my parents sent me a pack of 5 Hwa Ramyun, which is my all-time favorite packaged noodles. it's spicy, and the noodles are nice and thick. mmm! i try to add a bit more stuff in it aside from the packaged spices and flavouring, such as 2 poached eggs, some bean sprouts, and sometimes other leafy veggies if i have some. and it's even more delicious when you eat it right out of the pot! :D
looks yummy, no? (:
if you cook it for exactly the right amount of time (a bit more than 4 minutes - the timing of putting the egg into the pot is the most important thing!), the noodles come out al dente and really good. you wouldn't even think that it was instant noodles.
another easy fix for dinner is to cook frozen foods; i had bought frozen dumplings from a store in Chinatown a few weeks back, and decided to give it a go. make sure you boil the water before dropping these in, and then have 2 small cups of cold water on hand. each time the water comes to a boil after you've put in the dumplings, add a cup of water and stir. when the dumpling skins have turned somewhat translucent, you know they're ready!
these were lamb & chive dumplings, and they were tiny!! but not too shabby..you can still see the steam coming off of them in this picture.
it reminded me more of wontons than anything else since they were so small. the filling was really really salty, which was kind of upsetting because they could've tasted really good.
some of the dumplings would puncture when you cook them, turning the water into more of a brothy soup. 2 in 1 for your money! haha (:
