- I can't believe this is my job right now.
(upbeat drum music)
I'm Beryl, and for this episode of "Around the World"
I'm trying something a little different.
A few weeks ago, I made this story about noodles.
And in it, I said, I'm not doing instant noodles,
that is a whole other episode, and if you want that one,
let me know.
Turns out you wanted that episode.
So I had to think I couldn't film in a noodle factory,
and it also didn't seem
that interesting to film in a noodle factory.
But I had a kinda fun idea, I asked on YouTube how
you guys liked to prepare instant noodles where
you lived, and the response was crazy.
Totally crazy.
So I went through the responses and I picked out eight
that I wanted to try myself.
I went shopping and I'm going
to prepare eight of your recipes from eight countries
to see the different ways
that people prepare instant noodles around the world.
So this is the instant noodle episode.
The first noodle dish we're trying is from Brazil,
it's a simple recipe, two ingredients,
instant noodles and soft cheese.
So I'm gonna boil the noodles.
Once they're ready, drain most of the water,
add the seasoning packet, add some of the soft cheese.
Stir, stir, stir.
And done.
Okay, so this is kind of like a tomatoey, cheesy.
It's really good.
The noodles are really good,
they kind of remind me of Top Ramen noodles.
The tomato flavor is really interesting,
I've never had that one before.
And the cheese is like, it doesn't taste like any cheese
I've ever had before.
What does it taste like?
It's like really savory.
This one's really great.
The ingredients were not so easy to come by in US,
but I found them.
This next recipe came from Nigeria,
it uses Indomie noodles, onions, tomatoes, peppers,
and they recommended an egg on top.
So just chop up all the vegetables, cook them.
Boil the noodles.
Add the flavoring, combine them all.
And top with the egg, ta-da.
This one looks really good.
Kind of have to break the yolk.
Totally different flavor than the last noodle dish.
It is really good,
it's like a very springy noodle.
I like the simplicity of this recipe,
little spicy, very creamy, the onions are great.
Pepper's great, tomato's great, the egg yolk,
it makes it creamier, they said you could add it
or don't add it.
Who doesn't want to add an egg.
And this is a totally, totally satisfying dish.
This next dish comes from Italy.
There's chicken flavored instant noodles,
a can of tuna, cheese, tomato, avocado, and soy sauce.
So you're gonna boil the noodles.
Drain most of the water.
Add the flavor packet.
Add the cheese.
A can of drained tuna fish,
and then top it with avocado, tomato,
and lastly, a bit of soy sauce.
This one was the most work so far, a lot of ingredients,
I actually really had to follow the recipe.
It smells really good.
It's totally different than anything I would ever think
to do with instant noodles.
Okay.
The soy sauce is actually a really nice touch on top,
it's got like an interesting saltiness.
It's funny, it's totally growing on me.
It's definitely got a heaviness
and the tomatoes do a really good job of lightening that,
between the cheese and the tuna,
and just, you know, the pasta.
It's funny 'cause in the person's note, they said,
"Trust me, it's delicious."
They're right.
This submission came from Nepal
and it's Wai Wai noodles with onion, tomato, ginger,
lime juice, and green chili.
You're gonna mash up the noodles, mash, mash, mash.
Cut up your vegetables,
put them in a bowl.
Add the noodles to the bowl, put in some lime juice,
add the seasoning packet and you're done.
Okay, this is the first instant noodle dish
that did not require any cooking,
which I'm pretty excited about.
There is a fricking kick, I'm sweating.
The tomato is nice,
it helps break down the spice a little bit,
the lime juice, definitely a plus.
More than just softening the noodles,
it definitely helps a little bit with the heat.
Adding the green chili on top of the spice packet,
that was a bold move.
I'm really sweating.
I feel this would be really good with a beer,
like really good,
I like it.
This recipe was a submission from Trinidad and Tobago.
For this one, I needed spicy instant noodles
so I just added Sriracha KFC fried chicken, and bok choy.
Take the skin off the chicken and cook it.
So I put it in my air fryer.
Take the meat off of the bones,
your hands are gonna get really greasy.
Put that in a pot with the flavor packet and some water.
Let it boil.
