easy Convenience Foods... But Better?!

[chefthembo CLIPS]

A simple thread dedicated to the random items I buy at the gas station, then tweak to make them infinitely tastier. Honorable mentions, also, to food I buy from fast food restaurants then either add things to, or make side dishes for. Not to be confused with food from real restaurants or actual meals I make myself. This thread is brought to you predominately by poverty, with special thanks to pandemics and inflation. 

 

Feel free to follow along ♥ likes, comments, and suggestions, are all extremely appreciated! 

[chefthembo CLIPS]

As promised: elevated ramen

(part one)

I've been experimenting with the tastiest way to make instant ramen lately, and I feel like I outdo myself every time. I will likely keep tweaking this process, using different techniques, ingredients, and the like. Overall it's about $2 per bowl, but if you have no food or spices at home (like me when I first started cooking again recently), it will be about a $20 startup cost. To break it down a little: I have been getting a 12 pack of shrimp ramen from Walmart for $3.28 ($0.28 a serving). For the spices I use, I went to a local Indian grocer and got large packages of cumin, fennel, bay leaves, and chilis; all were under $2/package. Other things you will need: ginger, soy sauce, onion, and the oil of your choice (also around $2/each). I do use a fair bit of oil lol. It takes about 30 to 50 minutes from start to finish: 20 to 40 minutes to caramelize the onion and toast the other ingredients, and about 10 minutes to bring everything to a boil and reduce. 

The end result was a delightful ramen, with a rich miso-colored broth, and very flavorful noods. While some oil was visible on the top, it did not coat the tongue or add a particular heaviness. The entire experience tasted of smoke and umami, with a light sweetness from the onion and fennel, but almost no discernible licorice notes. It tasted rather meaty, though the only animal product present in this iteration was the powdered shrimp in the ramen flavor packet! Overall, I give it 8/10. Delicious, but always room for improvement. 

[Guest CaramelCutie]

A cheap lil sweet hack. Not sure what this would be called but mix 2 cups of margarine, 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of flour. So yummy 😋  ** edit sorry I forgot it said convience store I’m new to curvage! But there’s usually a donut place at my convience store so I usually opt for those.

Edited December 5, 2022 by CaramelCutie
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