Welcome to The Storied Recipe! My podcast guest, Suwanee Lennon, introduced me to elevated ramen bowls in her episode, "We Were Not Leprosy" about her childhood living in a Thai leprosy camp. Make sure you listen to her story while you choose your add-ins and make your very own gourmet noodle bowl from a humble package of instant ramen noodles!
An artfully made bowl of instant ramen noodles is the ultimate in quick, cheap, and creative comfort food. Even if you're a novice cook on a limited budget, you can make a healthy and elevated meal with nothing more than a package of noodles and a few leftovers.
There are endless ways to transform a package of cheap instant noodles into personalized, gourmet ramen noodle bowls for a quick and nutritious meal anytime. Making fancy ramen is a lot more about knowledge than skill - and you just need to know this one thing:
Step One: Hit the Notes
To elevate your noodle bowl, you just need to hit a note in each of 4 categories - Spicy, Sweet, Sour (and/or acidic), and Salty (and/or umami). I've curated lots of options in each category below and I guarantee you have some of them in your pantry!
Step Two: Choose Your Add-ins
Then, to make a complete and healthy meal, add things from the protein, vegetable, leafy greens, crunchy, and creamy categories. Mix and match the add-ins to YOUR liking - it's impossible to go wrong!
If you're not the mix and match type, you can check out this post: How to Make Instant Ramen: 37 Best Recipes Around the World.
Listen to Suwanee
Follow The Storied Recipe in Your Favorite Player
The Toppings
Spicy
Every good ramen has a little kick of heat. Add to your preference!
- Raw ginger
- Thai chili flakes
- Shichimi Togarashi - Japanese blend of chili peppers, orange peel, and other seasonings
- Vegan Chili Oil Sauce with Sichuan Peppers
- Dried Japones Peppers
- Jalapeno Peppers
- Hot sauce
- Gochujang (Red chili paste)
- Traditional Korean Kimchi
- Spicy Shaoxing Chinese Cooking Wine
Sweet
This can easily be overdone, so use a measured hand. But a good bowl of ramen will have just a little hint of sweet. My favorite? - #2 Kecap Manis!
- Hoisin sauce
- Kecap Manis (Indonesian Soy Sauce)
- Brown Sugar
- Banchun's Original Japanese BBQ Sauce
- Mirin (Sweet Japanese Cooking Wine)
Sour/Tangy
If you're American, like me, you may not have trained your sour palate. But any Asian cook will tell you - sour is imperative to a good dish.
- Lime juice
- Rice wine vinegar
- Pickled vegetables
- Tamarind paste
- Lemongrass
- Plum powder
- Yuzu juice (or powder or paste)
Salty or Umami Flavor
A flavorful broth always has a salt or umami flavor - or, preferably, both. (Salty is not the same as umami, but American palates often conflate the two. Read more about umami flavors here.)
- Nori (seaweed)
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Fish sauce
- Oyster sauce
- Miso paste
- White fish paste
- Black garlic oil
- Red pepper paste
Crunchy
Top your hot noodle soup with one or more of these crunchy toppings - or feel free to add your own and let me know what you chose!
- Sesame seeds
- Fresh green onions
- Bonito Flakes
- Crispy fried onions
- Sambal Crunchy Fried Shrimp
- Chopped peanuts
Broth
The easiest and quickest way to bring your ramen to the next level is use broth instead of water. Careful - if you choose a commercial (rather than homemade) broth, it's likely to have a lot of salt (even the low sodium varieties!). Consider going with a homemade ramen seasoning made by mixing elements from the lists below rather than the packet, which will also be crammed with sodium.
- Vegetable Broth (or Mushroom Broth)
- Chicken broth
- Beef broth
- Seafood broth
Creamy
Truthfully, creamy isn't really the goal of ramen noodle bowls. However, more and more creamy ramen recipes are filling the internet and social media, so I decided to include a few ideas here, if that's what you're going for. You can find of the best recipes here.
- Peanut butter
- Coconut Milk
- Tahini sauce (in Japanese style bowls)
- Kewpie Mayo
Proteins
Turn this into a filling meal with eggs, meat, or plant-based protein. A little goes a long way!
- Beautiful Narutomaki (Fish paste)
- Crab sticks (also made from fish paste)
- Soft-boiled egg (4-5 minutes)
- Hard-boiled egg (up to 10 minutes)
- Poached, scrambled, or fried egg
- Pork belly
- Chicken breast / Chicken thigh
- Shrimp
- Tofu
- Black lentils
- Mongolian beef
- Ground beef, turkey, or pork
- Chicken - thinly sliced breasts or grilled thighs
Leafy Greens (and Fresh Herbs)
Go crazy shopping for Asian greens in H Mart or your local Asian grocery stores! Here are a few of my favorites:
- Baby bok choy
- Pak choi
- Mustard Greens
- Broccolini
- Spinach
- Cilantro
- Napa Cabbage
- Watercress
Fresh Vegetables
Each and every one of these will add lots of nutrients and micronutrients to your personalized ramen bowl. Go crazy!
- Bean sprouts
- Radishes
- Bamboo shoots
- Bell pepper
- Green beans
- Mushrooms
- Cherry tomatoes
- Corn
- Carrots - cut into matchsticks or juliianned
- Celery
- Snow peas/Snap peas
- Lotus root - for an eye-catching display plus nutrients
- Super huge hurry? - Pop in a ½ cup of frozen veggies and let the boiling water cook them
Thanks for reading! What's YOUR favorite Ramen Add-In? Tell us and I'll add it into the list!!
Would love to hear from you!