I'm looking for any tips for making a meal with dried noodles without needing to actively cook them.
My problem is that the kitchen in my office has nothing, not even a microwave. It just has a hot water dispenser (not sure of the exact temperature, standard models generally dispense it at 94ºc so I would assume this one is the same).
I'm fine with salads and sandwiches, but sometimes I want something hot. A particular favorite is noodles, but whenever I have instant noodles I get terrible indigestion, probably because of all the terrible things that are in the flavor sachet (I actively avoid reading the ingredients for my own sanity).
I want to make my own similar thing adding my own spices/ ingredients, and also preferably vegetables, but it seems unreasonably expensive to buy lots of individual packets of instant noodles, and get rid of the flavor sachets to make my own.
I've tried searching on the internet, but all of the things I've found are cooking it inside a kettle (which isn't an option), or using a microwave (also not an option).
So are there any tips/ advice for cooking noodles (like dried egg noodles) simply with hot water?
More specifically, optimum noodle weight:water volume ratio, and amount of time they are left in the water before ready to eat.
If there are any other type of noodles that can be used for this specifically, egg noodles aren't required. I also don't mind if it ends up more like a soup, but I would rather there be as little liquid remaining as possible.
Best Answer
Par-boiling the noodles at home would allow you to finish cooking them with just hot water.
I would boil your chosen noodles 2 minutes under the package recommended time. Then rinse and chill the noodles and toss with a bit of oil and chill it. Take this to work in an insulated bag with an ice pack.
A "saucy" noodle dish would be simpler to prepare at the office. Put both the noodles and veg in a heat proof container with your own seasonings and additions of choice, add hot water, let stand for 2-3 minutes and you'll have a whole meal in one bowl.
Serious Eats has a whole "food lab" series about it, including several suggested "DIY Instant Noodle" recipes:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/diy-instant-noodle-cups-food-lab.html
However if you want "dry" noodles you could also pour on hot water to your par-cooked noodles, let stand for 2-3 minutes, then drain the noodles, and continue with your preparations. I'm thinking a plate over a pyrex bowl could serve as a simple colander.
The draw-back of this technique is that you have less direct heat exchange into your seasonings and veg. If you're just hoping to melt some butter and a sprinkle of parsley, that would be fine on the hot noodles. If you're hoping to heat up a heavy tomato and meat sauce, it probably wouldn't work.
I also really enjoy cold soba noodles, if you're just looking for a change from salads!