Make Backpacking Ramen Noodles Better with Weeds and More - Too late for STEEMIT CULINARY CHALLENGE 7 but still worth it!
This was intended for the Culinary Challenge. But I cooked this outdoors and didn't get back home in time to post by the deadline. Oh well - at least I had a fun day and a great meal! Yes, I said that -- I had a great meal from cheap packaged Ramen noodles!
This week's Culinary Challenge category was Asian noodles. Cheap Ramen noodles have been a staple for camping and backpacking for decades. They are light and fast to cook. On an extended trip, Ramen noodles are good because they are so cheap and sold at every little store. But Ramen noodles are boring - so boring! Just the noodles and a flavor packet.
But Ramen noodles can be made a lot better - even on the road or trail. There are three tactics for making them better -
- Add cheap ingredients from any little gas station or quick-mart on the road
- Add dehydrated vegetables from home
- Add weeds and other wild plants foraged outdoors
For the Culinary Challenge, I decided to head outdoors and do all three for some Super Outdoor Ramen Noodles. When I wanted to eat, I set up my little wood-fired backpacking stove.
Of course, wild plants make Ramen noodles better! Nearby, I found both dandelions and wild chives growing in deep leaves. The soil under the leaves was so loose, I could just use my hands to pull up the roots of both plants. Wild chives have small bulbs with a mild onion flavor.
I bought my Ramen noodles for 30 cents from a little Quick-Mart on my way. I also got a little pack of peanuts and a Teriyaki jerky stick. From home, I brought a mix of dehydrated cherry tomatoes and green peppers that I grew this summer, and dried wild Slippery Jack mushrooms. You can read more about foraging and using Slippery jacks (Suillus luteus) here and here.
Before I fire up my stove, I get my ingredients all ready. I use three parts of the dandelion: the peeled and chopped root (1), the leaves (3), and the heart of the plant just above the root (5), including the young flowerbuds still down in the plant's base. I use both the bulb (2) and the stems (4) of the wild chives. I lay out my dried vegetables (7, 8) and wild Slippery Jacks (6). And I slice the Teriyaki stick (9).
I put everything, except the dandelion leaves, in my little cookpot on the fire. I let it sizzle a little, then cover with water to start rehydrating the dried things. After a few minutes of simmering, I add water until the pot is about 3/4 full, and bring it all to a boil. When it's boiling, I add the dandelion greens. And I break up my Ramen noodles and add them to the cookpot. They only need to cook about three minutes. I stir in the little Ramen seasoning packet. And it's done!
Normally, I would just eat right out of the cookpot. But that's not so photogenic. So I brought a bowl, just so you can see my final Ramen noodles better. I top my Ramen noodles with roasted peanuts and that's it! It's time to eat! I've been outdoors all day, so I'm hungry! And these Ramen Noodles are not boring - they are great! This is a real meal, not just filler.
I let the wood in the stove burn all down while I eat. When the embers are burnt out, I dump the ashes and pack up my stove. You can see that there's not much left of the wood chunks and pinecones burned in the stove. I scatter the cold ashes and I'm outta there. I didn't make it home in time to post for the Culinary Challenge, but at least I had a nice day outdoors and I had a great meal. Cheap Ramen noodles don't have to be boring!
What Do You Think?
Do you use Ramen noodles when you are camping or hiking? Do you add other things to them? Do you add any weeds or other wild plants that you forage? I want to hear from you!
I write about foraging because I believe that we can all have lives that are richer, more secure, more grounded, and more interesting by getting to know the plants and the land around us – in our yards, our parks, and our wilderness.
I would like Steemit to be the premier site for Foraging on the Internet! If you have any thoughts about foraging, or experiences to share, write a post and be sure to use the Foraging tag. And check out the @foraging-trail to see curated quality posts about foraging. Happy Foraging!
** Haphazard Homestead **
*** foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land ***
All content is 100% Haphazard Homestead - photos and all!
I participate in Operation Translation. All my posts are available for translation under the rules listed on the linked post from @papa-pepper. Logo provided by @oepc85. Post goes 100% to Steem Power! Logo provided by @merej99
*** foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land ***
){kind=link}
Upvoted by @foraging-trail
Thank you for following and upvoting @foraging-trail
You can find out more about the Steemit Foraging community and guidelines for being upvoted by the @foraging-trail here and here. Join us In the Foraging-Trail and let's discuss Foraging Related Topics
Nice one!
