Stir-fry Curry Ramen

I first had stir fry ramen in Hong Kong at one of those late night "cafe restaurants." I guess they were diner-esque and served very casual, but down home foods like pork cutlets and curry rice, with everything accompanied with a glass of Hong Kong-style milk tea. (Just milk tea made with condensed milk.)

When I saw stir fry ramen on the menu, I got actually quite excited. Ramen without the soup? How would it taste?!

Turns out dry ramen is actually quite tasty and this method only points out how versatile of a base this instant food can be. The addition of curry powder to the dish adds an extra punch and my tip for this recipe is to treat it more or less like fried rice. Put in what you want. Pre-cook everything, but it's a very adaptable recipe.

The trick to making this recipe taste like a million bucks (or at least $15) is to not overcook any of the ingredients.

I mentioned some of these points in my ("Spam and Egg Ramen")[http://www.eastmeetskitchen.com/recipes/spam-and-egg-ramen.html] post for father's day, but you only want to partially cook your ingredients because it will cook some more during the stir-fry process.

1. Parboil your ramen. For ramen that takes 4 minutes to cook, I recommend 30 seconds to 1 minute. Strain and set aside.

2. Prepare your Spam, string beans, and onions by chopping into bite-sized pieces.

3. Heat 2 tablepoons of oil over medium heat. Throw in spring onions, curry powder and 1/2 packet of ramen seasoning. Stir often for 30 seconds as mixture burns easily.

4. Turn heat to medium-high and add in the Spam and string beans. Stirfry for about 15-30 seconds.

5. Finally, add in noodles and mix everything together for about 30 seconds.

6. Ready to serve.

Recipe - 1 bag of ramen (including seasoning packets) - 1 slice of spam, cubed - 1 cup string beans, par-boiled - 1 1/2 stalks spring onions, sliced on the diagonal - 1 teaspoon curry powder - 2 tablespoons oil