Make Ramen Noodles
Ramen is an inexpensive, delicious meal that can be prepared in less than five minutes. Although many people use it as a topping for other things, such as chicken salads, or even normal salads, there are few things better than the classic ramen.
Contents
Steps
Cooking on the Stove
- Get a big pot. This should be large enough to put the entire, ramen into without having to break it (but you can also break it if that is your preference). It should also be small enough so that some water will completely cover the ramen noodles, and have a bit of water over it. Some people like to eat ramen wet instead of completely drained, so if that's the case, you can be more generous with the water.
- Pour your preferred amount of water into the pot. If in doubt, try 2 cups, but if you want more, that'll work, too. You can substitute some other liquid for the water, such as soy sauce, or broth, but water will work as well.
- Boil the water. On most stoves, you should just turn the knob as high as it can go, and wait for the water to boil. If, during the cooking process, the pan starts to bubble over the top, just turn it down. Next time you make ramen, do not turn the stove on as high as it can go.
- So long as the water is bubbling, its temperature is at the boiling point and it is circulating. A furious boil adds little and risks a boil-over, so feel free to turn down the heat a bit once boiling commences.
- Add the ramen once the water is at a full boil. Use a fork to push the block under the water if it is floating on the top. You can chose to break the block into chunks before adding it, if you prefer shorter, less slurp-able noodles, but it is a personal thing.
- Stir well. If you want to even out the cooking process and speed it up by keeping uncooked stragglers from the surface, help stir apart the noodles.
- Wait. Three minutes is the normal cooking time, it may take longer, though. When the noodles are starting to turn slightly yellow, they are done. At this point, the ramen should be completely broken apart, and, when you put your fork in the water, a few noodles attach themselves to your fork.
- The ramen is ready to eat when it is flexible. If it cooks a few minutes longer, it will become softer, fatter, and translucent. You may prefer it this way.
- Add the flavor packet. Note that there is a very large amount of sodium in the small packet- if you have health problems, it would be better to add less, or none at all.
- Stir well. At this point, you can do one of two things: you can pour the entire pot of ramen, including all of the liquid, into a bowl, and have a soup, or drain the water, and just eat the ramen.
Cooking with the Microwave
- Put your uncooked noodles into a microwave safe bowl, and pour the seasoning on top of the noodles.
- Add 2 cups of water, and do your best to dissolve the seasoning in the water.
- Carefully put your bowl in the microwave and cook on high for 3-4 minutes.
- If you broke up the noodles before cooking them, they should be done. Otherwise, you may want to let it sit and absorb for a while. even though it's not as good, it's a bit easier for those who can't stand and stir it while it's on the stove.
Using a Kettle
- Another way of making ramen noodles is to use the hot water from a coffee maker or espresso maker. This works great if you live in a college dorm that doesn't allow microwaves in each room. All you have to do is put them into a bowl and pour hot water over the noodles. Let sit for about three minutes and add the seasoning packet.
Tips
- Little adjustments to the broth can make big differences. Whether these are good is a matter of personal preference.
- Adding butter to the boiling water may help improve the taste.
- Starchy taste and thickening can be avoided, and perhaps some of the fat can be removed, by discarding the water in which the noodles were cooked. (Ramen normally doesn't have vitamins to lose by doing this.) Heat a quantity of water and add a quantity of seasoning to taste. A good starting point would be somewhat less water than recommended for cooking the noodles, because the noodles will already have absorbed their fill of water. You could even choose to just add something other than broth to the noodles, such as soy sauce, bean paste (sometimes packaged with the noodles), a small amount of packaged flavoring, or vegetables (a small quantity is sometimes packaged with the noodles in dehydrated form; it can be reconstituted and picked or strained from the water).
- Simple additions can improve taste, appearance, and nutrition. If you're planning to throw away the ramen-boiling water, cook these separately in as little water as possible and add them with their water to the finished dish to avoid throwing away vitamins, particularly if they are porous to water (for instance, vegetables).
- A cheap way to make ramen into a more healthy and well-balanced meal is by adding a cup of frozen vegetables to the water as soon as it is boiling and then waiting until the water begins boiling again (most of the veggies will be floating at this point) and then add the noodles.
- Add an egg during the boiling process for protein and, arguably, good taste. Drop it in all at once to form a discrete mass, mix it up and stir it in gradually for dispersed bits of egg, or fry it before adding it for a little crispiness.
- You can dress up ramen noodles with fresh vegetables, meat, and more for a variety of fancy, nutritious meals. Char siu and/or minced pork are great additions, as well as green onions, kamaboko (fish cake), bean sprouts, white onions (cook well), and nori (seaweed).
- Boil the noodles as instructed, but dump out the water and use a broth with better ingredients. Allow the noodles to soak up the flavor for a couple of minutes before eating.
- Some people add half of the flavor packet during the boiling/cooking process, and half when the noodles are drained and in the bowl. This makes the flavor much stronger. Be sure to stir well!
- Eating ramen with a fork can be sacrilegious and extremely embarrassing for yourself around certain people, particularly Japanese people or those who grew up around Japanese culture. Locals in Hawaii will most likely make fun of you. Learn to Eat-with-Chopsticks first.
- If you aren't sure whether or not there's too much water in the pot, just boil the noodles and put the seasonings in the bowl after discarding excess water. Pour the noodles and water to taste into the bowl and stir well.
- The cooking methods provided here may assist with other noodle types but it pays to do your research on the noodle's qualities first.
- The noodles are covered in starch which goes into the water while it boils. Use fresh boiled water for better taste and a healthier bowl of ramen.
Warnings
- Ramen noodles are typically high in fat due to frying in manufacturing, the flavoring is typically high in sodium, and both are typically low in nutrition other than carbohydrates.. Don't make them a principal part of your diet. Pasta is similarly easy to prepare, but lower in fat, often enriched in vitamins, and typically eaten with a large proportion of nutritious foods such as vegetables.
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