Survival Cooking 101: Ramen Noodles!

In every culture, there is a cheap food that tends to catch the disdain of those who have better means. The United States, being a melting pot of many cultures, we have picked up on a number of these. And among these is Ramen Noodles.

For less than 30 cents (sometimes as low as 15 cents), you get a package containing noodles and a flavor packet that is enough to feed two small appetites, or one large appetite. Or you could purchase the fancier ones, sitting in a styrofoam cup, that contains a few bits of dried vegetables or meat. (These are smaller in the way of the noodle and water amount...we have to keep these around as a snack for the boys.) Either way, you simply add hot water, let it sit (or boil) for about 3 minutes, and its done!

In the common grocery store, we find shrimp, chicken, and beef flavor. If we go to an Asian market, we can find a wide variety of different noodle styles and flavors...two of my favorites are the lobster flavored thin noodles and the abalone chicken whole wheat noodles.

And the reason this food catches the ire of those above everyone else? Its far from being nutritionally complete.

During a trip to San Francisco to visit the hubbies relatives, we trapsed through China Town with his sister and came across a restaurant...honestly, I don't remember whether it was Korean or Vietnamese....and decided to try it. The menu was loaded with page after page of (you guessed it) Ramen Noodles. Each page had a different flavor. However, there was at least 10 different "styles" per page. The beef page had meatballs or steak, and a variety of different vegetables, all ranging from mild to spicey. Amazing!

You see, us stupid Americans simply saw the cheap food, and thought, "Hey, cheap food!" We didn't realize that the package of Ramen Noodles was simply the BASE of the soup.

So, to make a nutrtionally complete meal, here's what you do. Add something! Add vegetables. Fresh or frozen works best in the three minute cooking time, but if you have the time, you can reconstitute dried veggies and use them. Add bits of meat (fresh or dried). Get funky and add some fruits (quite Asian, in fact...adding a fruit to something normally savory). And you aren't limited to the flavor packet, either...try adding some spices of your own. Garlicy chicken, spicey beef. I have even seen Ramen noodle recipes that include tossing away the flavor packet and making an alfredo-style sauce.

Not interested in soup? Remove most of the water before adding the flavor packet (start with only about half of the packet) and have flavored noodles.

You could even go wild and add a salad, fruit, or "appetizer" to the side.

Don't knock Ramen noodles. Backpacking, camping, survival storage, or just a quick meal to make at home...the versitile Ramen noodle could be back in full force!