Ok, maybe this post is kinda silly. Like, who needs it? Everyone knows how to cook indomie. The instructions are crystal clear on the back of the package, so why make this post, right? Well, like I said, I’m not a professional cook, and I don’t really like cooking, so I kinda run out of ideas about what to share in this category. LoL So, well, I’m just gonna share how I usually cook my indomie. Perhaps it’s not that different from the instruction that you’ll find on the package, but it’s not exactly the same either.
But first of all, this way of cooking is not limited to indomie. Well, I just ride on the name because who doesn’t know indomie? LoL No, seriously, indomie is one of my Indonesian prides. It’s not expensive and it’s a lifesaver for us poor students. But, my, Indonesia has various kinds of instant noodles, not just indomie. And all of them are delicious. You just gotta try to each of them. The various brands. Various kinds of flavors. Gosh, Indonesia is kinda the paradise for those who love instant noodles. Just to mention some, in addition to indomie, we have Mie Sedaap, Sarimi, Supermi, Mie ABC, Mie Selera Rakyat, Salam Mie, etc. Really, you gotta check them out! But yeah, indomie might be the most famous one. Like, it’s easier to get indomie abroad compared to the other brands. Even Fry’s sells indomie in their Asian food section and it’s not even an oriental or Asian store. I kinda find it amazing! ð
Ok, then, secondly, there are two types of instant noodles. First is the “dry” one, or fried noodles. And the second is the “wet” one, or noodle soup (or whatever you call it. LoL). What I mean by “dry” is the kind of fried noodles. Well, it’s not actually fried so I really don’t get why it’s called fried noodles. LoL But the point is, you eat it “dry”, without soup/water. Well, of course, you’ll need water to cook it so it’ll still be “wet”, and not that dry dry dry, but anyway, you’ll know later when I explain the “how to cook” sections and see the pictures… And so, that is to say that what I mean by “wet” type is the one with water/soup when you eat it, a.k.a noodle soup. So, well, without much further ado, let’s see how usually I make each of them.
But, oh, before I forget, I’ll have to make a disclaimer: I limit my instant noodle consumption to only once a week. Well, people say it’s not healthy to eat instant noodles every day. But personally for me, I think it’s not healthy only if it’s the only thing you eat every day. If you eat something else for balance, like meat, veggies, etc, I think that’s fine and healthy. But yeah, I guess some people are worried about artificial chemicals or preservatives? Well, I don’t know for sure. You can take a look at the nutrition label. But again, everything is made up of chemicals. We all are going to die anyway, so what’s important for me, again, is balance. Don’t forget to eat other natural things too. As for me, I eat it once a week here in the US because I love to treat it as a once-a-week luxury, so I can have something to look forward to. While when I’m in Indonesia, well, there are many other delicious food I should eat, it would be a waste if I eat only instant noodle :p
But anyway, let’s go to the main points, i.e. “How to” stuff.
1. Fried noodle
A. What you need: Instant noodle that says Mie Goreng or Goreng, which means fried or fried noodle. Optional (what I mention after this is really optional, if you don’t have it, that’s fine): One egg. Prawn or shrimp (just because, right? The more the merrier the healthier ðð). Sausage. Meatballs. Veggies; I love veggies because my Mom always says it’s healthy, and she cooked me lots of delicious cuisines with veggies when I was a kid, saying that when I get married, pregnant, or breastfeed my baby later, I’ll need to eat veggies because it’s good for the mother and the baby, so I should start learning to like them since I was a kid, and so yeah, I love it. The veggies that I usually have with my instant noodles are Bok Choy (well, not sure what it’s actually called, but in Indonesian we call it sawi, and it does look like Bok Choy or Pok Choy), cabbage (any kind of cabbage as you have it and this one is extremely optional), sprouts (I’m referring to soy sprouts or mung bean sprouts. I love sprouts because people say it’s good for women’s fertility. Well, I don’t know if I’ll ever get married, but when I’m married later, I want to have a kid of my own, so I want to be fertile. But, ugh, I just checked that people have different opinions on this, some say it’s good for fertility, some say it’s bad, but I think as long as it’s in a moderate amount, that’s okay. I don’t eat it every day anyway…), 1-2 small tomatoes, green onion, and fried shallots/onions (They have it in the package actually, but it never hurts to have more).
B. How to make fried instant noodle:
1. Boil some water in the pan. Don’t forget to turn on the stove. LoL
2. If you have already had hard-boiled eggs, skip this step. Otherwise, just crack open the egg and put it into the boiling water along with the prawns or shrimps. (Well, I usually just put it in before it boils ’cause I don’t want to spend too much time waiting for the egg to be cooked before doing the next step).
3. While waiting for the egg to be a bit cooked, open the instant noodle, separate the noodle and the spice packages that come with it.
4. Put all the spices on a plate (except the fried onions/shallots, we’re gonna use it to garnish later). And by the way, they say the Indonesian instant noodles sold abroad are not as tasty, so because I add few things, I usually add salt too on the plate. Perhaps just a tiny amount, a pinch? ‘Cause I don’t want it to taste bland.
5. When the water boils, and the egg, prawns, and shrimps are somewhat cooked, put the noodle along with the veggies and sausage/meatballs into the pan. (It’s the same pan, okay? I don’t like using to many cooking utensils ’cause that would mean more dishes to wash, and nah, I’d love to save my time and energy).
6. Stir. The instruction on the package says to cook around three minutes, but I think it depends on what kind of noodle you prefer, or how much cooked you would want your veggies to be, so you can cook for less time or more time, up to you. Around 3 minutes is the normal time, though.
