Spam and Egg Ramen

This ramen noodle, spam and egg dish is an ode to my dad not because it's his favorite meal or necessarily, my favorite meal that he has made, but it was really the only dish he knew how to make for my brother and me anytime my mother was out of the house.

My mom had dinner on the table every single night - on weekdays and weekends, even after a full-time job. This was great for the family as my mom was a great cook, but that meant my dad could cook essentially...not much. And so, let's get back to the ramen.

Spam and eggs - that's quite a traditional topping in Hong Kong, where my dad grew up. I mean, it's not that far from ham and eggs, which is basically where this comes from. I can't say enough about Spam in my childhood, and I think it's one of those ingredients, which if you knew how to use it and what to pair it with, would have a lot less of the negative connotation to it.

So yup, Spam and eggs -- pretty easy to fry up. Make sure to not cut the Spam too thickly. If you pan fry both sides, it creates a crispy crust adding to the texture of your dish. For the egg - same deal. I am not the biggest fan of runny eggs, but make them the way you would want to eat them. I fry up the Spam first, so the egg picks up a little bit of the saltiness from it.

Finally, we get to the ramen. With the amount of ramen shops opening in the country, I can see how people could start to become a bit snooty about their noodles and perhaps, opt out of the packaged variety. But for me, anytime I crave ramen -- which is usually late nights, while I'm watching TV and the hour is way past dinnertime to start making anything too, too official -- I crave the packaged stuff. It's not that the ones at the restaurants aren't great, but there's just something about packaged ramen -- perhaps the salt? Perhaps the MSG? (I'm being sarcastic, but it's probably true.)

You can use the Maruchan stuff you find at the supermarkets, but if you happen to be in the vicinity of an Asian grocery store, go in and check out the ramen selection. You'll be surprised at the quantity of flavors and the quality of noodles being sold. I prefer the thicker Korean-style noodles, but some other types of ramen include rice or egg noodles.

Last tip is don't overcook your noodles. I usually take mine out 1-2 minutes earlier than what the directions call for because I like a little more bite to my noodles. And plus, it usually cooks a bit more as it sits in your bowl.

Directions

1. Start by frying up your Spam for 1-2 minutes each side over medium to medium high heat until both sides are crispy. As Spam is near frying, start boiling water for the ramen.

2.Throw in your ramen and cook according to directions.