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.
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
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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.
Most straightforward path from a health standpoint is switching from refined forms of noodles to whole grain noodles. I’ve never been able to find whole grain pre-formulated instant noodle brands that I like, so I just get plain noodles and flavorings separately.
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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.
Also since no one else suggested it yet, tofu is always a great option for easy protein. And albeit unorthodox in instant noodles, I’ve found beans to be a perfectly fine addition.
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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.
All these healthy options here, if you want to go the OTHER way and put on some calories, you can drain the broth, add in a bunch of cheese (melty stuff, not stringy), meats, jalapenos, red peppers, and such. Teriyaki sauce is good, taijin spice is delicious. Garlic and onion powder of course standard. Alfredo sauce and canned chicken. Can throw in some butter and Parmesan with some hot sauce. Really, so many ways to make it even MORE unhealthy with minimal effort if you just put your mind to it.
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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.
Not healthy, but I love doing diced, pan seared spam in a teriyaki/garlic glaze. Sub spam for really any protein too.
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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.
Apart from the already mentioned veggies like frozen peas and bellpepper. I often fry up a slice of ham or blood pudding, then slice it into strips to put on top of my ramen. For seasoning I put some oystersauce, soysauce and oil (the healthier the better, I use camelina oil but I realise it’s hardly available everywhere) with some spices in the bottom of the bowl and mix together before the noodles go in. Maybe some chili flakes sprinkled over?
