Food and generic food type discussion(s).

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In this thread we talk about food, favorite recipes, convenient speed cooking recipes (the faster, the better. not to be confused with Leigh Hart's speed cooking, though that is most welcome as well.) tips and tricks/tricks of the trade, funny and or embarrassing catering stories, favorite spices and what they work with, best equipment.

...Or anything cooking, really.

We will also speak in cups, mls/litres, spoons, kilograms, grams and degrees Celsius; because lets face it, the American way of measuring stuff is so silly that it makes me want to rip off my face.

Ok now, starting with the basics first and with something I think most everyone is familiar with; ramen noodles! there are a lot of noodle brands around with different tastes and flavors, my personal favorite is Mi Goreng noodles, specifically the red spicy flavor, I don't know what it's actually called since the flavor is probably written is Asian or something.

Anyway, I've found the best way to cook ramen noodles is to break them up in their packet before placing the noodles in a bowl or jug, then filling it with water until the water line is just above the noodles. then cooking it in a microwave for two minutes. when that's done, take the noodles out and stir in the seasonings you have, then placing them back in the microwave for another minute.

For two packets, you'll cook them for three minutes, then one.

When you're adding your seasoning sachets, remember that you can also add other stuff into the mix. but the rule to always remember is "accompanying flavors."
for instance, you wouldn't want to go ahead and put cooked chicken bits into some beef flavored noodles, now would you?

Another point to remember is the type of dish you are serving, since my Mi Goreng noodles are predominantly Indonesian, I'd consider throwing in some extra soy sauce, some chilli's, coriander, ginger. etc.

Another good tip when cooking at home, is to look at the packing. often times you'll see other foods and ingredients on the packet other then what it is, of which, many accompany the dish fantastically.

comments?

My favourite way to cook ramen is to boil water in a pot (I don't measure it, but it isn't very much as I don't want them too soupy--maybe 1/3 of a cup or soemthing). I put the noodle bundle in whole, poor the seasoning on top. Since the noodles stick out, I flip it over right away to get the seasoning mixed into the broth. Then cook until the noodles are soft. I don't have a microwave, but even if I did, I would still cook them this way.

I prefer the tailor-made styrofoam Cup O' Ramen as it has a perfectly balanced mixture of seasoning and other ingredients, and the noodle texture is slightly superior. For the ultimate in yum, I run the faucet until the water comes out as hot as it's going to get, open the lid halfway, fill to 3/4 full, then cover and let stand for 2 minutes

The bonus part is starting a sink full of dishes while waiting for the water to get hot

lmao, I love how the OP goes on and on about the technicalities involved in serious cooking, from measuring to choice of spice to personal preference, and then immediately covers the best way they've found to cook top ramen. Love it!

Im with littlelily on top ramen. Ive done it in the nuke, Ive done it a pan, I much prefer it from a stove top, sam I am? Seriously though, something about the Nuke seems to dehydrate the noodles after a few minutes once its out. And if you're gonna nuke it for 3 or more minutes anyway (Which is the same amount of time you're meant to cook it in a pan with water anyway), I figure you might as well just deal with the wait time to boil the water in the first place. And again, like Littlelily I just put enough water in to cover the noodle pack in a small pan (I never break my noodles up anymore), and let it cook, sometimes I even let some of that water boil off intentionally to get a more concentrated flavor.

About 90% of all top ramen I eat now is either oriental or beef flavor, love those two XD I used to eat other flavors more frequently, but at one point I was eating chicken and shrimp pretty much exclusively and got burned out by those two..... The shrimp flavored Top Ramen really kinda doesn't taste like shrimp IMHO though, too salty.... Ive NEVER had shrimp with that much salt or sodium on them......

After that, I used to experiment with adding whatever was on hand to ramen Id cook, but in the end I found it hard to improve on something already so loaded down with sodium that the salt pretty much wrestled any accompanying flavor to the ground and proceeded to soundly beat its ass....

Aldran

Do soup packets for noodles taste good as a dry seasoning? I much prefer my instant noodles dry rather than swimming in water.

I know how to drain noodles of course! I might just put the packet powder in bit by bit and test it so it's not a salt-fest.

I tend to do my noodles in a rush, so more often than not my topping ends up being cheese.

It's funny how a general food thread starts and we are ONLY talking about ramen.

What is "top ramen"? Is that a brand or some term I just don't know?

I only use Mr. Noodles, basically because it's the only one I have found that is vegetarian. I like most of the flavours, but mushroom is my favourite. Right now also into the shrimp and curry chicken.