Ramen winners use their noodles
By Joe Bonwich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The humble ramen noodle dresses up nicely, thank you.
Almost 100 readers answered our call to submit their favorite ramen recipes. Each started with a block or so of the curly dried noodles that are ubiquitous in college students’ kitchens, the shopping carts of budget-minded cooks and, apparently, prison commissaries. Two of the entrants told us that they were behind bars.
Our winner is Seema Shintre of West St. Louis County, Mo., who flavored the noodles with fresh vegetables and a spicy coconut-peanut sauce to make her Zesty Curried Coconut Ramen.
We gave special weight in our judging to those recipes that minimized or eliminated use of the seasoning packet that comes with instant ramen. The first two items on the packet’s ingredient list are salt and monosodium glutamate (MSG), which cause the sodium content in a single package of ramen to reach as high as 1,820 milligrams — more than three-quarters of the recommended daily value. (A package of ramen is listed as two servings, but we don’t know many people who eat less than a whole package.)
Our runner-up was Terry Jacobi of Manchester, Mo., who submitted an old magazine recipe for Ramen Vegetable Pancakes. The recipe calls for just 1/2 teaspoon of the seasoning packet, with shredded carrots, zucchini and green onions adding a pleasant crunch to the soft noodles.
Honorable mentions went to Cindy Young of Chillicothe, Mo., for Ramen Dessert Pizzas and Bill Mueller of West St. Louis County for a Ramen Slinger.
Our colleague Joe Holleman called it perfectly when he referred to Young’s dessert pizza as “Ode to Elvis,” owing to the peanut butter and banana in the topping. The uncooked ramen base provides a distinctive texture, but graham crackers, cookies, toast or even matzo could be substituted.
And we recognize that no one is going to confuse the Ramen Slinger for health food, but then again, no one ever eats a slinger for their health. Mueller’s self-developed concoction elevates greasy-spoon eating to an art form, as long as you’ll grant that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Finally, special note goes to a recipe that was submitted under the names Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad, Ramen Slaw, Asian Slaw and several others. And submitted. And submitted again, no fewer than 50 times. We nominate it as the all-time classic ramen recipe.
In the unlikely event that you’re a ramen fan who has never seen it, you can find the recipe at stltoday.com/food.
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