#276_Ramen Noodles/Pancit Ramen

This is not just Ramen Noodles...... it's gourmet Ramen noodles!

That's right! you can turn this regular 10-cents-a-pack noodles
into a not-so-boring-to-eat noodles.
And the best part of this is that you can
make this dish in under 30 minutes.

My secret of quick cooking is using rotisserie chicken from Costco and frozen veggies. I always make sure I have some frozen veggies such as the one pictured above or stir fry veggies. This will eliminate chopping or slicing different kinds of veggies, but as I mentioned in one of my posts, nothing's better than fresh vegetables. If you have plenty of time and don't mind peeling, slicing and chopping vegetables, that's better. If pressed with time though, frozen veggies and store-bought cooked chicken will be your best friends.

This recipe takes the same procedure as making most kinds of pancit (noodles) such as pancit canton or pancit bihon. The main difference is that the ingredients here do not use liquid to cook in except the liquid from the patis or soy sauce.

The ingredients below are just approximate as I just eye ball everything when I make this.The only accurate thing here is the 5 packages of noodles. You can't go wrong with this dish. This is one of those simple and super easy dishes to make. BTW, I picked up this idea of cooking Ramen Noodles this way from a dear friend of mine, Aida who is a very creative cook herself.

Here's the recipe:
5 packages of Chicken flavor Ramen noodles
Canola oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked chicken
1/2 a head of cabbage, sliced
2 medium size carrots, julienned
Green beans, cut french style
Patis (fish sauce) or soy sauce

Procedure:
1) Heat some canola oil in a wok or large saute pan and saute the garlic until fragrant.
2) Stir in onions and continue to saute until onions are limp.
3) Stir in the cooked chicken, saute for a few minutes then add in the vegetables.
4) Add some soy sauce or patis (fish sauce). Continue to saute until the vegetables are halfway done then stir in the blanched noodles.
5) Stir until everything is well blended together.

How to blanch the noodles:

Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil with 2 envelopes of bouillon powder which is included in the noodle package. Drop the noodles in the boiling broth. As soon as the noodles become soft take them out with a slotted spoon and stir them in with the vegetable/meat stir fry.

Ramen noodles with chicken.

Ramen Noodles with Shrimps.

ENJOY!!

Note from MaMely:
I used some anatto oil (achuete) in the stir fry. To make anatto oil, click here.

#187_Zucchini "Noodles" Stirfry

Zucchini Noodles?
Yup, noodles made of real zucchini! not flour.
This is amazing and it is the easiest stir fry I ever made.

To make zucchini noodles:
Using a cantaloupe shredder, shred zucchinis into long strands,
like spaghetti. Stop when you get to the white seedy part.
Yes, it's that easy!
If using home-grown zucchinis, you don't need to peel them
as the peeling gives a beautiful green color to the stir fry,
besides being full of nutrients.
Don't use the very mature zucchinis...
save those for making bread.

To make the stir fry:
Saute minced garlic and sliced onions in oil then
add some shredded chicken.
(As usual, I used rotisserie chicken, so cooking was a breeze).
Saute it longer if using fresh chicken.
Next, add some oyster sauce and
then stir in the zucchini noodles and let it cook for just few minutes.


VOILA!

the zucchini noodles with chicken.

If you want a Chinese style stir fry, you can add some bean sprouts,
mushrooms, green beans or any veggies you like.

I used this kind of frozen veggies. It is a super time-saver!

#56_FRESH CHINESE NOODLES

This noodle dish is similar to the Chinese Noodles (recipe #52) that I posted weeks ago, but this time I used fresh vegetables for the stirfry like carrots, bean sprouts, fresh green cabbage and savoy, except for the French style green beans which was frozen.

Another difference is that on this recipe I used the fresh noodles, found at the refrigerated section at the store. These kind of noodles, being fresh, are perishable.


There are instructions on the back of package on how to prepare the noodles.
I like this kind a lot because the noodles pick up whatever flavor you mix in with them.

HOW TO PREPARE THE NOODLES:

1) In a pot, bring about 8 cups of water to rolling boil and drop the noodles in. Let it boil for a minute or two.

2) Put the noodles into a colander, rinse them well under running cold water and let them drain.
3) While the noodles are draining, make the vegetable stir fry, see entry #52 for the recipe.

NOTE:

THESE NOODLES DO NOT ABSORB LIQUID, SO DON'T PUT ANY WATER IN YOUR STIRFRY. THE SAUCES WILL BE JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF LIQUID NEEDED.