Amped Up Instant Noodles
I’m not opposed to convenience foods once in a while. You will definitely find me picking up a breakfast sandwich from McDonald’s on many occasions. I do generally like to add my own touch though, like big Mac sauce on my breakfast sandwich is a must. So I was thinking, how do I make probably the most common convenience food, instant noodles, my own and of course about ten times better than usual? The easy answer was to smoke the broth in the Alchemy and then grill up some epic toppings. So that’s exactly what I did. I went to my local Asian grocer and bought a pack of instant noodle soup, not the standard Mr.Noodle, but a rice noodle option with lots of flavour packs and toppings. I wanted to start from a good base. Instead of cooking the noodles in a pot with the flavour packets, I smoked mine. I then grilled up some king oyster mushrooms on the plancha and some shaved pork shoulder. I grilled up the pork shoulder with some chili crisp and fish sauce, and cooked it until it was a bit crispy. When the noodles and broth were done smoking I transferred it to a wok with chopped garlic, ginger and green onions and added whatever flavour packs were left. My noodles didn’t completely cook in the smoker and I didn’t want the broth to over-smoke, so I finished cooking them in the wok on the plancha. When the noodles were cooked, I transferred the soup over to a bowl and topped it with the grilled mushrooms and pork, sliced green onions and a perfect sunny side up egg. This little bit of extra work went a long way and really amped up those instant noodles. If you want to find out how I made these instant noodles, keep reading or jump to the full recipe.
Set smoker to 375F. Open your pack of instant noodles and take out all the flavour packs.
In a bowl, empty the flavour packets included with the instant noodle soup, add the noodles and the recommended amount of water in the package instructions.
Place the soup and noodles in the smoker for 30 minutes. If the noodles are not finished after 35 mins, finish cooking the noodles in the wok on the plancha, to not over smoke the broth.
Cut the ends off your green onions and then separate the green part from the white. Take the green part and thinly slice, lengthwise on a bias. Place in cold water and set aside.
Slice your king oyster mushrooms lengthwise and score each side.
Place on the plancha with canola oil and allow to grill, flipping occasionally, seasoning with salt and cooking until golden brown and softened.
Place your shaved pork on the plancha and allow to sear. Add the chili crisp to your pork and mix.
Allow the pork to cook and crisp up, then season with salt and fish sauce, mix.
Add 1-2 tbsp of canola oil to a wok on the plancha. Once the oil is hot, add in the green onion, garlic and ginger and mix.
Once softened, remove the soup and noodles from the smoker and add to the wok. If the noodles aren’t fully softened, continue to cook until done.
Add in any remaining toppings or seasoning packets to your soup, mix.
Fry a sunny side up egg on the plancha and transfer your soup and noodles to a bowl.
Top with the grilled chili crisp pork, grilled mushrooms.
Top with the sunny egg.
Finally, garnish with the reserved sliced green onions.
And now for the full recipe...
Amped Up Instant Noodles
Serves 1
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 package instant ramen/rice noodle soup
1 egg
2 king oyster mushrooms
½ lb shaved pork shoulder
2 tbsp chili crisp
½ tsp fish sauce
2 green onions
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp fresh ginger
Salt
Canola oil
How to Make Your Instant Noodles, Instantly Better
Set smoker to 375F.
In a bowl, empty the flavour packets included with the instant noodle soup, add the noodles and the recommended amount of water in the package instructions. Place the soup and noodles in the smoker for 30 minutes. If the noodles are not finished after 35 mins, finish cooking the noodles in the wok on the plancha, to not over smoke the broth.
Cut the ends off your green onions and then separate the green part from the white. Take the green part and thinly slice, lengthwise on a bias. Place in cold water and set aside.
Slice your king oyster mushrooms lengthwise and score each side. Place on the plancha with canola oil and allow to grill, flipping occasionally, seasoning with salt and cooking until golden brown and softened.
Thinly slice the white part of the green onion. Roughly mince your fresh garlic and peel and finely chop the fresh ginger. Set aside.
Place your shaved pork on the plancha and allow to sear. Add the chili crisp to your pork and mix, allow to cook and crisp up. Season with salt and fish sauce, mix.
Add 1-2 tbsp of canola oil to a wok on the plancha. Once the oil is hot, add in the green onion, garlic and ginger and mix. Once softened, remove the soup and noodles from the smoker and add to the wok. If the noodles aren’t fully softened, continue to cook until done. Add in any remaining toppings or seasoning packets to your soup, mix.
Fry an egg sunny side up on the plancha.
Transfer your soup and noodles to a bowl. Top with the grilled chili crisp pork, grilled mushrooms, fried egg and the reserved sliced green onions.
