“You gotta have ramen,” writes Gustavo Alvarez, author of the Prison Ramen Cookbook. His instant ramen-based recipes include the likes of the Prison Burrito, Prison Tamale, Ramen Salad, Ramen Sandwich, and Orange Cracklin Ramen (with pork rinds and orange Kool-Aid).
ramen
Herbal Soups
Last summer, I bought a pile of bitter eggplant at the farmers market. I’d never heard of it, but the green, red, yellow and orange wrinkled spheres drew me in, and the farmer, and immigrant from the Laotian mountains, sealed the deal.
Feeling Broody
Perhaps it’s because I empathize with the egg, caged like a bird in its own home. Or maybe it’s because I am feeling broody, like a hen with nothing to incubate, and so the image of the egg sitting so perfectly in its nest brings comfort. Or maybe it’s that my chickens started laying again, and it’s a delicious meal. Either way, egg-in-a-nest is the official dish of my 2020 house arrest.