Noodles, Frostilicus Style!

Ok, kiddeos, ever had 2 minute noodles (ramen for u 'merican types) and never been able to cook them right? They're always too watery or not watery enough? Well stick around, I will tell you how I cook them.

Ok, first you get your packet of noodles. Now I tend to avoid cheap noodles like the plague.. especially the generic in-store brand ones. Why? CUZ THEY'RE CRAP! lol. Honestly, the best noodles I've had tend to be the asian ones. As they are designed for the asian market, they tend to be better tasting the more "authentic" whatever that means in this day and age. I think the only similarities in asian and non-asian noodles is the noodle brick itself. the "flavour packet" might contain a shred of described flavour, but that's been added to, pummelled, generally destroyed, dehydrated, only for you to rehydrate it and by that point, it's tasting very much UN-like the flavour it's supposed to be. The best noodles come with more then one flavour packet. These can consist of... a soup base, a sachet of thick rich soy sauce (called kecap manis), chilli powder or flakes (which i usually discard) and a sachet of oil/garlic/onion stuff, or sometimes the onion flakes come separate to the oil. Indo Mie noodles come with all this good stuff, and most of the asian ones come with this or similar. The Indo Mie ones actually say on the packet how many flavour things they have, which is kinda cool.

So, you start with a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water...about halfway..i usually use a saucepan big enough to hold the noodle brick. Then open your soup base sachet and put half of it in, saving half for later. then let the water heat up and start to boil, this will make a weakish soup, but it's designed to give your noodles more flavour! Now, it's completely up to you whether you break your noodles up or not... personally I can't stand little noodle bits, so i usually just split the brick in half lengthwise so it's not a giant mass of noodles. Toss your noodles into the water and wait for the magic to happen, stirring when the noodles soften. When they get to your desired softness (again, entirely personal preference), pour out about 3/4 of the water. you're not going to be using it again, so just pour into the sink, makign sure you don't pour your noodles out with it, lol.

Now it's time to add the other flavourings. Which order you do it in is up to you, but I usually put the rest of the soup base in first, making sure it dissolves, then the thick soy. this is the point where you let the liquid reduce a bit, so it's less watery and more saucey. Again, personal preference, but I usually let mine bubble quite a bit before I yank them off the heat and into the bowl. now while your noodles are reducing, you can add stuff to it if you're an "add stuff to my noodles" kinda person.. u can toss in some veges or what have you to make them a bit more like a meal and not a snack. For me noodles are usually just lunch, so I just don't bother adding anything extra, plus when I do it usually turns out horrid anyway...but that's another story.

Once your satisfied that the noodles are cooked to your liking, dish them out into a bowl and drizzle the oil/garlic/onion on top of them, then stir through... et voila... noodles a la Frostilicus!

(DISCLAIMER: Frostilicus takes no responsibility if you fuck up your noodles. Cooking noodles is pretty damn basic I bet a monkey could do it. Always be careful around your stove, and for god's sake, DONT leave them on there for like half an hour cuz you forgot about them....i've done that once before and they turn out bloated and GROSS like a floating corpse.)