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VARIETY ABOUNDS: Reporters bring in beloved packets of ramen then cook and sample
If you want to get to know people, ask them about their favorite instant ramen noodles. Not just the brand, but also how they make them. I asked my colleagues just that, and to bring their best to the Tribune test kitchen. Forget about personality tests, just boil some water.
Once upon a time I had a childhood fantasy of exploring every instant ramen in the noodle-verse. Add hot water, and the flavors of faraway lands materialized magically within a bowl. But as the noodle world expanded exponentially, from the one and only Nissin brand “Chikin” ramen invented by the late, legendary Momofuku Ando in 1958, to now, thousands, the dream became daunting.
Besides, as any hungry college kid can tell you, one noodle packet contains infinite permutations. Add a squeeze of lemon or crack in an egg, and suddenly you’ve transformed famishment to your own personal feast.
What I discovered when my co-workers cooked for me, something we rarely get to do, was that somehow our disparate moments of desperate hunger, for the most part, found strikingly similar saucy, not soupy, final forms. I’m not sure yet what that means. Like tea leaf or coffee grounds, I wonder if noodle bowl readers exist.
Maybe you can tell me. You’ll find here all of our instant ramen noodle cooks telling us about their dish, in their own words. First they share their noodle love story, then how they make it.
Jennifer Day, Books editor: Nongshim Zha Wang, the brand’s take on the Korean-Chinese black bean noodle dish jajangmyeon
My husband and I were living in Massachusetts for a fellowship. We were staying with our good friends, who made it for the kids’ breakfast. We all said, “Why aren’t we all eating this for breakfast?”
I get a small saucepan and mix together about a cup and a half of water with the three little packets that come in the noodle bag. I stir that and let it come to a boil. I add the noodles and let them cook, either until enough of the broth has boiled away that I think it’s about right or until all of the broth has boiled away. My husband is not a fan of broth.
I break up the noodles because I have a 2-year-old daughter. I don’t like her to eat long strings of noodles, so I find it more convenient to break them up ahead of time until they’re in little bite sizes.
We have these once or twice a month. My daughter would eat them every day if I let her. The high chair is always painted by the end of the meal. It’s a mess.
(The finished dish is pure comfort. Soft, sticky and spoonable, subtle flavors further tempered with added cold tofu. - L.C.)
Nick Kindelspeger, Food & Dining reporter: Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein
When you go to Joong Boo, there’s like 50 million different kinds of ramen, so you don’t even know where to begin. I kept trying different ones. All of them are so much better than the packet ramen I grew up with, so I always thought it was fun to explore. But when I found these I was like, “I love these.”
I like to add about half a cup of kimchi, which I saute in a pan with butter. I add the noodles with a cup of water and let that cook down. I add only half the season-