Boring noods to five-star food

Vuyiswa Fumba

The proverbial five-pack promo of two-minute Maggi noodles, commonly priced at R35 at Pick ‘n Pay or Checkers, can start tasting as though it is not worth the money. Every first-year student has heard this one tip from every self-catering senior student in Hatfield: “Stock up on noodles. Trust me!” Well, here are some ways that can turn your noodles from a bland stovetop meal to a tasty and filling delight.

Stir fry noodles

After cooking the noodles, dice half an onion, a tomato, and a handful of mixed vegetables, and set aside spices to taste. Fry the onions with spices over a hot, oiled pan until browned. Add tomatoes and vegetables, and leave to simmer for ten minutes until incorporated as a gravy. Throw in the cooked noodles and remove the pan from the heat. This dish can be served hot or cold.

Ramen noodle dupe

The base of a ramen dish is its flavoured broth. Boil two cups of water with a stock cube and herbs of choice. Once boiling, add a handful of sliced spinach or cabbage and cook for five minutes. Once the greens are tender, remove from the heat and cook the pack of

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WHAT IS IN YOUR BOWL?

Illustartion: Banathi Nkehli

instant noodles in the same broth. In a hot pan generously tossed with oil, fry a teaspoon of garlic and spices along with an egg. Plate your ramen noodles by pouring the broth into a bowl with the cooked noodles, before placing the spinach or cabbage atop with the egg to present in a Michelin star-rivalling display.

Vegetable noodle soup

This soup can include almost anything, leftover rotisserie chicken, frozen croutons or even every vegetables lying in the fridge on the verge of rotting. After cooking the noodles separately, in an oiled pan on high heat, cook the vegetables of your choice for ten minutes or until softened. Make a hearty broth using boiling water, a stock cube, a teaspoon of sugar and spices, and pour this into the vegetables. This broth mix can be substituted by a few tablespoons of a Knorr soup packet and salt mixed into boiling water. Leave the vegetables to cook through in the broth, then stir the noodles in and simmer for five minutes.

Carbonara or nada

Once the pack of noodles has been cooked and cooled for a few minutes. Add butter into a non-stick pan at medium-high heat. Once melted, stir in a tablespoon of cornstarch or flour and add a cup of milk. Mix continuously until the sauce thickens and there are no visible clumps. Spice with salt and pepper and add diced bacon or ham. Add the noodles to the sauce and enjoy this meal piping hot.

Of course, cooking noodles in their traditional form, with a spice packet, water a block of uncooked noodles is more than okay. Try these PDBY-approved variations to ensure that the menu of noodle options never gets boring.