Spicy instant noodles/ramen dilemma

[Anonymous]

Have her make the gochujang noodles from the NYT cooking site to see if she likes them - they’re very easy to whip up and pretty spicy, and possibly less unhealthy too.

[Anonymous]

I prefer to buy boxes of ramen noodles separately rather than the packs as I feel like they’re fresher, but it probable doesn’t matter. Then buy sauce, these are spicy.

https://www.amazon.com/Buldak-Flavor-Variety-ALL-YOU/dp/B0C37V551M/ref=asc_df_B0C37V551M/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=673704220954&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11165494332589027547&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9053018&hvtargid=pla-2232892554884&psc=1&mcid=37203c72f27132a89d516f9bdea1a817

You can add veggies and an egg, sesame or perilla oil, furikake, sesame seeds, etc to make it fancier.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! She’s super picky and does not eat veggies. She is waaaaaay healthy but her diet is scary I’m sorry to say. sigh. She loves ramen and pho though!

She wants to eat the easy prep stuff, she does not want to make it. Instant noodles is the key but I’ll try some of these ideas. What I need is a spice pack less in sodium and more in spicy. She won’t use sauce so it has to be flakes. No sriracha, no hot red oil. She can eat craaaaaazy spicy though. Adult spice like x 1000. Not sure how.

[Anonymous]

She’s picky and won’t eat vegetables but you let her eat ramen every day?

[Anonymous]

All ramen, pho, and most noodle soups are incredibly unhealthy.

They are massive salt and fat bombs. I love me a bowl of noodle soups, but I know they're super unhealthy. The salt content alone is horrendous. Asian noodles alone contain MASSIVE amounts of sodium. And that's not even considering the broth etc.

There are some lighter Asian soups, like tom yum that can be eaten instead. Maybe see if she can start substituting noodles for rice. At least you can control the sodium content.

[Anonymous]

Mine likes Vifon brand for phở. It uses a spice "sauce" packet so not sure if that'd work for yours.

Shin or Maruchan are the go-tos for ramen.

Since the rest of the diet is lo-sodium (for other reasons), even at one packet a day, the mg count is OK. MSG is not a concern or an irritant for DC.

[Anonymous]

Sun noodles and diy broth. BTW, MSG is just a salt of an amino acid. It received a bad rap because of a letter to the nejm about "chinese restaurant syndrome" way back when, that turned into a popular opinion despite scant evidence. "Hydrolyzed soy protein", "yeast extract", "soy extract" are all prevalent in our foods and contain msg. When we eat protein, it breaks down to glutamic acid, and msg is just the salt of glutamic acid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shin Ramen is pretty good. Can be found at Costco. You should just go to an Asian supermarket and buy spices to make it really spicy for her. Or you can buy dry noodles (like this: https://a.co/d/68m4NoH), add sesame oil and Asian spices yourself. Sample spice products:
huy Fong chili garlic sauce (sold at Target and elsewhere)
Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp Sauce 24.69oz/700g, pack of 1 (see Amazon).


Will be healthier in the long run to make the noodles. Add some MSG yourself if you’d like to control the amounts.

Don't most Shin Ramen come with the spices to add as you wish?

[Anonymous]

Look for Asha noodles - they aren’t fried.

https://ashadrynoodle.com/collections/noodles

Trader Joe’s also has a version, called Squiggly noodles.

She’ll need to add sIrracha or chili crisp to make it spicy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She can make something easily from scratch. DS, 11, loves this. He and DH often make it for dinner with chicken (I have zero spice tolerance!)
https://eatwithclarity.com/spicy-ramen-noodles/

+1
My kids did versions of this all the time.
They loved going to the Asian grocery store with me to pick ingredients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone! She’s super picky and does not eat veggies. She is waaaaaay healthy but her diet is scary I’m sorry to say. sigh. She loves ramen and pho though!

She wants to eat the easy prep stuff, she does not want to make it. Instant noodles is the key but I’ll try some of these ideas. What I need is a spice pack less in sodium and more in spicy. She won’t use sauce so it has to be flakes. No sriracha, no hot red oil. She can eat craaaaaazy spicy though. Adult spice like x 1000. Not sure how.

Can she just add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper?

[Anonymous]

You want buldak sauce. It's the spicy sauce in the hothothot noodles. Blow your face off spicy. And soooo delicious! You can buy just the sauce, but you can also buy that brand of noodles+sauce.

Look up SAMYANG Buldak Sauce.

[Anonymous]

Agree with Sun Noodles - you can buy at Whole Foods and then add your own vegetables, egg, chicken/pork, etc.

[Anonymous]

Immi. Amazon now. High protein

[Anonymous]

OP, I was the same as your kid - maruchan ramen noodles nearly every day after school as a middle schooler. This phase won't last forever. It's worth trying different things, I guess, but if this particular food is what she loves and gives her comfort, just go with it.

As an adult, my diet is varied and super healthy and I love to cook. I'm glad my mom didn't give me (too much of!) a hard time about the ramen.