I am: The Ramon Noodle Queen

I discovered a new way to make Ramon noodles, and because I am procrastinating, I decided to share it with you. I have become increasingly creative with Ramon noodles since they are cheap and easy to make. The most important thing, however, is that they are easy to modify.

Tonight, I made them the regular way (Boil water. Add noodles. Turn off heat. Add seasoning), and as the noodles quickly softened in the furiously boiling water, I tried to decide if I wanted eggs or not. I even Pam’med a frying pan before I realized that I could just dump the raw egg into the soup. I hesitated only for a moment, recalling my childhood as the egg-drop-soup hater. A few minutes later, I lamented my hesitation. The finished product tasted delicious.

As I look back on my childhood now, I believe that my dislike of egg drop soup resulted from the fact that my older sister liked egg drop soup, and heaven forbid that I like anything she did. On the rare occasion we ordered Chinese food, I choose wonton soup and egg rolls, and those particular choices were relatively safe—meaning: I was sure to get some. While the nine other people I lived with (seven siblings + two parents; think Cheaper by the Dozen, not The Brady Bunch) were vying for the lo mein and fried rice, I stuffed myself with soup and crispy egg rolls smothered in duck sauce. Sometimes I would get some ribs—if I were lucky. Once, we took my dad’s containers of coins and traded them in at the supermarket’s coin machine for $60. The Chinese food we got with the money was the best I ever had. We were really, really hungry.

Other ways to make Ramon noodles:

1. The regular, boring way. To experience the full effect of the sodium on your system, drain the water after allowing the seasoning to seep into the water, and eat the noodles with a fork. Or chopsticks.

2. The trying-to-be-healthy way. Cook some vegetables and add them to the soup. A previous roommate showed me this, and while I was skeptical at first, the result is quite tasty. Eat with chopsticks or one of those big Asian soups.

3. The heart-attack-inducing way. Drain the water from the noodles after adding seasoning. Whip one or two eggs and add to noodles. Try to mix the whole thing as well as you can. You may add milk for fluffiness. Fry in pan with Pam spray or butter. You may fry the whole thing at once, or separate into two patties. Cook until noodles are slightly crispy. Eat with soy sauce.