Improving Instant Ramen
Instant Noodles with homemade Japanese-style cha shu, poached egg and spinach
I have to confess that this household eats more instant noodles than should possibly be legal for three adults who are no longer in college. But hey, you eat what you gotta eat when the economy’s in the toilet, right? Luckily, all the adults have learned to be okay with this arrangement and my preschooler is pretty thrilled with the idea of noodles all. the. time.
Now before you write me and tell me just how horrible instant noodles are for you — and especially for a growing child — let me just stop you right there and say: yes I know. We make a special effort to make sure that TLE’s instant noodle meals only use a touch of the seasoning packet, are portion controlled and always include a protein and fruit/vegetable and make sure she drinks plenty of milk. So nyah.
Of course, I wish I could say the same for us adults.
I think just about everyone has their own way of making instant ramen more palatable and all the adults in my household have their own style. My husband, for example, likes his noodles with an egg broken into and cooked by the hot broth. He’s got high blood pressure so tries not to use the entire seasoning packet but still likes to spice it up with a generous splash of Sriracha. Our housemate came up with the ingenious and energy saving idea to poach an egg in the boiling water first — she adds a teaspoon or so of rice wine vinegar to the boiling water and then cracks an egg into it to poach it. After it poaches, she removes it and then tosses in the noodles to cook. She might also add a splash of sesame oil along with the seasoning.
I like my noodles without the broth. I take the noodles and boil them until they’re cooked, drain off most of the water and add about 1/4 of the seasoning packet which is plenty. Then I’ll put the pot back on the stove and add a raw egg to the mix, scrambling it and cooking it with the noodles until they’re done. For the photo above, I decided to change it up a bit. I poached my egg the way my housemate does before blanching about a cup full of spinach. Once the spinach was done, I cooked the noodles and seasoning them. Then I put it all in a bowl with some slices of Japanese style cha shu pork belly.
Not bad for broke food, really.
What’s your favorite way to dress up instant ramen?
Garlic Tofu with spicy dipping sauce
Panfried Garlic Tofu with brown rice and vegetables
Every so often, I have the urge to eat healthy. Yes, even my body knows that it can’t survive solely on delicious, delicious pork. (More’s the pity.) Whenever I feel like I’m in healthy mode, I turn to my old vegetarian standby: garlic tofu. My absolute favorite way to eat tofu is panfried so that it’s crisp and savory on the outside, creamy on the inside, drizzled with a simple but delicious spicy soy dressing.
I know, pan frying tofu when you’re supposed to be on a diet seems backwards but eating the right kind and right amount of fats is important if you eat a mostly vegetarian diet. (So I learned during my defunct 30 days vegetarian challenge. Which I totally failed after 2 weeks BUT I did learn a lot.) If you’re really squeamish about the oil, there’s always baking tofu which is just as delicious and a great snack itself. The texture is slightly different — far crispier without the creamy center — but just as tasty, though I think it makes a better vegetarian snack than a main dish. I’ve included both directions, just in case.
Whether you’re baking or pan frying, the most important thing when it comes to tofu is that you’re buying the right kind and that you prep it correctly. Staying Vegan has some great tips for tofu buying. I always buy my tofu in tubs from the Asian market though well-stocked American megamarts should also have tub and vacuum packed tofu. (Honestly, these never taste “right” to me but that may be me being picky.) Wherever you buy it, make sure it’s labeled “Firm” or “Extra Firm” — sometimes it may say “Chinese style” or label it as good for stir fry. Silken, Soft or Japanese-style tofu is far too soft for this dish.
Ingredients
- 1 pound block of tofu (firm or extra firm)
- salt
- powdered garlic
- potato starch
- Oil for pan frying
- Soy sauce
- Chili-garlic paste
- Green onion
- Sesame oil
Instructions
- Preparing the Tofu
- Remove your block of tofu from its packaging and drain all the water. (If you buy vacuum packed, brick tofu, you can skip the draining and pressing step.)
- Place on a plate, cover with another smaller plate and weigh down
- Press for at least one hour.
- Drain the tofu again and slice into 8 equal pieces.
- Pan Fried Method
- Season each slice of tofu with salt and garlic powder on both sides.
- Heat 1/2" of oil in a large non-stick skillet.
- Dredge each piece of tofu in potato starch and place in the oil.
- Let it pan fry, undisturbed, for 6 minutes over medium high heat.
- Flip and then pan fry the other side for 6 minutes.
- Remove from pan and drain on paper towels before serving.
- Alternative: Crisp Baked Tofu
- If you don't want to pan fry your tofu, bake it. Press and cut tofu and season with garlic and salt. Do not dredge in potato starch.
- Brush each piece of seasoned tofu with olive oil and place on a baking sheet lined with piece of parchment or well-greased aluminum foil.
- Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, turning after 20 minutes. Remove when golden brown and crispy.
- Dipping Sauce
- Combine soy sauce, chili garlic paste, chopped green onion and sesame oil to taste.
Nutella Crackle Cookies
Nutella Crackle Cookies -- best enjoyed with a cold glass of milk! <3
One Saturday afternoon, my 3 year old The Little Empress (TLE) was running around in circles, two hours overdue for her nap. In desperation, I promised her that if she took an hour long nap, we’d do something really fun together. Her interest piqued, she paused for a half-second mid-twirl during which I quickly gave her the choice between painting or making cookies with Mommy.
“Cookies!” TLE declared, gracefully turning her twirl into an excited hop, her arms raised in glee. “Chocolate cookies!” But not chocolate chip cookies, she clarified in between hops. Chocolate cookies.
I promised that the second she woke up, we’d start making a batch of chocolate cookies. Just like that, she ran up the stairs. Two minutes later, she was tucked into bed and sound asleep.
