I've always got some chopped up leek/spring onions/chives in my freezer that I put into my ramen.

Sesame seeds are also nice, especially those toasted flavoured ones you can sometimes find at Asian supermarkets.

I also splash in a little bit of soy sauce and or toasted sesame seed oil.

I guess you could put eggs in too, since real ramen often has a half of an egg floating in it. Not sure if a plain boiled egg would really work the same though.

Now, does any of this fundamentally change the experience of eating instant ramen? No, but it does provide a facsimile of actual cooking and with rising food prices that's probably the best we can soon hope to achieve :doomer:

  • hahafuck [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Before I was vegan, egg a must, just crack it in. Now, kimchi or just chopped cabbage. In the hard days, peanut butter

  • fifthedition [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Look up After Prison Show on Youtube. He has a whole series on prison cooking, which uses ramen as the base for many dishes. They get super creative in there with what is basically the food you can get at a gas station plus an onion.

  • FRIENDLY_BUTTMUNCHER [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I add the egg. I also enjoy adding some bouillon to the boiling water, and adding spinach right at the end. Looking for more options though!

    • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      The flavour packets in most instant ramen kind of taste like a bouillon cube anyway already

      The cheapest and most depressing chicken ones are basically just a bunch of watery noodles with a quarter of a chicken stock cube

  • CanYouFeelItMrKrabs [any, he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Not sure if a plain boiled egg would really work the same though.

    It will! Especially if you time it right and the egg is still gooey on the inside

  • Weedian [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    I usually add green onion and mushrooms.

    If you’re sick of ramen but the price is right try packages of instant pho or other kinds of noodles. I like to cook the bbq chicken noodles with a small amount of water and then stir fry and add a chopped salad kit and fried egg on top

    A little chili oil goes a long way too

  • WoofWoof91 [comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    instant ramen is expensive here, but for non-soup instant 28p noodles i ignore the flavour packet and make a sauce of peanut butter, a little lime juice, sriracha, and soy sauce

    • fifthedition [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      If you use the flavor packet at all, use half of it. You won't notice the difference in flavor and it has enough salt in it to make your heart pound.

    • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      I had always just assumed instant ramen and instant noodles are the same thing, with the latter being the preferred term in the UK

      • WoofWoof91 [comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        isntant ramen you end up with noodle soup, instant noodles use less water so it's more like a sauce

        • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
          hexagon
          ·
          2 years ago

          I suppose the classic British Cup Noodle type arrangement has even less to do with actual ramen than instant ramen in general

            • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
              hexagon
              ·
              2 years ago

              I think over here we just skipped straight to the soup type noodles, with the saucier ones being a later development and specifically meant to ape yakisoba type noodles

    • honeynut
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      deleted by creator

  • solaranus
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    deleted by creator

    • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      My go-tos are Mama from Thailand and Nissin from Japan, though these are specifically the European versions produced by their European subsidiaries. You can get slightly more exciting Nissin noodles from Asian supermarkets such as black garlic pork tonkotsu.

      I would classify both as the nicest end of the still cheap spectrum

      There are tons and tons of interesting Chinese? Hong Kong? Taiwanese? noodle brands in pretty much every Asian grocery store but I usually chicken out from buying them

  • KobaCumTribute [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I guess you could put eggs in too, since real ramen often has a half of an egg floating in it. Not sure if a plain boiled egg would really work the same though.

    I've never done the soft-boiled marinated egg recipe, but just cracking an egg in the soup as it's boiling works fine, you just have to let it boil a bit before stirring it in. You can also mix up the egg first and whisk it into the broth as it's going, but I've tried that and don't care for the results of that method personally, it just doesn't come out as good as the other way imo.

    Alternatively frying up a couple of ounces of tofu as the ramen's boiling and cracking an egg in that pan to mix up as it fries works great

    • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Do you just pop in tofu in the broth? Do you use firm tofu?

      I have a bunch of tofu and idk what to do with it because all I know how to do is pan fry but I want to do stuff with tofu that is less active cooking so I can clean up while stuff cooks

  • dualmindblade [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    One of my kids is into eggs in ramen, lots of ways to do it that work, but just whipped egg drizzled in near the end, egg drop like is pretty good. Or separate a yolk and just plop that in right after you turn off the burner, outside will cook with runny inside

  • Zoift [he/him]
    cake
    ·
    2 years ago

    Add all that, a bit of garlic, and some sambal. Maybe some leftover veggies if they're just laying around.

    And the eggs gotta be soft-boiled so the yolk can soak into the noodles. Just toss it in when you boil & drain the noodles. Almost perfect timer.

  • innocentlurker [he/him]
    cake
    ·
    2 years ago

    Crush the pack to fragments, add the seasoning to boiling water and add rice. Fry the ramen in sesame oil and sprinkle over the finished rice.