Monday, February 22, 2010

Ramen Noodle Bowl - Something I Can Actually Cook

After we watched Ponyo last year, Adam has been obsessed with finding a covered ramen noodle bowl, where he could cook his own ramen noodles.  I searched Asian grocery stores and the internet for a covered bowl that would fit the bill.  All the bowls I found were round, so if you used a square piece of dry ramen noodles, the bowl would either be too big in diameter, or you would have to break up the noodles to fit into a smaller bowl (square peg round hole).  But after searching for months, I finally found the ultimate ramen bowl from Bed Bath and Beyond.



At $2.99 for the bowl and $1.99 for the plate, which I use as a cover, it was a steal as well.  Since we make a meal of ramen noodles, here's what I put in.



Frozen peas and corn for veggies (basically the only frozen veggies the kids will eat - fresh veggies don't cook enough this way).



Some turkey deli meat shredded up.



I throw in about 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup base packet.  No need to have salt overload.



Now here is the beauty of the bowl.  The square ramen fits PERFECTLY in this bowl.  It's like the bowl was engineered for the sole purpose of holding a square piece of ramen noodles!



Fill the bowl with water to about a 1/2 inch from the top.



The square plate goes on top as a cover and the whole thing is cooked in the microwave for three minutes.  Note that the pot holder goes in the microwave too so you don't burn your fingers taking the bowl out (a tip from years ago).



After letting it sit for a few minutes with the cover on, stir it up, and watch the happy faces.

Despite the title of the post, I can cook and I do feed my family food other than ramen noodles.  Cooking is just usually way down on the list of things I enjoy.  But if you catch me on a good day, you won't be disappointed in my chili, fish chowder, quiche, salmon, fried rice, banana bread, pies, cookies or cakes.  I loved photographing this process as well, but pretty slim chance that I'll become a food blogger either.  All these photos were from November!

13 comments :

linda said...

Terrific glass bowl and plate. I am going to buy a set for me. Adam can use it when he comes to visit me.

Mama in Suburbia said...

Love it...great idea!!! We eat our share of ramen noodles too.

Asianmommy said...

Love these plates! Very nice looking.

Janet said...

what a great idea! I love some me some ramen, too, with corn.

Bird's Eye View Photography said...

So smart.... I love ramen.. but have never thought to upgrade it and add things to it! What a simple smart idea!

Momisodes said...

I am ROFL at your search for the perfect ramen bowl to fit the square dried noodles :)

I'll have to give this a try. I may have to use my BBB coupon this week ;)

The Gratitude Guru said...

I LOVE Ramen noodles! They are my little treat when I need something quick and easy. Of course, I simply use the packet and never add anything else to it.

I think if I go find a set of these bowls and spruce up the 'recipe' my wife might allow me to eat them more often!

Thanks for the post!
Paul
www.AllAboutGratitude.com

Just Vegas said...

I was searching for the same thing when I found this post! So thanks. We like to add an egg to our ramen while it's cooling. I don't think it would work as well in these bowls though!

Unknown said...

Exactly the thing I was wondering - where to find those little bowls with lids? At my local Japanese market they have covered bowls, but they're large and ceramic, making them not ideal for my youngest (the 5-year-old could handle it, but there would be protests if they didn't have the same bowl, ya see).

Here are a couple of lovely ceramic bowls I found:
http://www.surlatable.com/p2p/endecaSearch.do?keyword=japanese+bowl

http://www.marukaiestore.com/p-2468-ceramic-mini-nabe-for-one-person.aspx

And a not-so-lovely plastic bowl:
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Donburi-Noodle-Ladle-PLNB002/dp/B004K6TU4M/ref=sr_1_25?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1302800856&sr=1-25


These melanine bowls are the type you see in cheap Chinese restaurants, but they're non-microwavable, top-rack-of-the-dishwasher-only . . . some of these are perfect in appearance! Why can't they just make these out of microwavable, food grade plastic?
http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Group-3201TR-Longevity-Noodle/dp/B002BXMFXE/ref=sr_1_127?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1302800907&sr=1-127

http://www.lionsdeal.com/tg-3201dl.html?utm_source=%5Bnextag%5D&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_term=Thunder%20Group&utm_campaign=Dining%20Room,Restaurant%20Dinnerware,Asian%20Dinnerware,Blue%20Dragon%20Melamine&utm_content=tg-3201dl

http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Group-Inc-Noodle-DZ3201CBB/dp/B003YP0M8I/ref=sr_1_98?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1302800894&sr=1-98

Unknown said...

lol, i came to this site for the same reason as Adam, the concept seems cool, but why are these bowls hard to find? This was not the original purpose for the bowl, but i'm grateful you found it out and took the time to post it. I love Ponyo too. :)

Anonymous said...

guess what...you don't have to microwave it. Just heat your water to boiling, pour over noodles and cover for 3 minutes. It cooks the noodles perfectly. I just had some, great! That's also how they do it on Ponyo

Linda I. said...

Love this idea and it's so cheap! What size bowl and plate did you buy? My niece is crazy about Ponyo and wants to have soup with ham just like her lol. Would love to be able to fix this for her once in a while.

Lee said...

This is the neatest thing I have seen for a long time. I got my Libby square bowl and top at Bed Bath and Beyond. When my Grandchildren came home from school I immediately started fixing the dish with the asian noodles and frozen vegetables and put it in front of them and told them to wait 3 minutes, just like in Ponyo. There eyes were so big waiting and what a surprise when the time was up. Thanks for this fun and nourishing idea.