There is nothing more classic in the college dorm world than Ramen. It makes sense, though. Ramen is one of the simplest, most wonderful foods ever created. Those of you who think ramen is just this cheap food that only a starving college student would consume, you are horribly wrong. Ramen, though normally just noodles and seasoning, can be a really dynamic dish. So here are the basics:
Microwave about 3 cups water until boiling (about 3 minutes). Add the block of noddles, seasoning, and any dried vegetable packets. Cover the mixture for 3 minutes. Uncover and eat. Yea... basically it.
The cool parts of ramen is that you can add practially anything to ramen and it becomes this fantastic meal. Below are some quick suggestions for what to add to your ramen for that dish one step beyond noodles in broth.
Seasonings: Add soy sauce, sesame oil, Siracha HOT chili sauce, or chili oil. Also, you can try substituting the cooking water with beef, chicken, or vegetable broth.Extras: If you feel experienced enough with your water temperature you can try cooking while stirring an egg. To do this, cook your water a little bit longer to make sure it's really hot. As soon as you take it out of the microwave crack an egg into it and stir quickly. This should make the broth an egg-drop soup-esque consistency. This takes practice though.
Add crumbled up dried nori or other seaweeds.
Add cut up tofu. Open the tofu container, drain water, and cut up into small pieces. Dump those into the ramen.
Add cut up vegetables. Have carrots? celery? or green or white onions? Cut them up and put them in your ramen!
My personal favorite though, is adding the left over Chinese take out food. My ramen shown here has leftover Eggplant in Garlic Sauce and Sweet and Sour Vegetables. YUMMMM!
Well, that's College Microwave Basics: Ramen. Omnom!
I used a packet today with my homemade chicken soup. It was enough for two portions.
ReplyDeletei like to pick up a bag of frozen dumplings at the asian market, and drop in 5 or 6 with about half the noodles. by the time the noodles are done the dumplings are too and you have a hearty meal.
ReplyDeleteHey Chris! You're very welcome! I look forward to seeing your future posts. I love what I've seen so far! Thanks for checking out my blog. :) Heroes is finally getting good again, yes?
ReplyDeleteOhmigosh. I think I found a new blog obsession. Love your blog! I'm a college student too, and I have a few posts in my blog basically ranting abt my horrible school food, and the lack of money. I'm LOVING the theme of your blog!
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved how you doctored the basic ramen..and used one of my favorite ramens, too!
Another variation of the Ramen I like to use is, the Thai Kitchen instant rice noodles, a slightly less sodium filled alternative and I find to be a little more filling. I to am a fan of Siracha HOT chili sauce it is a staple in my fridge.
ReplyDelete