I love my ramen noodly soup.
I am allergic to the MSG in their flavoring packets. (Migraines)
I need alternates so that I may continue my relationship with this 10 cents a brick starchy goodness.
How about taking a tiny bit of kimche powder, ans mixing it with somthing stick and powderry? I would like to know substitutes too.
What about using powdered chicken or beef boullion, or a variety of dried herbs and spices? Of course you can always add a little sour cream and chives to the ramen (not as soup, but drained), or anything you’d usually put over pasta.
I love ramen as well!
I doubt I could find Kimche powder around here.
I have been using Lawry’s seasoned salt, but it is really a poor substitute.
I have just gone to http://www.unipresidentusa.com, a company that makes non-msg ramen. See:
Unif UDON PRIDE baked organic noodle soups
http://www.unipresidentusa.com/html/body_branded_products.html#
Homemade turkey stock cooked down to a glaze. Mmmm. You cook the noodles most of the way in water and then put it in the glaze for the last . . . I’d better stop writing before I drool and short out my keyboard.
Somewhere there has to be a cookbook titled 101 things to do with ramen noodles.
I just googled and found the following:
Elizabeth Brennan
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: b...@wc.novell.com (Elizabeth Brennan) - Find messages by this author
Date: 24 Feb 94 23:17:27 GMT
I keep an eye out for sales on cans of chicken broth and stock up on
those. Alternately, I occasionally make my own and freeze it in
8oz containers. (I use plastic salsa tubs) When I want quick and
tasty noodles I just boil up the stock, throw in the noodles and
a slice of fresh ginger, maybe some garlic, onions etc. and just
before serving I season with soy sauce, dark sesame oil, rice vinegar
and chili paste. Sometimes I use Thai fish sauce instead of soy.
Experiment with stuff like this till you find what you like. I
don’t think you’ll ever go back to dried seasoning once you get
the hang of it.
Good ideas with the stock. Back in my ramen days I used to chop up scallions and beat an egg, drip it in and make egg-drop ramen.
You could buy fresh kimchi here, or just look for a good Asian grocery. Try little independent corner stores, especially those with vegetables out front.
What I really came in to say is that Mrs. Dash makes an assortment of salt-free seasonings that are a LOT better than Lawry’s, to my taste. I’ve seen a couple of similar brands.
BTW, I was going to cook some bacon for lunch (PB-and-bacon sandwich), but might have to do a bowl of noodles instead. We’ll see…
I have the perfect product for you. It’s called Better Than Bouillon
It’s a bouillon paste without all the salt.
As previously suggested chicken, or similar, stock cubes are nice, but I fear they are likely to contain MSG and a ton of salt.
However, you can get some nice vegetarian stock, either in cube form, or in little jars. If not in your local shops, perhaps have a look in a wholefood /healthfood place when possible.
Yep, I know we are not meant to like those noodlge, but I do like the price of them, plus they are damn good for a fast meal when one is not sure what to eat etc.
I see Enright3 beat me to it. I use that stuff too, because I like it more than the powder packet.
But that’s not all I add. When I’m in the mood for ramen noodles, I almost always add a dash of sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce, and a glorp of rice wine vinegar. Plus maybe a little hot sauce, and some cooked chicken if I have it and some dried mushrooms and some chopped cabbage.
Now THAT makes it good!
I just boil them in chicken broth and have a vat of chicken noodle soup.
I have always preferred to drain my ramen noodles and then add the seasoning instead of making it into soup. I sometimes leave the seasoning out altogether and just use soy sauce.
Oooooh, enright! I am going to look into your linkie!
Thanks.
Wow, I’m not the only one who did that.
I would also throw in a variety of left overs into the soup. Pork, ham, veggies all tasted good in the mix.
Anybody else ever refer to it as saimin? That’s what I grew up calling it and have never stopped.
I haven’t noticed that in the store, maybe because I’ve pretty much given up. I see on the site that “Unlike bouillon, meat is the first ingredient instead of salt.” (I suppose they mean “Unlike bouillon cubes”, but no matter.) So far, so good, but I still have to ask if these (like so many others) have some sort of “[hydrolized/modified] [soy/corn/plant] protein” that doesn’t taste at all like meat or anything else that’s edible. Some kinds of chicken cubes really are made of meat instead of soy/corn/plants, but I haven’t found any beef-flavoured brand that is.
I’ll take a look for BtB next time I get groceries!
Well-drained ramen noodles are quite good with parmesan cheese and some Italian spices sprinkled on top. Think of it as pasta. You can put tomatoey Ragu-type sauces on it, too. Once, in desperation and poverty, I even poured barbecue sauce onto my ramen. It was surprisingly tasty.
One thing I like to do with my ramen noodles is to drain 'em, rinse them with cold water, then add a teaspoon of oyster sauce. Mix and eat. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!