I do the same i put potatoes and meat in it and edibles that i can find.
Here i make coffee for breakfast.
Enter anyways you may still have time ! 😉you ave untill midnight Monday utc time !
Thanks, @karenmckersie. I put the link in the challenge and will put it in Steemit.chat. I think they are sticklers for the rules, but who knows? The time zone differences and UTC make things confusing!
Yes your so right , be sure to tag it in ( steemitculinarychallenge) as well ! Good luck ! 😉the time always messes me up! Lol
Time! I never even thought in UTC before the steemitculinarychallenge, lol. : P
That looks and sounds yummy. Not a fan of Ramen, but that rocks! And the dandelions reminded me of a salad my grandpa made when I was a kid... some kind of salad with a hot bacon fat dressing. I can still hear the sizzle.
Thanks for evoking that memory. I had forgotten it.
Oh yeah, your grandpa knew what's good eatin'! Hot bacon fat + cider vinegar + brown sugar + black pepper. If you have ever had Wilted Lettuce, it's the same. It's great on any greens, especially ones that are somewhat bitter, like dandelion greens or lettuce that is starting to bolt and flower. I'm glad you have that memory. I always enjoy finding people whose families ate wild greens.
I'm with you about plain Ramen. But when it's a base for tastier and healthier additions, it's pretty good. And it is filling for outdoor adventures where it's easy to be really hungry!
Yeah, that sounds about right. Between him and my great-uncle, we had a blast in the woods. Great-uncle knew where to find morel mushrooms and sassafrass. Love sassafrass tea to this day. Awesome when you have a cold. And you're right about working up an appetite! Everything tastes just that much better, too!
Morels and sassafras are great gifts from the woods! When my grandmother was in her 90s, I would bring her sassafras roots when I visited from Michigan. She really liked it -- that and home canned tomatoes, lol. She wanted home canned tomatoes for Christmas and her birthdays. You have a great foraging heritage! I'm glad you still enjoy some of it!
This is an interesting ramen :) Sounds fun!!
Thanks! And you know your ramen, I think! :D
That looks great. I love doctoring up Ramen Noodles. You did it great, next time I go hiking or camping, I'm going to have to try this. Big fan of dandelions too, they're so good. I enjoy them fried with some garlic and mushrooms too. Sooooo Good.
Thanks! I'm glad you appreciate dandelions - garlic and mushrooms would go great with them, and these Ramen noodles, too. On a long trip, I would get too tired of Ramen noodles without doctoring them up somehow! I look for wild plants to put in with them - and fresh caught fish works ,too, lol. Happy camping sometime!
Very interesting post and I love your little stove. I've had my eyes on a similar model for some time. You did a great job of doctoring-up your "boring"noodles with the edible wilds!
I bet that it tasted great and all the more so because of the adventure of being outdoors and foraging!
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
Thanks! Everything tastes better outdoors, doesn't it? I've had that stove since the 1990s. I'm not sure what's out there nowadays. It uses a AA battery to drive a little muffin fan right under the firebox. It keeps the fire hot, even with little chunks of wood and pinecones. You do have to keep feeding it while you cook. But it leaves only a little ash, so it's very efficient. And it can go in luggage on air travel. That's a big one! And I like that I never have to pay for fuel!
I used to go backpacking with my boy scout troop a lot as a kid, and the meals were always the best part of the day. We always ate freeze-dried just-add-water stuff though, nothing as creative as this :(
That's true how our meals become such a big part of the day on backpacking trips, lol. I haven't had many freeze-dried meals. Ramen is so much cheaper - comes pretty close to just-add-water. But it does taste better with these other things. I'm glad you got to be outdoors with your scout troop! I bet you had some good times!
That looks really good! I'm going to try that next time I make Ramen - I have chives, onions and dandelions growing in the yard now. Usually I just put an egg in with the noodles. I'm wondering if nettles would be good or not with it - maybe I might try it in the spring when they recover.
Nettles would be great. I eat a lot of wild chives and dandelions. They are real food for regular people. They always seem to be around in abundance until early summer. It's good food that just happens to be free. Give us all your taste review if you do try some Wild Ramen! : )
Thats a winner to me ! Anyone can make this , its economical and it looks delicous! Yummy ! 😋
Thanks! Ramen is economical and easy to make, that's for sure! But it's not so nutritious -- all these additions help. And dandelions are everywhere, so anybody can add them. : )