College students all over the United States, especially those in dorms or residence halls, use “ramen noodles” as a staple food in their diets. However, now with a few other ingredients, a wide range of recipes can be made using these pantry staples.
Andrew Lynch, a culinary arts major at the Johnson and Wales University-Miami campus defines ramen as, “Ramen (rah-men): A noodle phenomenon. Ramen has become the accepted standard college snack/meal food of choice. Whether you are tired of cafeteria food, or you need a quick snack, Ramen is the perfect food. It is cheap, easy to make, and it tastes good.” For those few who may not know what ramen noodles are, let me explain. Ramen noodles are based off the rice noodles used in Oriental cuisine. The modern Ramen noodle is a wheat-based noodle, like almost all noodles you buy in the store. What makes this noodle unique is that it very cheap and cooks in little time. On average, a package of ramen noodles runs somewhere around13 cents per package and takes three to seven minutes to prepare.
To prepare ramen noodles, all one has to do is add them to boiling water and wait. The directions on the package instruct one to make a soup of noodles in broth. This can become tiring after awhile with the flavors being limited and the idea that not everybody wants soup all the time. For the people who want to be more creative and vary their diet from soup, this article is for you.
Since ramen noodles are of Oriental decent, I thought it would be appropriate to stay with the foreign theme for a while. A simple chicken spaghetti can be made with the boiled noodles added to a pinch of basil, oregano, the chicken flavored seasoning pack, four fast food packages of ketchup, and a can of diced chicken, found near the tuna fish in the grocery store. Heat all the ingredients together except the noodles on the stove or in the microwave until they are steaming. Then, add the boiled noodles and stir for one minute to incorporate all flavors; enjoy.
For those who want to stay with the oriental concept, a great noodle salad can be made. First, using the oriental flavor, boil noodles in water with about half of the seasoning package. When the noodles are finished cooking, remove them from the water and set aside to cool. While noodles are cooling, combine and mix well the remains from the seasoning package with 1 tablespoon of creamy peanut butter, 1 teaspoon of lemon or limejuice, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, and a little pepper. Add the cooked noodles and stir until the noodles are evenly coated.
Even though we all enjoy foreign cuisine, we love our traditional American comfort foods. Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorites and probably the most well known comfort food. To make this simple dish all one needs is some shredded colby cheese, a small pad of butter, and unseasoned boiled ramen noodles. Mix all the ingredients and cook until cheese starts to melt. Remove from heat and stir until cheese in melted and noodles are coated with cheese sauce. Be careful not to over cook this dish, as the cheese will become stringy.
Another good comfort food is green been casserole. Drain a can of green beans and season with the beef-seasoning package from the ramen noodles. Crush the ramen noodles into small bite size pieces and mix with a can of heated cream of mushroom soup. Add green beans, stir, and enjoy.
Now I know that not all of these recipes are as good as the originals, but the simplicity makes them great. I have tried all of these recipes and find them at worst only a little salty, which can be altered with the amount of seasoning added. I hope that all people can sleep easier now knowing that their next meal, while it contains ramen noodles, is different from their usual ramen noodle soup. Andre Ory, a sophomore from LaPlace, said “I eat ramen noodles about three or four times a week and would be willing to try new recipes using them as long as they are simple to prepare.” For Andre and all people like him reading this article, all these dishes can be created in the microwave for convenience.
If anyone else has recipes pertaining to ramen noodles, please feel free to drop them off at the Student Publications office for a possible future story on Nicholls students’ use of ramen noodles.