Happy Thanksgiving. Since today is our national day of eating, at least according to what I’ve read on the internet these past few days, I thought for today I’d provide a food related post. This was an experiment I wanted to try because… well, I don’t know exactly why. I’m not even sure where I got the idea. In many ways it seems counter to what ramen is supposed to be, an “instant” noodle soup.
For this recipe I used three packages of ramen (feeding a family of six). The directions for each package said to use a cup of water, so I should have used a total of three cups. Instead I used two and a half. Then added in all the seasoning packets. Well, almost all.
I put the noodles in next. No, they didn’t all quite fit in. Oh well. I figured they would soften as they cook and eventually all get under the broth line.
I chopped up some chicken strips (actually, fake chicken since we’re vegetarian).
Then I added some broccoli and carrots.
I set the crock pot to cook for six hours while we were away. That may have been too long. While the end result was something akin to ramen, it was more of a ramen stew than a soup. Almost all of the broth had been absorbed into the noodles which wound up being slightly overcooked. It wasn’t bad, but could have been better. At least all of the vegetables were cooked thoroughly.
Next time I try this, and it will be a while, but I will try it again, I’ll have it cook for four hours. It may seem silly to have an instant style noodle soup cook in the crock pot, but having your dinner immediately ready for you when you get home, well, that’s why we have a Crock Pot.