substantial is to garnish them with whatever meat/poultry/seafood the package purports to mimic, i.e., bits of chicken, beef, pork, etc. (I don’t recommend adding chopped Orientals to the mysterious “oriental” flavor, though. That’s downright antisocial.) Not long ago, I dropped a few tablespoons of a frozen seafood salad mix -- clams, mussels, baby shrimp, scallops and squid rings – a few pieces of surimi and a teaspoon of wakame into a pre-packaged “seafood” flavored soup, and was very pleased with the results.

 

The more adventurous might try adding the noodles to homemade stock, for even better flavor. I’ve used Korean-style dried shrimp consommé, basic konbu/bonito dashi and homemade chicken broth before, with very satisfying results. Even the contents of the store-bought flavor packet, though, can be considerably improved by the addition of any of the following, singly or in combination:

 

A few teaspoons of soy sauce (or nuoc mam, for a more Southeast Asian flavor)

A few drops of toasted sesame seed oil

A teaspoon of sake or Chinese rice wine

Chile oil

Chile-garlic paste or Sriracha sauce

Thinly sliced green or red chiles (especially the Thai “bird’s eye” variety

Thinly sliced scallions, chives, or nira grass; or finely minced shallot

Thinly sliced ramps or wild garlic (literally available for free – they’re common lawn weeds. Use with caution – or a bit of ginger -- though. Some experience nausea when eating them.)

A small dab of grated ginger (goes especially well with seafood soups)

Thinly sliced daikon or Korean radish simmered in the broth (especially with beef soups)

Toasted black or white sesame seeds

Minced cilantro

Sprigs of mitsuba

Minced or crushed garlic

A poached or hard-boiled egg (sliced)

White pepper (doesn’t discolor lighter colored broths)

Seasoning paste made of galangal, lemongrass and cilantro roots

A squeeze of lime juice (especially with Southeast Asian-style soups)

Paper-thin slices of lemon, lime or yuzu citron (good luck finding the yuzu, though…)

Thinly sliced fresh or dried mushrooms, especially shiitakes

 

Now you may not have any of these items just lying around the kitchen. (I do, but then again, I’m kinda weird.) Most of them, though, are very inexpensive, and easily obtainable in any city with a substantial Asian population. Many of the vegetables and herbs (garlic, scallions, cilantro, mushrooms), as a matter of fact, are available everywhere, even in the chain supermarkets. Those of you who live in New York, Philadelphia, LA, San Francisco or Seattle are on easy street when it comes to obtaining this stuff, by the way, but even here in Georgia, my wife and I make weekly pilgrimages to Koreatown and “Little Saigon” where we purchase all the above and more at the Buford Highway Farmers’ Market and the Hong Kong Supermarket. We also save beaucoup bucks shopping in that part of town, for the record. Not only are the prices much lower than those in the chain supermarkets; the produce is of much higher quality, and the sheer variety of goods leaves them in the dust.

 

Admittedly, some of the seasonings are – well  -- seasonal and/or have to be imported, but some (ginger root and galangal, for example) can be stored in the freezer for months with little appreciable loss of quality. Others – scallions, chives, garlic, shallots, cilantro, daikon, Thai chiles -- can be grown in the garden during the warmer months, and in a greenhouse, or even in window boxes and pots during the winter. Growing one’s own vegetables and herbs to enliven packaged noodles, needless to say, is a fantastic way of saving money. Even when purchased, though, they’re used in such small amounts (add to which the fact that the noodles themselves are so inexpensive) that good, tasty meals and snacks are now within easy reach of even those on the tightest of budgets. To the humble ramen noodle, then, we can confidently say: “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

 

Note: As a postscript of sorts, and as an effort to convince ramen-sick former college students and slackers that ramen can be transformed into a damned tasty meal, I present the following recipe.

 

Ramen Noodle Salad With Peanut Sauce (For two)

 

2 packets ramen noodles, any flavor

3 scallions, thinly sliced.

1 pickling cucumber 

1 carrot

2 eggs

2T water

2t sugar or mirin

Chopped peanuts (to garnish)

Minced cilantro (to garnish)

Salt

 

Peanut Sauce 

 

3t prepared Chinese mustard

2-1/2T toasted sesame seed oil

1 or 2 Thai chiles, thinly sliced (seeded, if desired)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2T chunky peanut butter

2-1/2T water

1T soy sauce

1T nuoc mam or nam pla

2T rice vinegar

2T sugar

 

Halve cucumber lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and cut into julienne strips. Peel carrot and cut julienne. Place both in glass or plastic bowl, sprinkle lightly with salt, mix and let sit 15-20 minutes. Rinse and drain.

 

Beat eggs with water and mirin or sugar. Heat a lightly greased skillet, add egg mixture and cook until bottom has set. Gently turn and cook until done. Remove from heat. When cool, cut into ½” x 2” strips. (This is best accomplished by rolling the omelette up, slicing the roll into ½” sections, and then cutting them to the proper length.)

 

Sauce: Using a wire whisk, gradually mix peanut butter, water, mustard, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and nuoc mam. In a small saucepan, heat sesame oil. Add garlic and stir fry 30 second. Add remaining ingredients and heat until bubbling. Keep warm.

 

Noodles: Bring six cups of water to the boil, add noodles and cook for three minutes. (Save flavor packets for another use.) Drain. Toss noodles with sauce, cucumber, carrot, egg strips and scallions. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts and serve immediately.

 

 

Comments

[Tim]

As one of those "ramen-sick former college students" my problem is not with the taste, it's the smell of them cooking that gags me. Logically, I know that you are right and that they are a cheap, easily stored food, but my gag reflex still kicks in. Of course I'm not down to the point I was at when I lived on those things, so that might be subject to change in the future.

[Dave]

Admittedly, the smell of boiling ramen can be right nauseating -- especially if you've ever had to rely upon them as a primary source of calories.

The bad smell often owes itself to spoiled product (the things don't have an indefinite shelf-life, and the palm oil with which many of them are made goes rancid after a while), but I know what you mean. The aroma of even brand new product ain't all that appealing -- especially if ramen goes hand-in-hand with bad memories.

It can be gotten around by adding a thin slice of ginger root to the cooking water, though.

Take care,

Dave