When we lived in the U.S., we never used to go to ethnic groceries of any sort. We weren’t opposed to it, per se; we didn’t cook very much and when we did, it was rarely from scratch. And if we wanted Chinese/Mexican/Lebanese/Cajun, we went to a restaurant. As our recipe archive demonstrates, things have changed. I’m at the China Laden (Asian market) at least once a week picking up things you just can’t find in the supermarket – soft brown sugar, cilantro, good curry pastes, soy sauce, etc. This past weekend, Cliff came with me and, while looking at the noodle wall, we balked at the price of a package of ramen – 0,80€!! That’s about $1.20! Considering that legions of broke college students lived off the stuff at one time or another, that seems like highway robbery. And makes it very attractive. All of a sudden, ramen sounds delicious.
There are things that we miss every so often that are kind of cheapo, pre-fab…well, just crap really. And right now that thing is ramen noodles. With a little inspiration from a pal, some creativity and an assist from the noodle wall (package of 5 blocks of ramen noodles, sans flavor packets=1,20€), we managed to sate the craving. About half a liter of boiling water with about 1 heaping tablespoon of powdered vegetable broth, a pinch of ground ginger and half a teaspoon of dark soy added plus one block of noodles cooked for about 3 minutes is nearly a dead-ringer for Top Ramen Oriental flavor soup.
It’s considerably more expensive than the pre-packaged stuff, but it doesn’t taste like it. Which is fine with us.