11:30 Ramen That Doesn't Suck

So, ramen noodles would be pretty good if it weren't for the fact that, well, they kind of suck. That said, you sure as hell can't beat the price or ease of use. When it's late and I'm lazy, a souped-up (heh) ramen soup is my go-to.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of ramen noodles (pork and chicken are best, but i have a fondness for chili pepper)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 a carrot, sliced as thin as you can get it
• 1/4 cup peas. I do frozen, which works fine
• 1 egg
• vinegar
• Sriracha hot sauce

Instructions:

1. Put 1 1/2 cup water on the stove on high heat. I know, the ramen package says two. But to hell with that, it gets too brothy.
2. Add the peas and carrots into the water. Don't bother waiting for it to boil. Add a very small splash of vinegar - something like 1/2 teaspoon.
3. Once the water is at a rolling boil, crack open the egg and just drop it in there. It'll start to poach right in the water. Wait a minute or so and chop it up with your spoon right in there. The vinegar helps to keep the egg together so that you don't end up with a bunch of stringy egg white all over the place. I'll check out the science later, but it's a function of the acidity.
4. Once the egg is more or less cooked, toss in the noodles and wait three minutes or so until they're done. You might want to turn the heat down to medium.
5. Add the packet of flavor dust (I only use about 2/3 of it) and a dash of Sriracha. If you've never used Sriracha, know that it's wonderfully garlicy and peppery, and it's awfully damn hot. Like spicy? Shoot for 2 tablespoons or so. Don't like spicy? Add just a dash - you'll get the flavor without much of the heat.
6. Pour into a bowl and enjoy.

I like this way more than I realistically should. Prep time is about five minutes, and including cooking time you're still well under the fifteen minute mark. You get a great blend of spicy, sweet, and salty. If you cut the carrots thin they'll be soft and buttery - if you want some crunch, cut the carrot into 1/8 - 1/4 inch slices instead. You end up with a decent amount of nutritional content from the veggies and egg, though this isn't in any way low on sodium.

You can't taste any of the vinegar. I've tried cooking the egg without the vinegar in there - it'll cook fine, but you end up with stringy egg bits everywhere and it just kind of looks unappetizing. The vinegar really helps the egg hold its shape. If you like poached eggs for breakfast, the vinegar trick works wonders there as well.

A sweet, salty, and spicy bowl of love.

Final verdict:

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 4/5

Health: 3/5