"Choosing and Cooking Instant Ramen" by Alex L

Instant ramen. It’s a food that too many of us are intimately familiar with. Maybe it's because we have too little time to eat other food, too tired and hungry to care, or maybe just because you like it, almost everyone eats it. As an instant ramen connoisseur, I felt it within my duty to document an instructional guide on making instant ramen and helping impoverished souls with enhancing their experience.
First and foremost is deciding the ramen. This is the most important part since some brands are better than others. This is highly dependent on personal preference though so you may or may not agree with me. Priorities include pricing, flavor and taste, convenience as well as amount. For pricing, nothing beats Top Ramen. 



The king of price in the world of instant ramen, Top Ramen is notorious for the pennies it costs. A quick google search finds that a single pack costs as little as $0.30. When calculating the per unit cost from a 48 pack, each one costs only $0.18. And yet, for its price, these noodles practically set the baseline for all other instant noodles in the world. Not too chewy or soft, as

well as still providing good enough broth and flavor, these ramen are perfect for those can’t afford better.
Convenience is next on the list. These instant ramen brands are characterized by their containers and/or apparatus that allows them to be easily cooked with either boiling water or a microwave. Unlike other ramens, these do not require the use of a pot and separate bowl to eat in; instead they come in their own. Brands that sell these include the ever popular Cup Noodle, Bowl Noodles from Nongshim, and Maruchan. 

What these noodles make up in convenience though, they lack in agreeable pricing and size. Using Cup Noodles as the baseline, a single unit costs $0.89, almost triple the price of Top Ramen. Additionally, these cup/bowl contraptions leave little room for extra additions such as eggs, vegetables, or other toppings.
We now reach the the mid-tier and high-tier ramen. While these instant ramens are still within anyone’s price range, they are significantly better in taste and texture and occasionally come with a significant selling point. Most popularly, these include the Samyang ramen, known for their extreme spiciness levels. 

Apart from unique selling points, this tier also features ramen such as Nongshim Shin Ramyun Black, Gookmul Knight Of Ribs, Sapporo Ichiban Tonkotsu Ramen Artificially Flavored Tonkotsu White Chicken Broth. All these ramen are high tier and can easily be enjoyed alone. 

The Actual Cooking
The actual instructional portion of this blog post, and quite probably the shortest. The cooking process is dependent on the type of noodles as stated above; some only require a microwave or boiling water, while others require a pot and stove. 

Cup/Bowl

Cooking these types of instant ramens are the easiest, only requiring a microwave and boiling water. Simply fill either boiling water or room temperature water to the indicated line as directed: 

If boiling water is used, place an object on the opened flap to ensure steam doesn’t escape and the noodles can cook properly. Otherwise, if a microwave is used, microwaving for 2:30 minutes will ensure an al-dente texture while microwaving for 3:30-4:00 will create soft noodles. This is heavily dependent on the microwave used and personal preference so cook them to the consistency you prefer.
Packs
Instant ramen that comes in packs must instead be cooked using a pot and stove. These require extra prep work but almost always provide greater choice and flavor. Firstly, grab a pot and fill it up with water. If you want to the noodles to be as flavorful as possible, use WAY less water than you’d imagine as the noodles will soak in the broth. Then, simply place on the stove and leave it on high until the water comes to a boil. 

Once the water begins boiling we can start adding the ramen. Open the pack and find the seasoning packet it comes with, dumping it all into the pot. Afterwards, drop in the noodles. 

At this point, further additions can be made to upgrade your noodle experience. My personal list includes different vegetables such as tomatoes and bok choy as well as an egg, but feel free to add anything you think would go well. I personally like adding some sesame oil and chicken bouillon(no there isn’t enough salt) into mine to make the broth taste even better while others have tried even crazier combinations like cheese, peanut butter, or Tajin. 

And that’s the end to my guide. Hopefully you’ve learned to more thoroughly appreciate the gift of the heavens that is instant ramen as well as the possibilities with it. An easy dish to make, upgrading your ramen with Spam or some romaine lettuce makes it taste even better. I hope my instructional guide has open a new chapter in your instant ramen journey and, if not, here are some pictures of instant ramen for you to salivate over.