You can make your own noodles, (pasta, spaghetti, egg noodles, ravioli wrappers, etc.) for about 50¢ a pound – or less.
Despite what you’ve heard a hundred times, instant ramen is not cheap. It’s expensive. Ditto for boxed macaroni and “cheese.” This is a case of real cheap food vs. fake cheap food.
You can make your own fresh, wholesome, homemade noodles for one fifth the cost of ramen. The cost of making your own noodles is pretty much the cost of flour. White flour goes for about 30 cents a pound if you find it at a good price. That’s slightly more than the cost of one 3-ounce package of instant ramen, isn’t it?
I prefer whole wheat flour, myself. I pay between $2 and $2.50 for five pounds of whole wheat flour – so about 50 cents a pound. Even if you pay more than that for flour, it’s cheaper to make your own noodles.
You’ll find noodle recipes all over the Internet, because there’s almost nothing to it. Break an egg. Mix in as much flour as you can. Maybe add a pinch of salt. Roll it out, slice it up, and you have noodles.
Might as well use a couple of eggs and make a lot of noodles. They will keep.
You want artificial-chicken-flavored water with that? No. The chemical pack that comes with the instant ramen isn’t worth a penny. Use actual chicken broth, if you like. You have that in the freezer, you made it for free after you roasted that whole chicken that was 89 cents a pound, remember?
For less than the cost of package of ramen, you can actually eat real food.
Pasta, noodles, ravioli, ramen, …. it’s flour and a little bit of liquid – could be egg, could be water. Mix it up, roll it out, cut it into strips or sheets.
That’s it. It’s simple and cheap. That’s why it’s a part of almost every food culture.
Twenty cents for a little package of dry noodles is too much to pay.
Simple, quick, delicious – http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homemade-Noodles/Detail.aspx
Even I can do it. My noodles are crude and ugly-looking, because I don’t make them often. But they’re good, anyway. You can do it, too.
-
- Start with an egg – or more eggs, or water, whatever.
-
- Mix in as much flour as you can get into the liquid.
-
- Mix till it makes a dough ball.
-
- Put the dough on a floured surface to roll it out.
-
- Roll it out.
-
- Make whatever shape you want.
-
- If you want tubes, you can roll it on a chopstick or something.
-
- See? Hollow!
-
- Let them dry. Now you have noodles. Make a bunch and keep them on hand.
-
- Cook like any other noodle. Put them in boiling water.
-
- See? Noodles cooking. I told you it was simple.
-
- Cooked noodles. You can call it pasta – same thing.
-
- Add stuff you like.
-
- Or make a sauce.
-
- Pasta with sauce.
Umm… I’m honestly not sure where you get the idea that instant ramen is expensive. They cost between $0.10USD to $0.20USD don’t they? “You want artificial-chicken-flavored water with that?” To be honest I’ve never had chicken flavour. Also, instead of the vegetables used in “Add stuff you like.” and “Or make a sauce.”, couldn’t you just buy bok choi and/or the cheap alternative, mung bean sprouts? On top of that, the usual garnishings of the ramen packs [e.g. shiitake, carrot, spring onions] usually add complement asian vegetables very well. As for meat, couldn’t you add kamaboko or some other form of cheap fish cake?
In terms of cheapness as well as taste, I can’t see how your home-made pasta can win. In the first place, IK was under the impression that people ate instant noodles regardless of the knowledge that they are bad for you, simply because they taste good. After all, half a century has gone into making the “artificial-chicken-flavored water” taste good.