Although the internet has revolutionized our lives in countless ways, one of the most appreciated is the simple yet outside-the-box recipes that appear on it from time to time. Where else can we discover that a rice cooker can be used to make mind-blowing pancakes or crème caramel on top of instant ramen makes for a delicious flavor boost?
Now, a Twitter user going by the handle of @rea941 has unveiled a new way to enjoy Japan’s favorite instant food, Cup Noodle. With the leftover soup you can make a delicious chawanmushi egg custard. It’s so easy the entire recipe could fit in a single tweet!
With easy, delicious, and cheap being the trifecta of RocketNews24 gourmet bliss, we couldn’t help but make some for ourselves.
For those unfamiliar with the dish, chawanmushi (lit. “rice bowl steamed”) is steamed egg flavored with a soup broth or soy sauce. Other foods are added for flavor and texture, such as mushrooms or shrimp. The dish takes a little getting used to for some non-Japanese, since it looks like it ought to taste sweet like custard pudding, but once you get past the appearance chawanmushi is all kinds of wholesome and tasty.
Image: Wikipedia/Brücke-Osteuropa
Combining chawanmushi with Cup Noodle, however, is kind of a new one.
The initial tweet, which has garnered over 22,000 retweets since its being posted, lays out how to make Cup Noodle Chawanmushi quite clearly.
“By the way, after you finish eating your Cup Noodle, put the remaining soup in a mug. Then put a raw egg in, mix, and microwave. Out comes a quite delicious chawanmushi. For people with a lot of soup remaining put in two eggs and harden well.”
You might have noticed that a key piece of information is missing from this recipe. Luckily, so did a commenter asked how long the soup and egg should be heated in the microwave, to which @rea941 replied “about 2 or 3 minutes in a 500W microwave.” Of course, not all microwaves are created equal, so you should exercise caution when nuking.
To make my own Cup Noodle Chawanmushi I bought a regular Cup Noodle and my personal favorite, the Thai-inspired Tom Yum Cup Noodles.
I started with the regular Cup Noodle to get the hang of making this recipe. First I ate the noodles making sure to leave a fair amount of broth. Usually when I eat Cup Noodle I tried to take measured sips to ensure I finish without any extra broth. However, I would have to forget my anal eating habits this one time.
…I probably should have written that differently but screw it – I’m on a deadline.
Next I poured the remaining broth into a mug as instructed by the Internet.
After that, I cracked in an egg and stirred it all together.
I put the mixture into the microwave for two minutes, but when it came out there was still a watery bit on the surface. As it was heating I could catch a nice whiff of the Cup Noodle seasoning’s aroma but it still didn’t seem quite done. I popped it in for another 40 seconds during which I could smell the egg cooking as well. That seemed to do the trick.
It tasted quite nice and probably exactly like you would expect the combination of egg and salty seasoning to. The egg had a good consistency and was chock-full of Cup Noodle’s signature toppings like shrimp and cubes of mysterious meat-like substances.
The was a little extra broth pooled in there as well as some white patches on the egg. I probably should have stirred it more thoroughly, but the end result was still very tasty regardless.
Now to try with the fruity and spicy Tom Yum Cup Noodles. In the original tweet @rea941 mentioned that they hadn’t tried with other flavors so we were entering virgin territory here. Nevertheless, I pretty much repeated the exact same procedure as before.
This time I set the microwave for two minutes and 40 seconds based on the last result. Again there was a slight liquid pool on top. I didn’t put it in any longer though as the surface appeared to have craters and pulled away from the sides of the cup as if it were getting overcooked.
I had a bad feeling that this mixture might not have taken properly, and went in for a hesitant first bite.
Much to my surprise, however, it was actually better than the original Cup Noodle. The egg was far fluffier and its texture really complemented the harsh spiciness of the broth.
In conclusion, these chawanmushi were definitely tasty but maybe not enough to go through the slight dish-washing inconvenience of making them all the time. However, if you’re eating a Cup Noodle and feel that it didn’t quite satisfy your hunger, this is without a doubt the perfect way to get some extra mileage out of it.
Source: Twitter/@rea941
Photos © RocketNews24 unless otherwise noted
Origin: The internet’s latest culinary masterpiece: Cup Noodle Steamed Egg【Taste Test】
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