Instant Noodles: Grown-Up Style

Today, I am presenting a spin-off of the classic, staple meal of the college student with a tight budget: instant noodles. When I think of instant noodles, I think of those plastic-wrapped packages filled with beef, chicken, or shrimp bullion flavoring packets that are salty that you need a gallon of water to drink with each serving. The noodles are thin and unsatisfying. The vegetables are freeze dried and turn into mush when re-hydrated. Sometimes these meals even come in those styrofoam microwavable cups- which deserves an extra wag of the finger for hurting the planet, I suppose.

Since I am now moving onto graduate school, I have decided that my basic food staples should also graduate a little. Is it possible that the classic ramen noodle dinner can be replaced with a version that is nutritious, tasty, AND still quick to make? Ohh yeah...

First off, I'll admit that my version requires a few specialty ingredients from your local Asian market. The average grocery store might have everything you see below but I'm not making any guarantees. I happened to bring a box full of Asian specialty ingredients to my new apartment upon move-in (but somehow forgot TP), so I am already stocked. Most of the non-Asian ingredients are things I round up from other random dishes and common things I keep in my fridge (eggs, some sort of raw meat, greens, etc.). Although it might seem like you will never use these ingredients for other dishes, they are still good to keep on hand in case your belly catches the yellow fever, if ya know what I mean. They also keep quite well since they are stored in bottles/jars/are dried.

-Instant Noodles, with a Soy Broth, for Grown-Ups-
Dried Mushrooms (Shitakes work great, more on these below)
Dried Noodles (I chose Japanese udon)
Soy Sauce

Green Spring Onions
Egg, rinsed
Greens (I had baby spinach)
Toasted Sesame Oil and/or Toasted Sesame Seeds

Other Recommended Ingredients:
Fresh Ginger Slices
Siracha (Asian spicy hot sauce- The one with the Rooster)
Mirin (Japanese golden liquid sweetener)
Additional Protein (Pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, fish, tofu, etc.)

This is more of a Japanese-inspired noodle dish. As is the case with many Japanese dishes, the ingredients are not too complicated. However, the culinary art lies within proper execution and the balance of flavors.

I begin by heating a saucepot with water and turning the burner up to medium high. Then, I add my dried mushrooms and my egg (still in the shell) to the pot of water as it warms. You can read my description of dried mushrooms as your water heats up.

The shitake mushrooms have a nice, mild mushroom flavor to them. That is what creates my mushroom-flavored broth and makes the soup taste so good without artificial packets of flavoring. The mushrooms will re-hydrate and be soft. I also added black tree ear fungus, which are little ribbons of crunchy goodness that give some texture to the soup. They don't really taste like much, I suppose they taste like bark if you ate a whole handful of them- but I wouldn't recommend it. Another type of mushroom that is good is to use are the little cap mushrooms. I'm not sure what their real name is off the top of my head, but they have the diameter of golf ball and look like a whole mushroom. Those things are super potent though, so just use one at first (and they aren't very good for eating, so remove them before serving or dice them fine).



A trick my mom taught me about a properly boiled egg is that you should add the egg to the cold water, and then let the egg heat up as the water comes to a boil. When the water starts to boil, turn off the burner and let the egg hang out (covered) for about 3-5 minutes depending on how done you like your eggs. Afterwards, pull the egg out of the water and place it in a cold ice water bath. This should shock the shell and make it easier to peel, and stop the egg from overcooking. As the picture shows, I kinda botched my egg peel, probably because I didn't have access to ice and I had to settle for cold tap water. But the interior is still cooked to a soft perfection.

So now you should have hot mushroom-flavored broth and an egg on the side, right? Test the water- is there enough flavor in there? If not, then add more mushrooms, cover, and wait a few minutes before trying again. Don't worry about the salt levels because we'll fix that later. You want a well-developed mushroom aroma and aftertaste from your broth.

Once you have a kickin' mushroom broth, add some soy sauce to taste. Just add a little bit at a time because you don't want to oversalt it. If so, then you are committing the same violent crime to your tastebuds as those freeze-dried noodle packers. I added a tiny squirt of siracha and a little mirin to balance my broth out. The siracha adds a little depth of spice while the sweet mirin's honey flavor takes a little edge off of the soy. I also tossed in a few pieces of fresh cut ginger, for aroma purposes mostly.

Once the broth is constructed, I drop my noodles in. I chose udon noodles from Japan because they have a decent thickness, I like the chewy texture, and they make for a good slirp! The brand I bought is pretty nice; the noodles have a nice wheat aroma and come in individual-wrapped portions! When was the last time you said that about your box of Barilla pasta? Ah, I'll spare the culture wars...

Let the noodles cook for about 10-12 minutes or however long the package recommends. Just like when you salt your water to flavor pasta while it's cooking, the udon noodles will absorb that good flavor from your broth.

As your noodles cook, feel free to add any extra protein. I roasted some chicken leg quarters in the oven the other day, so I tore the meat of the bone and had it stored in the fridge for random purposes. You can use any other leftover, cooked meat or tofu if you would like. If you are using shrimp, they can probably cook right in the boiling broth.

This is also the time when I start to peel my hardboiled egg. Right before serving I will tear it open to reveal its gooey, easy-cooked yolk. If you don't trust your egg-boiling skills, you can scramble the egg right in the boiling water at this point. It will look like Chinese egg-drop soup.

Okay, so the noodles are done and my protein has been heated through. Now, I toss my fresh greens in, give in a toss, and let them flash cook in the hot water. This preserves their nutrients and their bright color. You are now ready to serve...

Make sure you get a little bit of every component: noodles, mushrooms, protein, greens, and broth. Now for the "condiments": your boiled egg, some diced green onion, sesame oil/seeds, maybe some fried garlic chips, dried nori seaweed- whatever you want!

The flavor of this dish transports me back to Asia every time, especially when it's paired with a cup of hot tea. Sometimes I get a craving for a unique flavor that only a good bowl of noodles can solve. Culinary experts call this flavor "umami", which is also thought to be a specific taste- like sour, sweet, and saltiness. It is a meaty, savory flavor that usually comes out from earthy foods- particularly mushrooms. However, the components I have utilized accentuate that umami flavor: toasted sesame oil, dark meat chicken, and soy sauce. This rich umami flavor is properly balanced in the broth by things like sweet mirin, the freshness of the ginger and the spring onions, and the neutral creaminess of the egg. Everything is properly balanced: yin and yang. It's certainly a flavor that the mass marketed food companies have yet to properly tame in a styrofoam cup. It's about time you give up your old instant noodles and graduate to a higher degree of flavor.