Instant Ramen Hack!
It’s an instant ramen hack day today!
I’ve been cooking these Taiwanese instant noodles at home since I found them from Costco. Funny, I didn’t like it at first because the flavor was way too simple for me. The sauce ingredients are simply soy sauce and sesame oil. That’s it. I had to figure out how to enjoy these noodles because, you know, I got them from Costco means I have a lot of them! lol, I better figure out to enjoy it or I will waste my money! 🤑
The great part of these noodles is the texture. It’s dried noodles so healthier than most instant ramen noodles that are fried. Also how simple the flavor is, actually works out perfect to pimp up. Like a white campus.
Long story short, I’ve been buying these instant noodles over and over again from Costco after I figured out how to enjoy them. Now when I go to Asian groceries, I look for these A-sha noodles in different shapes of noodles, I love them now! I will show you how to dress up these basic noodles in 2 ways. You will find yourself making these instant ramen hacks over and over again, these 2 recipes are definitely a keeper!
Let’s start with my all-time favorite. Oh, BTW, it takes only 2 minutes to fix the noodles so get ready for a fast recipe!
Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, chop 2 green onions and a handful of cilantro. Also, prepare your choice of greens. I’m using 2 baby bok choy. You could use spinach, kale, broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, yu choy, cabbage, napa cabbage, beansprouts… the choice is endless!
Add noodles into boiling water and add bok choy 1 to 2 minutes before noodles are done cooking. I’m using the noodles that take only 2 minutes to cook, so added baby bok choy at the same time.
While noodles and bok choy are cooking, combine seasoning sauce from the noodle packs, 1 to 2 tsp chili oil, a pinch of black pepper, and 1 tsp sesame seeds. As always, I recommend my famous chili oil recipe, it’s the best! You can also use Lao Gan Ma, it works great too. Don’t have any chili oil in hand? No worries, you can follow the next recipe! But for now, let’s finish this 2 minutes ramen hack first!
Drain the noodles and add to the sauce mixture and mix well. Enjoy!
Let’s quickly move to the next ramen hack, it’s as easy as the first one, trust me! Oh, and you won’t need chili oil for the second one! 😉
The beginning is the same. Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, chop green onion, cilantro and prepare your choice of greens.
Add noodles into boiling water and add baby bok choy (or your choice of greens) 1 to 2 minutes before noodles are done cooking. While the noodles are cooking, go ahead and heat about 3 to 4 tbsp neutral cooking oil in a small saucepan or a small skillet until slightly smokes.
Drain the noodles and baby bok choy then add into a mixing bowl or serving bowl. Add chopped green onion, cilantro, 1 tbsp chili flakes (I used gochugaru but you can use any chili flakes you have), 1 tbsp grated ginger, and 1 tsp sesame seeds on top of noodles.
Carefully, pour the hot oil all over on top. We are pretty much creating quick chili oil. The fresh ginger taste is just fantastic! You could use some garlic, but I personally love ginger for this recipe.
Mix well and enjoy!
Instant Ramen Hack
- Total Time: 2 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Ingredients
Version 1
- 2 Taiwanese instant noodle packages or 1 Korean instant noodles
- 2 to 3 baby bok choy, cabbage, kale, spinach, zucchini, or broccoli
- 2 green onions, chopped
- Handful cilantro chopped
- 1 to 3 tsp Seonkyoung’s chili oil or Lao Gan Ma
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Version 2
- 2 Taiwanese instant noodle packages or 1 Korean instant noodles
- 2 to 3 baby bok choy, cabbage, kale, spinach, zucchini, or broccoli
- 3 to 4 tbsp neutral oil such as avocado, vegetable, canola, or peanut oil
- 2 green onions, chopped
- Handful cilantro chopped
- 1 tbsp gochugaru or any chili flakes
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
Version 1
- Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, combine seasoning sauce from the noodle packs, green onion, cilantro, chili oil, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Add noodles into boiling water and add bok choy 1 to 2 minutes before noodles are done cooking. Strain and add into sauce mixture and mix well. Enjoy!
Version 2
- Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, chop green onion and cilantro.
- Add noodles into boiling water and add bok choy 1 to 2 minutes before noodles are done cooking. Heat neutral cooking oil in a small saucepan or a small skillet until slightly smokes.
- Strain noodles and baby bok choy then add into a mixing bowl or serving bowl. Add chopped green onion, cilantro, chili flakes, grated ginger, and sesame seeds on top of noodles. Carefully, pour hot oil all over on top. Mix well and enjoy!
- Cook Time: 2 mins
