101 Ways to Cook Instant Noodles

Instant noodle a.k.a. ramen is the staple food for most students—mainly those who are away from home, due to its simple preparation and satiating effect. In Yogyakarta, there are many burjo (bubur kacang ijo=mung bean porridge) & instant noodle stalls that open 24/7. So if you just recently moved to the city & you haven’t got any cooking utensils, burjo stall could be your alternative.

Myself, although I lived with a complete set of parents, is a fan of instant noodles. My favorite are Mie Kare and Mie Selera Pedas in hot chicken curry flavor, and the classic Mie Goreng & Mie Rasa Ayam Bawang from Indomie—now replaced by those from Mie Sedaap of WingsFood. I eat instant noodle at least once a week. Maybe I would eat them everyday if my mom did not forbid me.

Being a student of food science, I am fully aware that instant noodle contains very high sodium (not good for your blood pressure) and low nutrition (protein, vitamin, & fiber –though the resistant starch is relatively higher). However, that does not lessen my predilection for instant noodles. Just remember to drink a lot of water to minimize the bad effect of sodium. Maybe you can also try my mother method by adding plenty of garlic to the noodles. As for the low nutrition value, you can boost them up by adding eggs, vegetables, and other stuff. Furthermore, Momofuku Ando –father of instant noodles, had been eating instant noodles everyday in his life (since he invented it, of course) and stayed healthy (that’s what he said, by the way) until the age of 96 (he died in January this year).

Here are some of my tips to cook instant noodles:

· Just as I mentioned before, my mom always adds plenty of garlic, an egg or two, and vegetables into instant noodle with the purpose of increasing its nutrition value. So many vegetables that sometimes I think it is actually vegetable soup –with noodle as bonus.

· My father likes to add young cassava leaf into the noodle. First of all, you boil the leaf until tender, changing the water once or twice to remove the slightly bitter taste of the leaf. Next, you add the boiled leaf to the noodle, near the end of the cooking time.

· Add milk to the noodle. You can use powdered milk or liquid milk. Just make sure that it is not sweetened (unless you want your noodle tastes like some unsuccessful chendol).

· I love to add miso. If it’s not available, I use tauco (Javanese miso) instead. They are not the same things, but close enough. Those who have high blood pressure may not want to try this since miso is also very high in sodium.

· Add tomato sauce and oregano. This works best with Mie Goreng, giving a touch of Italian to the noodle.

· Add cheese. I love cheese. No need to explain.

· Kerotia’s favorite: add carrot juice, milk, and whisked egg. No sugar added.

· Drain the noodle after cooking, mix with the seasoning, add 2 eggs, shallot, leek, and vegetables (usually I use carrot). Cook in a flat frying pan, pancake-wise.

· Fruits, such as apple & pineapple, can be added to Mie Goreng for Hawaiian taste.

· If you have some sate sauce or rendang leftover, just mix them up with Mie Goreng.

Do you have other idea?

By the way, do you know that Indonesia is the second largest producer and consumer of instant noodles?

24 tahun 5 hari: some kind of retrospection

written @ 9:54 AM 4/12/2007

If someone asked me my age, there are times when I would hesitate to answer. Not that I'm hiding it, it's just that I already felt like 24 years old last year. Am I suppose to feel like 25 years old this year? Or can I regress being 23 or 17? Or will I always feel like 24 years old for the rest of my life? (Yeah, I can imagine myself forcing my grandchildren to take me to HappyPuppy for karaoke marathon –singing Queen’s songs, of course..)

When 23 approaching, I told my friends and family that I wouldn’t have birthday that year. That made me a 22 years old for two consecutive years (that explains the reduced age in my Friendster profile ^_^). Why I wouldn’t want to get older yesteryear is beyond description. What’s the point of eliminating your own age, you might ask. Wouldn’t that just show the people how immature you are? Did you feel younger and happier by doing so?

Yes, I admit that I was being immature. I’ve been trying to avoid many responsibilities that come up with that increasing figure called age. I always know that getting old is inevitable, and I’m not trying to evade it (by getting a botox injection every six months or devoting my life doing research to find the ‘eternal youth potion’, for instance). But being mature is an alternative, isn’t it? That’s why it’s kind of hard for me to adjust my emotion/attitude with my age.

First of all, there’s Nyu-nyu—the immature alter ego of mine. She is half my age (she was 5 when I created her in grade 5). I have formed a habit of blaming her in all of my disapproved actions: delaying my prayer time, escaping from the chores (especially those I hate the most: washing the dishes –mainly because the caterpillar has now become the permanent resident of the salam tree near the sink, and cleaning my room –I really do not have a flair in housekeeping), being late, and also suspending my final paper.

Because of Nyu-nyu, sometimes things can turn really bad –like this big quarrel I had with my sister last September. I felt that my sister did not respect me as her older sister. After some shouting (my sister’s) and hysterical crying (me, of course), mama managed to calm us down (although not yet in peace). The next day, when I confided to my brother, he told me that my sister were not entirely to blame. “How can we respect someone who is acting like a spoiled baby the whole time?”

I was speechless. He was right, I was not behaving like an older sister yet I was asking to be respected. The next day, we had this family convention in which we generated an agreement that I should not behave like Nyu-nyu anymore and my family should call me Tanjung –not Nyu-nyu or other silly names. Me and my sister also made peace that day (since we are not allowed to have a brawl more than 3 days anyway).

The funny thing is that I started to feel like 24 years old. That was odd because that year I made myself 22 years old although my real age is 23. Confused? Me too.

The agreement lasted for about 3 months. I couldn’t resist being Nyu-nyu and I started doing silly things again, such as baby-talking. But I am able to control it now. Well, not entirely, but definitely better than before.

I love Nyu-nyu and I am happy being her. She is always be a part of me I guess –the talkative, happy-go-lucky, and reckless me. But being Tanjung –the real me, is the real challenge. If you are not being yourself, then who will?

Therefore, one of my birthday resolutions is to increase the proportion of my Tanjung-self. That means being more responsible & mature, without losing the cheery character of Nyu-nyu. For me, it’s somewhat a hard task. I hope I can fulfill it.