Thermos Noodle Lunch
Boiled at breakfast, eaten at the summit. The thermos does the cooking while you walk.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 149
- protein
- 21 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 4 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 9 min
- water
- 350 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Day hike
- Backpacking
- Winter / snow
- Car camping
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant ramen noodles | 1 block | discard the seasoning packet, break the block in half so it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Dried soy curls or TVP | 1/3 cup | crumble the soy curls small or they stay chewy |
| Miso paste | 1 tbsp | travels fine unrefrigerated for a few days |
| Dried vegetables | 2 tbsp | carrot, scallion, cabbage, shiitake |
| Soy sauce powder | 1 tsp | |
| Sesame oil | 1 tsp | dropper bottle |
| Chili flakes | to taste |
Method
- Preheat the food jar: fill it with hot water, cap it, wait a minute, dump it out. Skip this and the meal runs cold by noon.
- Put the broken noodles, soy curls, dried vegetables, and soy sauce powder into the jar.
- Boil 350 ml of water and pour it in, leaving a finger of headroom.
- Stir in the miso and sesame oil, cap it tight, and shake once.
- Let it sit at least ninety minutes before you open it. Four to six hours is better. Eat it straight from the jar.
An insulated food jar is a slow cooker that runs on one boil. You put boiling water and dry food in it at breakfast, and by the time you stop walking the noodles have softened, the soy curls have rehydrated, and the whole thing is still hot enough to steam. Nothing needs to happen at lunch except opening a lid, which matters on a cold ridge where a stove is a fifteen-minute negotiation with the wind.
The preheat is the part people skip and the part that decides the outcome. Cold steel steals a large share of the heat you just paid fuel for. Miso goes in at the pour rather than being boiled separately because it dissolves fine in hot water and carries the salt the discarded seasoning packet would have. Fat is the other thing to protect: a teaspoon of sesame oil sits on top, holds heat, and keeps the broth from tasting thin.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag at home so camp assembly is a single pour. Miso rides in a small screw-top tub; sesame oil in a dropper bottle. The jar itself is the bowl, so no pot to scrub at lunch.
Variations
- Swap the noodles for instant rice noodles and the meal becomes gluten-free.
- In hot weather, load the jar with cold gazpacho powder and cold water instead. Same jar, opposite problem.
- A foil packet of tuna stirred in at the top adds 15 g of protein but has to go in cold, right before you eat.
https://primusequipment.com/products/flinta-insulated-lunch-jug-0-4-l-2