Might not yet be back-to-school time for all the pre-college crowd, but university arrival is in full swing out here in the 'burgh. As home to several major schools in close proximity to each other, the local Targets and Walmarts are over-flooded right now with masses of aspiring scholars getting their futons and table lamps and God knows whatever else.
And chances are, ramen noodles too. Need your stockpile.
Amazing I didn't suffer from malnourishment during college, as for three years I literally lived off of ramen and Papa John's pizza. Can barely touch ramen since, let alone it's slightly fancier cousin, that Cup o' Noodle feller.
There's a new twig on the ramen family tree: Trader Joe's Ramen Soup. There's presently two varieties as you can see: miso and chicken. Not that typically "flavors" matter for ramen - it's super salty cheap carbs. It's only a matter of what color the seasoning packet is, right?
A word about the noodles, though: There's two ways these can be prepped. You can either pour in tap water and microwave, or pour in hot water and let it sit. Sandy said the second non-nuking method seems to work better, as the noodles seem to "cook" better and have a better texture to them.
At a little over a buck each, these TJ ramen cups seem a little pricier than any I'd remember from college...then again, everything's more expensive than 15 years ago and I was being spoiled by 1o packages of ramen for a buck back then, too. Haven't really kept tabs on ramen market prices since then. We'll be picking these up, especially as the weather finally begins to cool, for a quick and easy lunch / small carbo-loading boost at work type deal. It's not the fanciest in the world but for what they are, they're pretty good. Double fours.
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Ramen Soups: 8 out of 10 Golden Spoons.
Ha, you gave away your local there. I too am from the 'burg with an "H" Bet I know which TJs you shop at.
ReplyDeleteThe secret to enjoying ramen is to fancy it up. I like to add chicken cooked in soy sauce to noodles cooked in just enough water to end up with just the noodles, and add House Tsang Schezwan Sizzile sauce and some peanuts. Kung Pao Chicken Ramen. Oh, and add just a touch of sesame oil, and a little chili oil.
ReplyDeleteI tried the miso one (which is vegan) and was really impressed! Great miso flavor and even some pieces of seaweed in there. Definitely less sketchy ingredients than other ramen but certainly not for anyone with sodium concerns. I added in some cubed tofu and a generous sprinkle of furikake (which trader joes really needs to carry!)
ReplyDeleteAlso glad they use a paper cup not styrofoam. I’ll definitely rebuy for when I’m traveling and keep a few in my desk drawer for those unexpected late nights
Ttrockwood
I have some horrific virus and all I want is soup. I've been eating a lot of the miso flavor. It's good although I'm not entirely sold on the texture of the noodles, even using the boiling water method.
ReplyDeletePrice-wise, they're about double the price of other cup-o-noodle type things, but at $1, "twice as expensive" isn't all that bad.
ReplyDeleteHorrendous. Very skimpy on noodles, they don't separate easily and its over priced. The typical 5 for 1.99 supermarket ramen noodles are way better.
ReplyDelete