Staycation Meal #2

I made an error in judgment. I know the grocery store is an unbearable madhouse during Thanksgiving week. But I needed some things. I thought I'd just go on a quick restock run--nothing special, just to pick up some things.

I'm not sure what's going on, whether it's because I am in such a densely populated area or everybody has lost their social skills since the pre-pandemic times or what. But it was the worst trip I've had in ages. There were so many people there, and all of them seemed to be in an intense rush, and many of them were behaving in ways that seemed really inconsiderate of other people. One guy rammed me in the back of my ankle with his cart. Another shopper, without speaking to me--while I was attempting to put my cabbage into my cart, grabbed my cart to move it without even saying anything to me because she wanted to get by and didn't want to wait, I guess, the 5 seconds it would have taken for me to put the cabbage in the cart and move on.

It was better out of the produce section but not much. So when I got home, I had to revise my lunch plans.

Fortunately, I was resourceful. I would have made spicy peanut butter ramen, but I am out of chili garlic sauce. Huy Fong Foods has started sriracha production again, I understand, but it will be a long while before I am able to get any chili garlic sauce, if I ever do; from what I've learned, the company may have shot itself in the foot and pepper supplies will likely be unpredictable, so who knows if it will ever come back locally. I didn't want the uncanny valley effect of substituting something on a day I really needed something comforting, so I went in another direction.

I cooked some onion and mushrooms in sesame oil, then added water, the seasoning packet from my ramen noodles, gochujang, a bit of sugar, garlic, and ginger. I brought that to a boil and added the ramen noodles. When those were cooking, I microwaved a folded JUST Egg and cut it into bite-sized chunks. To serve, I put the soup in a bowl, tossed in the cubes of "egg," and sprinkled it with scallions and sesame seeds.

It worked. It was a quick meal and it helped ease the stress of the day. (Spicy foods tend to do that!)