Life got in the way of writing for this blog for a while, and I haven't been able to pick up vacuum bags to play with. Life has been a bit tight which has led to the need for two things. Cheap and comforting food. And for me, one of the staples for comfort food is your ordinary brick of Ramen noodles.
This is a simple dish that I've made several times. It stands alone, but it's also the base for all sorts of more complicated recipes. Best of all, from the viewpoint of this blog, the final result works beautifully in a vacuum bag. This is one of those recipes that is easily to double or triple and make ahead.
Ramen Egg Cakes.
Ingredients:
2 blocks noodles, crushed
One or both packets of seasoning.
4 eggs
approximately one cup shredded cabbage
3/4 to 1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tsp sesame oil.
Place crushed noodles, seasoning and oil in a covered microwavable container and give it a hearty shake. Barely cover noodles with water, add shredded cabbage and cook on full power for three minutes. (Power varies, etc) Stir completely and steam another two minutes, if needed. Noodles should range in texture from almost crisp to fully cooked.
Beat eggs, and fold in the noodle mixture with the the cheese until it's a uniform, rather slimy mass.
At this point, there are two directions to go in. I like to use a skillet to make crispy brown snack cakes.
Lightly oil a skillet and put it on medium heat. Allow it to reach cooking temperature Press noodles into half-inch layer. Cook three to four minutes on each side until brown. The simplest way to do this is cook it in a sheet on the first side, and then, using a pizza cutter, cut it into squares. If you are using a non-stick skillet, make sure you are using a plastic pizza cutter.
Serve: Plain or with toppings, hot or cold. It works well as finger food, and it's robust enough to dip.
Oven Prep:
Preheat oven to 350F. The recipe above will fill one 10 x 15 sheet pan. You can oil your pans, but I'd suggest using parchment paper instead, it will make handling the sheets of cooked noodles easier.
I'd suggest doubling or tripling the recipe for this; a full oven is a thrifty oven.
Cook until firm but resilient; start checking at 20 minutes. When done, cool on wire racks and then cut into portions with a pizza cutter. Pack in bags, refrigerate or freeze.
You will have to experiment a little to find the ideal sizes and microwave reheating times, but once you have it dialed in, it's simple, portable kid-friendly food.
Variations:
Spicing: I'd be the first to admit that the spice packages included in ramen noodles are probably not the best thing you could eat. I'm old, I like them, and I don't care. But for those that are concerned, you can concoct your own flavors with bullion, spices and herbs, diced cooked sausage, veggies, or the king of all flavors - bacon. You can obviously use different cheeses, like Parmesan, or corteja to vary the flavor.
But here's a great idea: Cut noodle cakes to sandwich size, layer with sliced lunch meat, green or red lettuce and ranch dressing, bag them up and refrigerate.
I don't have a deep fryer, but I bet if you were to toss fingers of this in tempura or beer batter and gave them a swim in hot oil, the result would truly be snack food heaven.
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