Instant Noodles Made Healthier

It’s Monday again…another week has gone and another new week is here. Last week just passed by too fast! I’m happy to have accomplished quite a number of things. Being busy at times is good but being busy all the time is not good. A constantly stretched rubber band will easily snap. Work, food and life need a balance in order that we can remain healthy and happy. I think I have kept mine reasonably balanced….*big smiles*

But, sometimes my family is secretly happy when I am too busy cos they get to eat a lot of the ‘unforbidden’ food! Instant noodles is one of them. But along the way, I have also become smarter…..*grin*. I cooked instant noodles the other day. You should hear all the “YEAH!”…..*sigh*…… when I mentioned it. Sometimes they make me feel that it’s better than restaurant food…..hmmm. In a way, it’s true many times. On several occasions we were disappointed with the restaurant food. During such times, we wished we had just eaten instant noodles at home which costs only a fraction of what we pay at the restaurant…..more satisfying, too.

Just 2 days ago, I went with my husband to have something very light at an Italian restaurant. We called for garlic bread and pizza. The garlic bread was just 1 piece about the size of my palm and the pizza was a thin crusted type with very little topping. Forgot my camera to take some shots….*sigh*. Tell you, it cost about £17…just for eating mainly flour dough! We should have come back for our instant noodles….cheaper, healthier and much more delicious. Would have cost £2 the most!

We used to say Maggie instant noodles are the best when we were back home in Malaysia. When my husband was relocated to South Korea to work, we brought along lots of Maggie instant noodles! Very soon, I made friend with several Korean ladies. We had get-together lunch very often. One day the cooked their Korean instant noodles. They said theirs is the best while in my heart I felt our Maggie one is the best. Aren’t we all proud or maybe patriotic at some point??? I told myself, ‘Just wait till I cook mine for them to try!’ But no, I was very wrong when I took the first mouthful. Oh my gosh…..that was just fabulous. My Maggie noodles dropped rank instantly! I was fully bought over. And with the kimchi, it was seriously delicious. That’s how I got hooked to kimchi too. These days, I tell my friends that Korean instant noodles are the best! And with kimchi…..awwww….it’s the best of the best!

There are many types of Korean instant noodles…..different flavours and different level of spices. All are very delicious. I always buy those in packets rather than those in cups. Korean noodles are bigger in portion, the noodles are bigger and the texture of the noodles is very smooth and chewy. I love the seasoning which makes the soup very warming and delicious.

Ever heard that you need some skill to cook instant noodles? Of course you don’t need me to teach you. The instructions are all at the back of the packet. Oh no, it’s in Korean language……ooops…..haha. Never mind, just go by trial and error. You don’t need rocket science to cook instant noodles.

However, I still remember when I first got married, my husband complained about my Maggie noodles. It always turned out too soft. In the end he cooked for me…..*big grin* That’s just how bad my cooking was when I was younger. He even complained about my omelette. But he has learned the lesson……if he complains, he will have no food. Worse, he has to cook not only for himself but also for me…..*grin*. And even worse here, he can’t get what he wants outside and it’s very expensive too to eat out.

Cooking instant noodles is easy but I like to make it healthier. I usually add more seaweed and egg. Seaweed is very good for health. In fact it is important for health. It contains a lot of trace minerals that are very important for our health especially the thyroid glands. A lot of people suffer from thyroid and thyroid related problems without knowing it. Thyroid causes a lot of other health problems and often goes undetected unless you request the doctor for a blood test, T3 & T4. You can read more about it at Healthy Seaweed Soup. Several of my friends are suffering from it and are on medication. It’s always better to go natural. On top of that, prevention is certainly better than cure. I always buy the dried wakame seaweed because it’s very easy to use.

Just add some seaweed to the water in a pot as you put it to boil.

The seaweed expands very quickly.

I just love the green colour of the seaweed. It looks very refreshing and healthy.

Once the water comes to a boil, add the noodles and also the packet of dried veggies inside. Loosen it with a fork or a pair of chopsticks. Add the packet of seasoning. Most of the time we don’t pour in all the seasoning.

Let it boil for a while. When it’s a little soft, break an egg or two into the soup. You can break up the egg and stir through or just leave the egg whole. I prefer the later.

Taste the noodles. The noodles will continue to cook even when you turn off the fire, so you may not want to cook it too soft. Depending on the type of noodles, this one here with the bigger noodles can stand longer cooking.

Serve hot. If you have kimchi, serve the noodles together with it…..my best….mmmm. But if you don’t have kimchi, it’s not that difficult to make. Check it out at How To Make Korean Kimchi. It’s also very delicious served with dumplings as I wrote about it in my previous post Beef Dumplings In Turkey Soup With Kimchi. I love it in pancakes too as in Healthy Korean Kimchi Pancake. I love kimchi fried rice too. I need to make that and post it.

In the meantime, hope you have a great day. Have fun cooking and baking!

Other noodles recipes that you may be interested in:
Making Hand-pulled Noodles
Hand-pulled Noodles And Char Siu Chicken Soup
How To Make Egg Noodles At Home
Noodle Soup And Fried Noodles from Homemade Egg Noodles

Quote of the day……

“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.”

- Franklin Roosevelt

Keep Learning Keep Smiling

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