At the bok choy stems, cook them for a bit.
Add the leafy part, cook that for a bit.
And then add the noodles.
Put it in a bowl and then you're gonna top it
with the crispy chicken skin.
Fabulous.
I mean, this one's pretty extra.
It's also beautiful.
Right?
Wow, honestly though,
that crispy chicken skin is a game changer.
I'm not even kidding, if you served me this in a restaurant,
I would be like, yeah, this tastes great.
Is that what fried chicken does?
The noodles are Top Ramen, had them before,
I think adding the Sriracha totally worked to make it spicy,
'cause it's got a kick.
Also having the big pieces of chicken in here is a delight.
This is like elevated chicken soup.
The soft noodles, you have the leafy greens,
the crunchy chicken, there's just like, it's a party.
Glad I got invited.
This recipe was submitted from Indonesia.
You need Indomie noodles, a bit of flour, egg, scallion,
onion, cheese, and chicken stock powder.
You're gonna to cook the noodles, rinse them in cold water,
add the seasoning packet to the noodles.
Chop up the vegetables.
Add the egg and the flour and the chicken stock,
mix it all together.
Don't pay so much attention to the monitor
that you spill all the noodles and have to start again.
Make little pancakes, fry them,
and then top with a bit of melted cheese.
Well, this one was definitely a lot of work.
That is an absolute delight.
It's salty and it's crispy and it's soft,
I love the idea of taking instant noodles
and making these pancakes.
The big chunks of onion in it are really great,
the noodles just become a part of the batter almost.
And the cheese is great on top, like it's fun,
but you don't need it either.
I think I might eat one more.
I'm just gonna finish it.
All right.
This recipe was submitted from India.
So for this dish you need Maggi, tomatoes, onions,
peppers, a little bit of ghee, and paneer.
Put some ghee in the pan, add the vegetables,
add the chopped paneer, a little bit of salt, cover it.
Then you're gonna add the noodles
and some water.
Cook it uncovered.
And you're done.
Okay, this one smells really good.
Hot.
The flavoring for these noodles,
totally different flavor than any
of the other noodles I've tried.
There's a similar base between this and the Nigerian dish,
but I cooked it with a little bit of ghee,
and so that adds a nice little flavor kick.
And then the paneer is really nice,
it's chewy and it's creamy.
And these noodles are very bouncy.
That's a good bite.
And the Maggi flavoring is just really good.
In the great of debate of Wai Wai noodles
versus Maggi noodles,
I feel like these are two totally different noodles.
The noodles taste totally different,
I wouldn't necessarily compare them.
And this last recipe is a submission from Singapore.
It uses on Ramyun, cheese, egg, milk, scallion,
and chili flakes.
Start cooking the noodles in milk.
Add some cheese, add the flavor packets,
add the chili flakes.
And then you're gonna crack an egg and cover the pot.
Garnish with scallions.
All right.
This one smells luxurious.
Okay, there's a lot to unpack here.
This recipe is instantly comforting.
The flavor packet for this is spicy,
but then the cheese and the egg combine
to make it really creamy.
I've never cooked noodles in milk before, wow,
game-changer, really good.
When you crack the egg in here,
the egg white kind of cooks inside the noodle
so you get these pockets of egg white, which is really fun.
Man, if I had known this recipe in college,
I would have been a happy, happy student.
Wow, this was such an amazing week.
Not only were your dishes delicious,
but they were inventive.
I knew that instant noodles were a universal food,
but I had no idea how customizable they could be.
And seeing all the recipes from around the world just really
opened my mind.
I'm gonna put a link below so
that you can see the thread
and look through all the other recipes
because I highly recommend you try some of them.
I'm obviously gonna also include the recipes
that I cooked in the description.
And if you have any other recipes,
please leave them in the comments because I'm converted.
I wanna try more of them now.
I also really enjoyed this experience
of trying these different foods here at my house,
'cause it shows what all of these dishes are attainable.
You don't have to necessarily travel to those countries
to get a taste of them.
So maybe I'll try it again, I dunno,
what do you think?
Is there another food I should do this with?
That's kind of all I got,
go try some of those noodle dishes,
you will not be disappointed, I promise.