My downfall

I generally try to eat well, and these days, because I'm not working and can get out to the shops frequently, I buy lots of fresh food. The covered market may be a bit touristy and some of it pricey, but I've found I can manage pretty well on our one-income budget there. I buy veggies from the greengrocer (they are very good about having local produce and it's easy to see at a glance what's in season- and when stuff is in season, it's cheap; I was buying kilos of broad beans for less than £1/kilo); meat from the butcher (there's actually an organic butcher in the market! And again, easy to see what's available and in season); seafood from the fishmonger; bread from the baker; I try to stay away from the cheese stall (spendy), but The Limey loves it.

Having said all that, there is one packaged food I will not give up. I know it's terrible and barely counts as edible food, it's bad for me, it's basically petroleum by-products and chemical flavouring, but...instant noodles. I have a big salt tooth...well, let's face it, it's an MSG addiction, really...and instant noodles are satisfying in a way almost nothing else is: starchy, salty, soupy goodness. I have tried lots of brands from that one aisle in the Asian market- you know the one, lined with random brightly-coloured rectangular packets with lettering in scripts you can't even begin to read. The best- the absolute best- instant noodle on the market is the Korean Shin Ramyun "Hot & Spicy". I used to buy it by the 20-packet box. If you don't like spicy, then I can't help you. (Pic taken from Amazon.)
I add whatever I have in the fridge to the ramen. Asian greens such as bak choi or gai lan are obvious choices, but green beans, mange tout- anything with a bit of bite or crunch. If I have tofu, especially cubes of the fried stuff, I'll toss that in. If I'm really hungry, I'll stir in an egg as well. If I happen to have frozen potstickers (a kind of dumpling) I'll add a few of those. The Limey prefers his potstickers cooked properly- steamed and browned in a skillet- but that would involve using another pan, which is so not the point of packaged noodles.


All this takes five minutes, and then I can get back to the couch with my Agatha Christie or trashy romance. (Those may be more elements to my downfall.) Oh yeah.