Food & Recipes

I Always Keep These Spicy Instant Noodles Stocked for Quick Meals (They’re Microwavable!)

published yesterday

Page URL

We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

Lemon jalapeno udon noodles being picked up from a bowl with chopsticks. — Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: James Park

It can be fun spending some serious time in the kitchen making a big, homemade meal. After a long day, though, sometimes I just want to pull together a simple, satisfying dinner. I have some go-to shortcuts for this, like seriously delicious frozen fried chicken cutlets and frozen St. Louis-style pizza.

As the weather cools, though, I find myself wanting a piping hot bowl of chewy noodles on par with the ones I used to get at my favorite local New York City spot. Enter: Momofuku’s Spicy Soy Noodles. These have become a pantry staple since I first tried them three years ago.

Credit: Micki Wagner

What’s So Great About Momofuku’s Spicy Soy Noodles?

You might already know Momofuku. Famed chef David Chang started the brand with the opening of his Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York City in the early 2000s. Years later, he brought his iconic noodle dishes (and sauces) to the internet. So shoppers in and outside of the city could have restaurant-quality noodles, flavorful sauces, and a variety of chili crunch(including the editor-favorite Mild Garlic Chili Crunch) shipped to their door. If you’re lucky, you can find them at your local grocery store (and Target!).

Momofuku Spicy Soy Noodles

$12

$12 at Momofuku

Momofuku instant noodles come in five flavors: Soy & Scallion, Tingly Chili, Sesame Miso, Sweet & Spicy, and Spicy Soy. The Spicy Soy Noodles come in bright orange packaging that really stands out on shelves. They’re sold in packs of four, 12, or 24, starting at just $12 for four on Momofuku’s website. That’s just $3.00 a pack, which is a serious steal considering it delivers on restaurant-like flavor.

Plus, they cook in minutes — three to be exact. Drain the noodles, mix in the included spicy soy sauce packet, and bam: Lunch or dinner (or breakfast!) is served. The brand recommends cooking the noodles on the stove, but you can microwave them for a tasty dorm-friendly meal.

Credit: Micki Wagner

My Honest Review of Momofuku’s Spicy Soy Noodles

Let’s start with the noodles themselves. Momofuku’s noodles are air-dried and a bit thicker and flatter than a standard ramen noodle (which is my other go-to instant noodle). They have a slightly chewy texture that’s more on par with my favorite restaurant noodles.

I can’t forget about the sauce packet, though. It imparts a bold soy flavor with a little kick of heat, rounded out with the subtle nutty flavor of sesame oil. It truly makes for such a quick and delicious lunch with very little effort needed on my part.

While I love eating these noodles straight up, I like experimenting with fun additions. Recently, my favorite way to eat them has been to mix in ground turkey and sautéed onions cooked in soy sauce. A little cucumber or shaved carrot quickly pickled in some rice vinegar would be amazing on top of this, too. I’ll have to try that next.

Buy: Momofuku’s Spicy Soy Noodles, $12 for 4 (3.53-ounce) packages at Momofuku

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: The Momofuku Instant Noodles That I’ve Kept Stocked in My Pantry for the Last 4 Years

Micki Wagner

Contributor

Before I decided to be a writer, I wanted to be a chef. My love of food started with watching Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, and Alton Brown on the Food Network when I would get home from middle school. Naturally, I made my way into the kitchen to try out the recipes I saw on TV, and now I’ve been cooking and baking for nearly two decades. I fell in love with writing in high school and then decided to combine my passion for cooking and writing to become a food writer. I pursued my Bachelors of Journalism from the University of Missouri, and after graduating made my way to New York City to work in magazine.I’ve spent the last six years writing and editing both digital and print stories for publications such as Saveur, Worth, Best Products, and Edible Manhattan. My proudest accomplishment to date has to be interviewing celebrity chefs like Guy Fieri, Andrew Zimmern, and Maneet Chauhan (all of whom are just as cool — if not cooler — than you think they are).In my role at The Kitchn, I strive to help home cooks like myself find amazing, durable, versatile products that they can love for a long time to come. I’m passionate about testing out kitchen products myself so our readers can feel confident that the products we’re recommending are worth their hard-earned money.

Get to know Micki Wagner

Filed in:

Food & Recipes