JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - healthy?!
JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - healthy?!
Here's an idea for how to make a healthy meal out of your favorite package of instant ramen.
It uses only one cooking pot, so cleanup is easy.
Sugawara Bunta action figure: "Ramen delivery!"
Preppy Girl Momoko: "What? Delivery ramen AGAIN? Why don't we make something a lot cheaper and healthier at home??"
Preppy Girl Momoko: "First, gather the ingredients - your favorite instant ramen, vegetables, leftover meat, eggs, whatever."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Chop your vegetables and have them ready. If you prefer, now is the time to boil your eggs."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Cook the noodles as per package instructions, but do NOT use the soup packet!"
Preppy Girl Momoko: "DRAIN the noodles (which rinses away excess grease and starch), and put them in a ramen bowl. Set aside for the moment."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Now, using the recommended quantity of water (2 cups or less), cook your vegetables. You can cook the eggs right in the same pot to the desired degree of doneness, assuming you didn't boil them earlier. Add the soup stock at the end. Also add any sliced lunch meat right at the end."
(NOTE: the egg(s) will tend to break up if they aren't nestled in a ton of vegetables.)
Preppy Girl Momoko: "When everything is cooked, just pour it carefully over the noodles and you have a healthy, vegetastic bowl of instant ramen!"
(NOTE: To make it look nicer, definitely boil the eggs ahead of time. But I'm super lazy so I cook them with the vegetables )
Sugawara Bunta: "Too many ... vegetables ... too healthy ... must go find potato chips...."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Oh well, can't win them all!"
It uses only one cooking pot, so cleanup is easy.
Sugawara Bunta action figure: "Ramen delivery!"
Preppy Girl Momoko: "What? Delivery ramen AGAIN? Why don't we make something a lot cheaper and healthier at home??"
Preppy Girl Momoko: "First, gather the ingredients - your favorite instant ramen, vegetables, leftover meat, eggs, whatever."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Chop your vegetables and have them ready. If you prefer, now is the time to boil your eggs."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Cook the noodles as per package instructions, but do NOT use the soup packet!"
Preppy Girl Momoko: "DRAIN the noodles (which rinses away excess grease and starch), and put them in a ramen bowl. Set aside for the moment."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Now, using the recommended quantity of water (2 cups or less), cook your vegetables. You can cook the eggs right in the same pot to the desired degree of doneness, assuming you didn't boil them earlier. Add the soup stock at the end. Also add any sliced lunch meat right at the end."
(NOTE: the egg(s) will tend to break up if they aren't nestled in a ton of vegetables.)
Preppy Girl Momoko: "When everything is cooked, just pour it carefully over the noodles and you have a healthy, vegetastic bowl of instant ramen!"
(NOTE: To make it look nicer, definitely boil the eggs ahead of time. But I'm super lazy so I cook them with the vegetables )
Sugawara Bunta: "Too many ... vegetables ... too healthy ... must go find potato chips...."
Preppy Girl Momoko: "Oh well, can't win them all!"
Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Cute and informative. I like it! I never knew you could do so much with one of those typical packs of ramen.
Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Aww, poor action figure dude ^_^ This was well-written (and cute and funny)... Wow, maybe I can get my son to like this version (we haven't had any ramen noodles in ages, because I'm trying to be healthy, but it's not a popular decision ^_^ )
Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Thanks Chuplayer and Elfinity!!
Yes, you can do a lot with a package of ramen! This is how I grew up eating ramen, in fact.
I can eat a ton of vegetable servings this way - in fact, it's so much food, I could split 1 ramen package between two people the way I cram in the vegetables.
I also like to use home made chicken stock, but the sodium load goes pretty high when I do that (but I like sodium... ).
Go ahead, give it a shot Great for most leftover meats and vegetables from previous meals, too!
Yes, you can do a lot with a package of ramen! This is how I grew up eating ramen, in fact.
I can eat a ton of vegetable servings this way - in fact, it's so much food, I could split 1 ramen package between two people the way I cram in the vegetables.
I also like to use home made chicken stock, but the sodium load goes pretty high when I do that (but I like sodium... ).
Go ahead, give it a shot Great for most leftover meats and vegetables from previous meals, too!
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Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Very healthy ramen, indeed!! I always thought ramen (instant noodle) should be ready in no more than 3 minutes. The way you made ramen, we should give them a new name.
Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Nice story and photos! Yummie!
*does a quick google search to find out what Ramen is and to fill a big gap in his knowledge of food*
*does a quick google search to find out what Ramen is and to fill a big gap in his knowledge of food*
Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Teddybear4me2: LOL not so instant ... takes about 10-15 minutes
Anders: Woohoo, glad you learned something new! I should note that instant ramen does not taste much like real ramen. In fact, here in the US, I never got to eat "real" ramen until I moved to California (well, aside from having it in Japan). There is a lot of bad ramen even in California (and Japan of course), but some ramen is quite good. (Still nothing like instant, though! )
The lack of similarity between "real" ramen and "instant" ramen is one reason I feel little guilt in putting in weird ingredients like ... broccoli ... LOL. Though I've had Nagasaki-style chanpon (ramen-like) (here in California), which contains cabbage and all sorts of seafood. So I guess you can put in whatever you want.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanpon
P.S. Ramen is also good with spicy Korean hot sauce and kimchi added, as my Korean friends will tell you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi
Anders: Woohoo, glad you learned something new! I should note that instant ramen does not taste much like real ramen. In fact, here in the US, I never got to eat "real" ramen until I moved to California (well, aside from having it in Japan). There is a lot of bad ramen even in California (and Japan of course), but some ramen is quite good. (Still nothing like instant, though! )
The lack of similarity between "real" ramen and "instant" ramen is one reason I feel little guilt in putting in weird ingredients like ... broccoli ... LOL. Though I've had Nagasaki-style chanpon (ramen-like) (here in California), which contains cabbage and all sorts of seafood. So I guess you can put in whatever you want.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanpon
P.S. Ramen is also good with spicy Korean hot sauce and kimchi added, as my Korean friends will tell you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi
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Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Yes it is!! The vegetables are so tasty this way, too!kirabarbie wrote:Yummy!
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Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
It makes me hungry every time when I see this thread pops up. Especially I just missed my lunch today.
Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Awesome! Glad it looks good! Get some ramen, vegetables, and eggs, and you are good to go!teddybear4me2 wrote:It makes me hungry every time when I see this thread pops up. Especially I just missed my lunch today.
(I just ate a huge Italian dinner and this thread is making ME hungry... )
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Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Delicious! I was in Japan last year and I miss the food, the people, everything! Thanks for sharing this lovely post!
Re: JAPAN - Instant ramen like you've never seen it - health
Aww glad you like it
It definitely is different from real ramen, though! A LOT more vegetables unless you're comparing to Nagasaki Chanpon.
It definitely is different from real ramen, though! A LOT more vegetables unless you're comparing to Nagasaki Chanpon.