Being a poor student never tasted so good.
Students at the Feed U Corner demonstration in the Union learned how to make regular Ramen noodles into a foodie feast Wednesday.
Peter Hodgson, executive chef for Chartwells, can make a cheap package of Ramen into something more special for less than $2.
Students who attended the event left feeling ready to conquer the daily dinner dilemma.
“I think it’s a very interesting idea, and I’m excited go home and try it,” said Craig Conklin, a sophomore in biomedical engineering. “It’s very good.”
Hodgson began the transformation by mixing together sesame oil, roasted garlic oil, teriyaki sauce, Hawaiian shoyu sauce, red chili flakes and Kecap Manis sauce.
Kecap Manis is a sweet shoyu sauce from Indonesia, Hodgson said.
“It’s absolutely amazing. You can buy it in any Asian market. A 750 mL bottle will cost you $1.80.”
Next, he added onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, mushrooms, garlic, cilantro and micro celery.
“The idea is that if you cook the noodles and then you sauté some other proteins to go into it, you can take the Ramen Noodle to the next level,” Hodgson said.
The chef then added the microwaved Ramen to the hot pan, stirred it up and served the finished dish to a group of hungry student onlookers.
“It’s really good food,” said Aida Trochez, a senior in biology, “I really like that they gave us the recipes.”
Derek Deitsch, a senior in marketing and the director of innovation at the Union Programing Council, said they are hoping to make “Feed U Corner” a more interactive event for students.
The Feed U Corner started two years ago. Before this year, Deitsch said it was a way to give away free food and hand out recipes.
“Opposed to just giving them food and a recipe, we actually show them how to do it,” Deitsch said.
Hodgson has been an executive chef at the U for six months. He is originally from Australia and was trained as a traditional European chef. In the past he was a hotel chef, and this is his first time cooking for a university audience. He said he enjoys working at the U.
He has also had a lot of experience making Ramen.
“I’ve been cooking Ramen noodles since I was a kid,” Hodgson said.
Hodgson told students that spicing up their noodles doesn’t have to be hard.
“Keep it simple. Don’t do anything you can’t do,” Hodgson said. “Keep it fresh. You don’t need to buy frozen vegetables.”
He also said making fancy Ramen Noodles can be a fun social event.
“Get a group together and you can cut up vegetables and have a bit of fun with it,” Hodgson said. “Have a Ramen night, and get all the noodles and all the stuff and have a bit of interaction with each other.”