Ideas for very simple improvements to instant noodles?
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
Sliced bok choy, julienned ham, julienned carrots, baby spinach, slices of pancetta… If you’re willing to pre-funk some ingredients up to a few days in advance, you can have more tasty additions such as marinated hardboiled eggs, lap cheong (shelf-stable until you open the package), chashu, crispy pork belly, Chinese or Japanese brisket curry.
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These three from Babish are my favorite, especially the chili garlic one.
If you wanna go really cheap you can just add colby jack cheese, curry powder and onion powder to chicken ramen, which was my go to in college
Cheese in Ramen just seems wrong, somehow. And i love cheese.
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Cheese in Ramen just seems wrong, somehow. And i love cheese.
I’ve been putting cheese in instant ramen since I was like five. Cheese ramen at restaurants is relatively common for the non-standard restaurant tonkotsu/shoyu/shio options. Maybe just behind those but with a little curry paste curry for the non-standard restaurant ramens
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
I always put a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter in my instant noodles (along with some extra spices). Makes the texture creamier, but with some crunch, and gives a kinda satay vibe.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
Add frozen veggies. Just toss 'em in the water and let it boil. Add your noodles and seasoning packet as directed. You can usually find different “blends” at the supermarket. They’re all fairly cheap and will last a long time in your freezer.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
If you want it creamier, add something fatty. Milk, butter, peanut butter, sesame paste. Not a lot. Just a dash. A small slice of butter. Different chili oils. Primarily the bits in the oil rather than much of the oil itself. Buy fried shallots. Baby bok choy makes it a little sweeter. A bit of napa cabbage adds some good flavor. Tubes of tomato paste freeze well, squeeze some in
Throw in something a bit acidic. Lime or vinegar. A fermented or picked vegetable. Kimchi, som pak, something. A little tamarind paste can add a kick to it. Frozen dumplings. Thai basil. Shichimi togarashi. Five spice. Curry powder.
Back to the peanut butter, I always have powdered peanut butter for low calorie peanut butter flavor. Try a dash of soy sauce or fish sauce into it. Cayenne and/paprika powder.
If you have whole spices on hand, it doesn’t take long for coriander seeds, fennel, star anise, cardamom, etc to add flavor to a broth.
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Cheese in Ramen just seems wrong, somehow. And i love cheese.
Fun fact, Ramen was originally Chinese, derived from a dish called la mian
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
I recently picked up a package of dried ramen toppings. It’s got all kinds of good stuff in it, shiitake mushroom, fish cake, shrimp, imitation crab, along with several kinds of vegetable. It’s really good!
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
Add a few drops of sesame oil, sesame seeds are also nice
Add a tiny splash of mirin, sake, or rice vinegar
Use stock for the liquid, or add miso paste, or mushroom powder
Rehydrate a pinch of wakame while you cook to add at the end
Experiment with condiments: soy sauce, teriyaki, hoisin, chili oils, etc.
Anything that’s going to add healthy ingredients is probably going to bump you up over 10 minutes. If you’re willing to do that, saute some stuff in the pan before you cook the noodles. I’ve done chicken, pork, mushrooms, bok choy, leeks. It’s a bit more effort for a big improvement.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
I like to add a tablespoon of oyster sauce, and then some Worcestershire sauce to taste.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
Egg
Spring onion -
I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
I feel a bit guilty eating instant noodles too, so I usually eat them whenever I happen to have leafy greens in the fridge to make it more balanced.
If you’re interested, there are lots to choose from at your local Asian grocery store (here’s a good list). Many varieties of cabbage, bok choy, spinach, mustard greens, etc. that go well in soups and hotpots. Or blanch and eat them on the side (when lazy, I just season with soy sauce, or save a bit of the hot water and mix in some chicken bouillon).Other than that, I like adding kimchi.
For protein, yeah I just throw in an egg.
Sometimes I add mustard if I want some acidity in the broth. My dad turned me on to this. It works surprisingly well lol I think it’s more interesting than vinegar.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
Here are things I sometimes add to my instant ramen:
While cooking:
- Frozen peas or frozen corn
- Fresh seasonal veggies
- Dried mushrooms (rinse them first)
Before serving:
- Deli meat
- Sliced fish cake. Our local Asian store sells fresh and frozen and they both last a long time unopened.
- Chili crisp
- Nori
I also make pork belly specifically for ramen. I rub it with salt and sugar, roast it, slice it into strips and freeze it in small packs so I have it handy. It cooks up pretty quickly in a frying pan. You can put it in while cooking the noodles if you don’t want to get a pan dirty but it’s not quite as tasty.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
Pork floss.
Egg.
Veg.
Mushrooms.
All of those are available in shelf stable dehydrated version and it only takes a little bit to livein up a bag of ramen. -
I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
I do frozen vegetables, shredded chicken, and bring it to a boil. Once I add noodles, wait 1 min, crack in an egg, and cook for the 2 more min. It makes a nice runny yolk that turns saucy when you tear into it.
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If you want it creamier, add something fatty. Milk, butter, peanut butter, sesame paste. Not a lot. Just a dash. A small slice of butter. Different chili oils. Primarily the bits in the oil rather than much of the oil itself. Buy fried shallots. Baby bok choy makes it a little sweeter. A bit of napa cabbage adds some good flavor. Tubes of tomato paste freeze well, squeeze some in
Throw in something a bit acidic. Lime or vinegar. A fermented or picked vegetable. Kimchi, som pak, something. A little tamarind paste can add a kick to it. Frozen dumplings. Thai basil. Shichimi togarashi. Five spice. Curry powder.
Back to the peanut butter, I always have powdered peanut butter for low calorie peanut butter flavor. Try a dash of soy sauce or fish sauce into it. Cayenne and/paprika powder.
If you have whole spices on hand, it doesn’t take long for coriander seeds, fennel, star anise, cardamom, etc to add flavor to a broth.
A really good way to thicken your ramen is to mix a raw egg with about a tablespoon of mayo. Put this in the bottom of the bowl before pouring in the noodles and broth. It’ll mix in and create a more creamy, silky broth.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
I add frozen mixed veggies and salmon. Its quite nice in the shin ramyun soup and adds very little extra prep.
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He said cheese, not Chinese!
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I pretty frequently eat Shin Ramyun noodles when I want a lazy meal, but apart from having absolutely nothing healthy in it, it also gets bland over time.
I’ve started cutting some spring onion and cracking an egg into it at the start, letting the egg get hard and the onion soft, in the boiling water with the noodles themselves. Do any of you have ideas to improve it further without much effort? I’d like to keep cooking times, including the ~5 minutes for the noodles themselves below 10 minutes total.
- Chopped green onion or chives
- Hard boiled egg
- Kale or another green (arugula would probably be good)
- Some fresh basil
- Sliced jalapeno or sweet peppers
