I am unapologetically pretentious enough to admit that I loathe leftovers. Despite the fact that I cook far too much food than necessary and most of the food winds up in the fridge, I wholeheartedly shirk from any sort of economical reuse of last night’s meal.
One leftover I do make use of, however, is pasta. You can make it into a frittata or heat it up in some garlic oil and have a second Italian bonanza. Since it reconstitutes remarkably well if properly encouraged, I find myself boiling a bit more than I need so I can create something tasty the next day.
The Italians stole pasta from the Chinese and I feel there’s a kind of poetic justice in reclaiming leftover noodles for their intended purpose, and thus was born my ghetto ramen. I say ‘ghetto’ only in the sense that I know several Japanese who would curl up and die at this dish, but I’m going for flavors I like more than authenticity. In any case, it’s far healthier than instant ramen, which has enough sodium and fat in it to kill a small donkey.
Before you critique my chipped chopsticks, please realize they’re my personal set that I’ve used since my first long-haul in Japan in 2000. Recipe follows the jump!