Noodles: ramen, soup, fried noodles, instant ramen, all noodleheads

Here's a new noodle/ramen thread for the noodleheads. Post all your ramen here.

I posted these ridiculous gourmet instant ramen in the Epic WTF thread:

Found them in the local Asian supermarket. They feature...
1) 960 calories!
2) A sachet of Chinese river snail soup, pickled vegetables and a bag of ‘wood ear’ in drinking water.
3) Ingredients specifically labelled as ‘edible’.

@Muppetteer said:

This needs a photo update once prepared.

@jb000 said:

I'm interested. Wish my local had some

@Mukashi said:

I've been thinking about making a noodle thread for a while.

@eskay in reply to @jb000

We have a large Chinese supermarket in Bristol and there is a whole aisle dedicated to this kind of thing.

@Sumo in reply to @Jonny69

Next time you're in the shop look out for Chapagetti. They're the best by a mile.

Let's make these ones then. First, let's get this out onto a tray. Nice!

On the left are the noodles. Top row L-R: Jew's ear bag, pickled bamboo shoots, vinegar bag. Bottom row L-R: pickled cowpea & pickled radish bag, fried peanuts & yuba bag, chilli oil. Right hand side is the river snail soup bag.

These are a bit more involved than the usual instant ramen. The noodles need to be boiled for quite a lot longer, drained and the water changed, then add the soup and cook for a bit longer, then dump in the sachets and serve.

I'm going to be making this in the microwave at work in my 'work ramen' Pyrex, which I think you'll agree is perfect for square packs of instant ramen:

The noodles themselves are more like spaghetti in size and there's a lot of them:

It looks a bit more appetising with the other ingredients added with some kind of attempt to make it look like the packet:

I had a little taste of the sachets before putting them on.
-The Jew's ear. I think this is a mushroom and it's actually called 'wood ear'. Pretty much tasteless and slightly squelchy in texture.
-Pickled bamboo shoots. Pinky red in colour and was quite like kimchi. Tasty.
-Vinegar bag. Didn't try this by itself because why would you.
-Pickled cowpea & pickled radish bag. Not familiar with either of these ingredients. It was kind of like green beans and a white root vegetable, lightly pickled and quite tasty with a bit of pickle crunch.
-Fried peanuts & yuba bag. Peanuts in skins which tasted like roasted peanuts. Yuba is kind of like a poppadum in texture but mostly flavourless.
-Chilli oil. Didn't try this by itself but probably should have...
-River snail soup bag. Savoury, salty and sweet, tasty but an unfamiliar taste, hints of star anise.

First thing that hit me was the chilli oil. It was HOT, and I reckon these are hotter than any other instant ramen I've had including some Thai ones. So I wish I hadn't dumped all the chilli oil over the top in one go. The flavour is quite nice. It's got that familiar instant ramen soup base kind of background, but an unfamiliar taste which I guess is the river snail. I liked it at first but about halfway through it was becoming unpleasant. And that's probably fine, because it's a huge portion and I was done by halfway through and put the rest in the fridge for later.

The aftermath is it's everywhere. It's splattered my desk, keyboard, work laptop, it's splattered all over me, my office stinks and my fingers still smell of it. Would I get them again? Well, probably not these ones but I'm glad I tried them. Also at £6.50 they're an occasional treat rather than an everyday eat.

Oh yes! This is right up my strasse.
I absolutely love customising intstant noodles.
IndoMi mi goreng are a personal favourite.

I’ll upload some photos/recipes soon.

udon noodles, miso paste, hot water.

Love packet ramen, any half decent one is a world away from the childhood trauma of pot noodles. A recent good discovery is Samyang potato noodle ones. I tend to add ssamjang to everything these days too, easy way to layer in more flavour as well as the usual bits and pieces.

I think fried ho fun is my all-out favourite, closely followed by fried udon and rice vermicelli. Used to get huge plates of this in the Tai Won Mein noodle bar in Greenwich in the 90s. Google says they're still open but I'm sure they got closed down when they redeveloped that end of Greenwich for the millennium. SAVED when they opened one in Catford. Then got lazy when I lived in Beckenham because there was a Miso Noodle Bar on the high street which was pretty close. Don't live over that way any more and there are no noodle places like that out here in the western burbs.

I'm not a broth fan but I do love a stir fry instant noodle meal, will try to remember to post in here whenever I make something.

The fungus has been renamed to 'Jelly ear' or 'Wood ear'. Peculiar to Elder and very common in the UK.

Have you tried the Staines Food Court?

I was and very much still obsessed with Dan Dan noodles. I genuinely considered opening a cafe and calling it Dan Dan Anonymous with only one item on the menu…

BITD I worked in a ramen bar and we’d make Negi oil to top the ramen with. To this day I still make a batch at home every couple weeks.
It’s great to fry absolutely anything with it instead of normal vegetable oil.
My kid’s favourite food is a really simple stir fried noodles with Negi oil and mushrooms.
God I’m hungry.

So sad :(

Udon noodles, instant dashi seasoning sachet, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, Asian fish cakes, gyoza/dumplings, lots of chopped spring onions, good teaspoon of Chinese chilli oil and a poached egg.

Or a Korean classic, champong ramen with sliced spam, frankfurters, egg, American burger cheese, kimchi, extra gochujang and a big scoop of rice.

More of a stew than noodles at this point.

I am struggling to imagine the taste, i kind of want to try out of morbid curiosity

Anyone got any top budget suggestions?

Please do, 10x better than how it sounds.

A simplified version of Budae jjigae

I think fried ho fun is my all-out favourite, closely followed by fried udon and rice vermicelli. Used to get huge plates of this in the Tai Won Mein noodle bar in Greenwich in the 90s. Google says they're still open but I'm sure they got closed down when they redeveloped that end of Greenwich for the millennium.

They’re still there in Greenwich! I went last week with the GF and her visiting mother from Croatia. I lived off Tai Won Mein noodle bar at Elephant & Castle (in the original location) in the late 90’s when I came to uni. Roast Duck Noodle Soup was great. Portions are still huge.

My emergency stash at work when I don't have anything else for lunch. Pretty pedestrian but noodles and broth tasty and only a pound from Asda. Also noodles in package round shape, fits perfectly in bowl

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Koka Tom Yum are my go to cheap treat in a rush

This instant Laksa brand is worth seeking out

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BITD I worked in a ramen bar and we’d make Negi oil to top the ramen with. To this day I still make a batch at home every couple weeks.

You cannot post that and then not leave instructions / recipe.

Honestly, it’s a spell that I hesitate to unleash. All those who learn it’s secret eventually go mad with power. You have been warned…

Ok, I’ll make some tonight and post it up. It’s incredibly simple.
Don’t come crying to me when the voices take over though.

Have you tried the Staines Food Court?

Yes, it’s excellent. I’ve had really good dim sum and Hong Kong street in there. Veggie and vegan options are good too. Not yet had noodles in there though.

Don’t come crying to me when the voices take over though.

Bold assumption that I don't already have voices in charge of things

This was advertised to me a couple of months ago. https://secretldn.com/self-serving-ramen-london/