Romanticizing ramen: How to spruce up the college student’s favorite noodle
February 1, 2022
Ramen noodles. They’re a college staple, a right of passage into college life if you will. Labeled a “struggle meal” by many, ramen is cheap, tastes fairly good and fills you up. However, it gets old pretty quickly. Here is a budget-friendly recipe to spruce up that dull ramen into something more.
Taylor’s Honey Garlic Shrimp Ramen (yes, I made this up myself!)
Ingredients:
To make the shrimp:
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Drizzle of olive oil
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3 tablespoons of garlic
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2 tablespoons of butter
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1 pound of pre-cooked, frozen shrimp
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Drizzle of honey
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Garlic powder, salt and pepper to season and taste
To make the noodles:
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Drizzle of olive oil
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1 tablespoon of garlic
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1 bag of frozen broccoli
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1 sweet yellow onion, chopped
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2 cups of broth (I used chicken broth, but vegetable or bone broth will work too)
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½ cup of water
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2 packages of ramen noodles and their seasoning packets (any flavor, choose your favorite!)
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½ cup of ramen liquid from saucepan
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Drizzle of soy sauce
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The juice of half of a lemon
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Optional: red pepper flakes
Directions:
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Put oil, garlic, and butter into a pan on medium heat.
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Add the shrimp once the garlic becomes fragrant.
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Flip the shrimp after about 3 minutes, add the seasoning, along with the drizzle of honey.
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Take shrimp out of the pan when it has a golden brown color on the edges and put it on a plate.
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Using the same pan, add another drizzle of olive oil, garlic, onion, and frozen broccoli on medium heat.
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Sautee until the onions and broccoli are softened. Add the shrimp back in, and turn to low heat to keep warm.
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In a saucepan, add the broth, water and ramen noodles on high heat. The ramen can be added in immediately with the broth; as it boils, the noodles will absorb the broth.
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When the noodles are soft, add them to the onion, broccoli, and shrimp pan along with ½ cup of the liquid the noodles were boiled in. Add the ramen seasoning packets.
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Mix everything in the pan, add a drizzle of soy sauce, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
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Enjoy!
This ramen is the perfect mix of savory and sweet flavors. The honey melts everything together in the pan and gives the ramen the littlest bit of a sugary relish, and if you add the red pepper flakes, there’s that hint of spice. This ramen is a crowd-pleaser for sure and remains cheap and tasty, of course!