7. Turn off the stove. Rinse the noodles, shrimps/prawns, sausage/meatballs and all veggies. You can use a strainer for this. Don’t forget to use a strong one ’cause you don’t want your precious noodles to drop into the sink/be wasted because the strainer isn’t strong enough to hold them. LoL But if you don’t have a strainer, that’s okay too. You can just take everything little by little and put it on the plate. Well, basically we just want to get rid of the water as we don’t need it.
8. Put the egg on the side on the plate. You just want to put it on top as a decoration later. LoL
9. Stir and mix everything else on the plate. Make sure the spices are evenly distributed (???), I mean spread or mixed with the veggies, noodles, and prawns/shrimps/sausage/meatballs so that it’s not gonna be too salty in one part but bland in another. Well, you know what I mean….
10. Cut the green onions or scallions, cut each tomato into two/four parts, and if you have already had a hardboiled egg (and skip step 2), you can also cut the egg into thin pieces or any way you like. Put it on top everything to garnish so it looks more beautiful and instagrammable to show off to people who might not care. Don’t forget to put the fried onions from the package or of your own.
11. Ready to show off serve/eat.
2. Noodle Soup/Soup Noodle/Whatever you call it :p
A. What you need: Basically what you need is the same as above, except that, instead of Mie Goreng, you want to have one that says “soup” or “kuah”, meaning “water soup”. (Gosh, what is the right English equivalent for this? LoL It’s hard because we also have a dish called soup and the ingredients are different even though we also have “kuah”). But well, you get it, it’s not mie goreng. It usually says something like, “Mie Soto”, “Mie Kare/curry”, “Special Chicken”, Ayam Bawang, etc. depending on the flavor. Again, the rest is the same: the veggies, shrimp/prawns, etc. It’s optional, but it would be great if you can have at least two items to accompany the noodle. And by the way, some of you might want soft-boiled egg, medium cooked, or such. Or perhaps you want to fry it “half-cooked” ’cause you love the yolk to taste or look like it’s melting that way, that’s fine, no judging. You can also do so when you make friend instant noodles, but personally for me, I want it to be fully cooked, properly cooked, and not “half-cooked” or medium cooked, because half-cooked or medium cooked means half-raw and it’s a big NO for me. I’m okay with raw or half-raw veggies, but when it comes to something from animals, it should be well cooked, fully cooked, or you name it. I just feel that it’s safer and healthier that way.
B. How to make noodle soup/soup noodle:
It’s similar to the above steps, except that before putting anything into the water in the pan, you would want it to boil and take some of the boiling water and put it into a bowl first. This is so you don’t need to use the same water used to cook the noodle. Well, some people say it’s actually okay that way, but I have been brainwashed that it’s not healthy that way because you have the chemicals from the noodle, right? You don’t want to “drink” it. So to be safe, I just took the clear boiling water first to be used as the soup. But in case you’re confused, here’s the step by the step instructions.
1. Boil some water in the pan. You would want to boil more water than when you make fried noodles because you would want some of the water for the soup.
2. Put all the spices on a bowl (except the fried onions/shallots if it is included in the package, we’re gonna use it to garnish later). Don’t use plates. LoL And again, they say the Indonesian instant noodles sold abroad are not as tasty, so because I add few things, I usually add salt too on the plate. Perhaps just a tiny amount, a pinch? ‘Cause I don’t want it to taste bland.
3. Once the water boils, take some water and pour it into the bowl so it is mixed with the spices.
4. If you have already had hard-boiled eggs, skip this step. Otherwise, just crack open the egg and put it into the remaining boiling water along with the prawns or shrimps as well as sausage & meatballs.
5. When the egg and shrimps/pawns/sausage/meatballs are a bit cooked, put the noodle along with the veggies into the pan.
6. Stir. Again, the instruction on the package says to cook around three minutes, but I think it depends on what kind of noodle you prefer, or how much cooked you would want your veggies to be, so you can cook for less time or more time, up to you. Around 3 minutes is the normal time, though.
7. Turn off the stove. Rinse the noodles, shrimps/prawns, sausage/meatballs, and all veggies. You can use a strainer or not, but you don’t want the water as we have had the soup on the bowl already. So do get rid of the yellowish water.
8. Put the rinsed stuff into the bowl. Stir and mix to make sure the spices are evenly distributed (???), I mean spread or mixed with the veggies, noodles, and prawns/shrimps/sausage/meatballs so that it’s not gonna be too salty in one part but bland in another. Well, you know what I mean….
9. Cut the green onions or scallions, cut each tomato into two/four parts, and if you have already had a hardboiled egg (and skip step 4), you can also cut the egg into thin pieces or any way you like. Put it on top everything to garnish so it looks more beautiful and instagrammable to show off to people who might not care. Don’t forget to put the fried onions from the package or of your own.
10. Ready to show off serve/eat.
So, that’s how I usually make my instant noodles. Well, I might be biased but I think Indonesian instant noodles are the best and the tastiest. Have you tried one before? Or, will you try after reading this and seeing the picture? Believe me, the noodles are not expensive. Where I live in the US, it costs only around USD $ 0.58+tax. Not even a dollar, right? ^^
And by the way, I took lots of pics when I made instant noodles ’cause I need to show off this once-a-week luxury to my friends on my social media platform. LoL So that’s why I put a lot of pics in this post ^^
But anyway, please stay safe. Stay healthy ð