Moral of this story? Bribery: it works.
As luck would have it, I’ve never made just plain chocolate cookies before. But I was determined to deliver. While she napped, I rifled through the pantry to figure out what we could make together and then it dawned on me: crackle cookies. I had never had them before but I love the look of them — powder sugar dusted cookies with cracks that reveal a fudgy center. Plus, they’re perfect make-with-kids cookies, from rolling the dough into balls to covering them with powdered sugar. We also happened to have on hand a large jar of Nutella. TLE loves Nutella (who doesn’t?) so I figured I’d adapt a recipe to use it.
So here we go… Nutella Crackle Cookies. Just I suspected, they were a great hit! TLE loved rolling up the dough balls and then coating them in sugar. “They’re footballs!” she declared, tossing them in the sugar with glee. Who am I to argue?
My only reservation is that they didn’t come out as white as I’d have liked. Bakerella has this great Martha Stewart recipe that came out with far more pronounced crackles that looks awesome. No Nutella in the recipe but I may have to try this for the next time I make these cookies. And yes, there will be a next time.
Chinese-style BBQ pork (Char Siu)
There are exactly two dishes in my repetoire that is universally loved and accepted by all the adults and the preschooler in my household. This is one of them: Chinese-style BBQ pork, also more commonly known as char siu. Whether part of fried rice, on top of ramen, stir fried with noodles or part of a rice plate, Chinese BBQ pork is always a welcome addition to any meal at this house.
One of my favorite ways to eat char siu --- with rice! <3
Aside from its versatility and the fact that making it at home saves me from a trip to the Asian BBQ counter (which isn’t bad but I always spend way more than I probably should,) another (and perhaps best) reason for making your own char siu at home: BURNT ENDS. Strictly speaking, burnt ends traditionally refer to American beef brisket BBQ but in this case, I’m talking about the charry, fatty char-siu’y goodness of fatty pork that’s been cooked to carcinogenic perfection.
Meaty goodness -- yes please!!
YUM.
A few years back, I found my first recipe for char siu from a now defunct Singaporean blog. I printed it out and have kept it as part of my prized recipe collection. The original recipe called for two types of soy sauce, plus maltose which gave the char siu its lovely sheen and distinct sweetness. I loved this recipe but didn’t make it very often since dark soy and maltose weren’t typically kept in my pantry.
Then one day about a year ago, I stumbled upon this recipe for Chinese-style BBQ Spareribs from Saveur. I was a bit skeptical but I had a hankering for char siu and couldn’t pass up the fact that the marinade was made out of condiments I kept staple in my pantry.
I’ve changed up the recipe somewhat from Saveur’s original, notably by omitting the food coloring and not using spareribs. I know the food coloring is traditional but honestly, the beautiful mahogany color that you get from the soy and the hoisin in the marinade is beautiful enough.
Instead of spareribs, I use boneless “country style” pork ribs, about 1 1/2″ ~ 2″ thick. More of the meat, none of the bone — what’s not to love? If you can’t find “country style” ribs, just get pork butt and hack it up into strips 1 1/2″ thick… that’s all “country style” really is anyway. If you’re squeamish about pork fat, you can make this out of pork loin which is healthier for you but will tend to dry out. Whichever cut you use, trim the extra fat off of the outside. It’s delicious but too much fat means you get a mouthful of lard when you’re eating and that’s no fun.
Brown Butter Holiday Spice Cookies
I totally wish I could say that my cookies looked this good, packaged and ready to go to my recipients. Alas, they did not. I ran into some technical difficulties (AKA a Monday being a Monday in all senses of the word) so my cookies got shipped off a day late but I can only hope that my recipients were happy to get them.
I spent a good week testing out recipes for this cookie swap, only to discover that I wasn’t happy with any of the results. My original plan was to do a holiday cookie that in
Finally, I just said “eff it” and went with what I knew to be reliable recipe: my brown butter cookies. These cookies have not failed me yet. After all, how can they? Browned butter plus brown sugar are practically guaranteed to be a winning combination… at least, they are to me. But still, I thought that I could make them a bit more “holiday” and after some consideration (AKA me standing in front of my baking pantry doing the, “Oh god, what can I put in these cookies?” dance) I decided to put in a touch of spice.
The result is a delightful, chewy yet crisp on the outside, flavorful cookie with just enough sweetness and a touch of holiday spice. You can always add more if you’re a big fan of spice cookies.
Brown Butter Holiday Spice Cookies Adapted by Michelle Mista (www.delishiono.com) from the Brown Sugar Cookie Recipe by America's Test Kitchen for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011
This is a fun all butter holiday cookie. Freshly baked, it is a wonderful, chewy cookie with crisp edges.
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 Tbsp AP flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice mix (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice)
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 sticks butter (unsalted)
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp dark rum
Instructions
- Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.
- Brown the butter on the stove in a large saucepan until brown, fragrant and nutty-smelling. Remove from heat and add in the brown sugar. Stir to combine. Let sit for 15 to 30 minutes until the butter-sugar mixture is at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Beat together the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla and rum. Combine with the room-temperature brown butter and sugar mixture until well incorporated and glossy.
- Pour the butter, sugar and egg mixture over your sifted dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Prepare a cookie sheet with either parchment or silicone baking mat. Drop dough in 2 Tbsp fulls (or use a cookie scoop) and baking in the preheated oven for 13 minutes. Rotate pans at 6 minute mark to promote even cooking.
- Remove from oven. The cookies will appear puffy and may appear little underdone – this is fine! Cool on the cookie sheets for at least 15 minutes. The cookies will set in that time.
- Makes about 3 dozen cookies
- Serve warm with a good coffee, hot cocoa or a glass of milk. Enjoy your holidays!
Connect with Me
