Budget Recipes: Tara’s Souped up Ramen

A little bit about Tara

Tara is a student staff in our office that has been with us for two years and is currently finishing up her Bachelor of Arts degree in French. When she’s not studying, she’s dabbling in all her artistic hobbies (painting, Illustrating, 3D rendering).

Ramen is my go-to because it’s cheap and winter’s cold, plus it’s also a great way to sneak in veggies. For all my cooking inspo I turn to TikTok. This recipe is an amalgamation of probably 20 different TikToks lol. The best thing about ramen is how versatile it is, so if I get bored of my current combo, I can try something else for relatively cheap.

Tara’s Souped up Ramen

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of Spicy ramen
  • (It doesn’t have to be spicy – Use whatever flavour is your favourite!)
• 1 Egg
• 2 whole bulbs of baby bok choy
  • (I use fresh, but you can use any frozen veggies if it’s cheaper – you’ll want about a 1/3 cup.)
• 1/3 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
  • (I LOVE mushrooms, but you can use veggies again.)
• 60g (roughly) of your choice of protein
  • (If you don’t have another protein, double the egg. Other wise, add whatever meat you like! I like using 2 frozen cuttle fish)
• Siracha (optional – for garnish)

Instructions:

1. Put ramen flavouring packets to the side.
2. Cook ramen noodles in plain water according to packet instructions.
3. Don’t drain the water! Just remove noodles and place in serving bowl. Make sure the noodles are wet, you’ll need that liquid.
4. Add half the powdered flavour packet to the noodles and mix well until they’re fully coated. (If the pack comes with oils, add all the oils to the noodles. If it comes with dried herbs/etc. add it to the pot now)
5. Add the remainder of the flavour pack to the pot.
6. Add your mushrooms and baby bok choy to the pot (or whichever veggie you have chosen) and boil for 3 – 5 minutes.
7. Remove mushrooms and baby bok choy from the pot and and add to your bowl of noodles.

If the water/broth is looking lower than a cup, add more water to the pot.

8. Add your chosen protein to the pot and cook until no longer raw.
9. Remove your protein and add it to your bowl of noodles.
10. Add however much broth you would like from the pot to your bowl of noodles.
11. Top up the remaining liquid in the pot to soft boil egg your egg. (Exactly 6 minutes)
12. Remove the egg, peel, cut in half, and place on top of your noodles.
13. (Optional) Add a couple squirts of Sriracha.

Bon Appétit!