Classing-Up Ramen

One night Dave and I were shopping for a few items at the store and he mentioned he saw something online about making Ramen a more substantial meal. I asked him what he meant and he said eggs. This confused me a bit, but a 6 pack of Ramen went into the cart anyway. We got back to his house and pulled up this article on my phone written by J, Kenji Lopez-Alt. This gentleman has many tips on how to make Ramen (usually thought of as a pretty weak food source) into a substantial meal. A lot of his ideas are pretty intense and I encourage you to check out the link. That night we made two packages of Ramen according to the instructions, but about a minute into the noodles boiling Dave instructed me to crack two eggs into the pot. Once the prescribed three minutes were up, I took the soup off the heat and searched around for the eggs with a slotted spoon. I found them and they had poached in the heat of the soup. Now all of a sudden, our Ramen soup had protein! I placed the eggs into Dave’s bowl because I am not a fan of egg yolks and served myself some soup. Some of the egg whites had separated from the main poached egg and it reminded me of egg drop soup. That got me thinking that perhaps I could just drop egg whites in and then I wouldn’t have to avoid the yolks! So the other day when I was sick and only consuming fluids, I decided to try a few additions to the soup to give the soup a bit more nutrients.

Side Story!

Long ago when I was still in college and living with my good friend Hannah we decided we wanted to make some Ramen (I know we supported the college/Ramen stereotype perfectly). We had an electric hot pot , technically not allowed in the dorms, but we were rebels. We prepared the Ramen according to the instructions and when it was done, Hannah starting pouring the soup part out. I kinda freaked out and asked her just what the heck she thought she was doing, and she explained that you only eat the noodles. I was appalled and informed her that it is ‘soupy soup’ and so of course you consume the broth too. We went back and forth a few times before realizing that we could share the noodles and I could have all the broth. It was a beautiful arrangement, but years later she still reminds me about my little freak out about ‘soupy soup.’

Sorry just had to take a little trip down memory lane! Back to my attempt at classing up Ramen… I decide to make two packages so I could have some soup for later. Below you can see all the ingredients I used. I added an extra cup of water total because I love the broth part so much (as evidenced in the above side story).

Step 1- Bring water to a boil in a pot on the stove

Step 2- While the water is warming up, separate 2 eggs and discard the yolk.

Step 3- Break up the noodles into 4 pieces per package. I’m pretty sure my dad taught me this so that the noodles wouldn’t be so long. If you like your noodles long then don’t break them apart.

Step 4- Take the frozen vegetables and place the amount you want to use into hot water. Drain and set aside.

Step 5- Once the water is boiling, place the dry noodles into the water. Set the timer for 1 minute.

Step 6- After one minute, stir the pot until it is swirling in a circle and at the same time pour in the egg whites. Set the timer for two more minutes.

Step 7- When the timer goes off, stir in the now unfrozen vegetables and turn off the heat.

Step 8- Open the seasoning packets and stir them into the soup.

Step 9- Enjoy your classy Ramen soup!

I must say this recipe is perfect when you are super busy or perhaps you are packing up your apartment and don’t have time to go grocery shopping! If you take a look at the link above you will find that you can make some pretty fancy meals with Ramen as the base, but I think I’ll save that until I’ve moved and am settled in.