One thing I didn’t realize until about a year ago is that you can kick up the quality of your instant ramen by turning it into a whole meal with minimal effort. All you have to do is add some proteins, veggies, and maybe a little added flavoring. The carbs are already there in the noodles. Most of the sodium in this meal comes from, believe it or not, the noodles (as opposed to the flavoring packet) but then again, I didn’t mark this as a “healthy” meal (though this alternative is certainly more healthy than regular, instant ramen).
So, one weekend, I was feeling adventurous and quite hungry, so I ran to the store and picked up a bunch of ingredients to make this dish. My favorite instant ramen is Shin Ramyun, but you could do this with any type of instant ramen. See below for what Shin Ramyun looks like.
I included two photos because you can buy the packages in bulk, or you can pay more and buy the bowl (which you can simply throw into the microwave for convenience). I got the bowl, which meant that I had to soft boil my egg separately, but that ended up working out. The recipe is below:
The recipe is below.
- 1 package, instant ramen noodles with flavor packet
- 1 floret, baby bok choy
- 1 egg, soft-boiled
- 3 strips bacon
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tsp Sriracha chili sauce
- (Optional) 1/2 cup soy sauce for egg marinade
Fill up a pot big enough for your ramen noodles with water and bring to a boil. In another pot, add half cup of frozen corn and tablespoon of water, set on medium high, and stir occasionally until corn is heated. Once corn is heated, set off to the side. When water comes to a boil, gently place egg into it and boil for 3-5 minutes. Remove egg and run under cold water to stop cooking process. Gently peel off shell, place egg in soy sauce, and set off to the side. In same pot of boiling water, place ramen noodles and stir. Microwave three slices of bacon on paper towels both underneath and on top of bacon for 1 minute. Pat off excess fat with paper towel and microwave bacon again for 45 seconds to 1 minute, then put off to the side. Two minutes before ramen is finished cooking, add flavor packet and cleaned baby bok choy to the boiling water and stir for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. In serving bowl, add peanut butter and Sriracha. Mix in contents of ramen pot. Garnish with egg (halved), corn, and bacon strips.
A few notes: this recipe is YOUR recipe, so feel free to add things to it or remove things from it. Shitaake mushrooms and green onions would work extremely well in this dish, but I didn’t add them. Also, I prefer my bacon microwaved, but you can just as easily fry it up and reserve it for when you’re assembling your bowl. Lastly, an egg sitting in soy sauce for a few minutes isn’t going to do much in terms of flavoring, but I had some soy sauce to spare, and it made me feel cool. If you actually want to marinate your egg, I’d add green onions to the soy sauce, place the egg into it, and marinate for much longer in the fridge.
Peripheral Chew 