The Food That Made Me

Kids, sometimes you don’t have enough time to cook, or you run out of ingredients, or you are just lazy, or the cooked meals in the fridge don’t look as appetizing. My go-to during those situations is instant ramen. It is quick, satisfying, easy to clean up, and customizable.

公仔麵 translates to “doll noodles” because it was introduced to Hong Kong in the 1960s with the Demae Iccho brand, which had a doll as a logo. Growing up we would eat the noodles with three slices of pan fried SPAM and a fried egg. It was glorious and is one of the few ways that I actually enjoy eggs. But, SPAM + instant ramen = daily sodium amount, so it is a TREAT nowadays! The dry mouth and headaches are worth it, though (as of 8/14/2025).

Don’t eat ramen every day. I’m guessing right now that you are 10 to 20 years old. You have a higher metabolism, but you may get heart issues, and you’ll probably have some health issues from the family already. You’re welcome. Remember, everything in moderation. You will be tempted not to do so as a poor college student with tuition costing $200,000 a year. I mean, I’m just assuming that will be the price in 20 years. Don’t worry, I will have a separate post teaching you how to eat in college.

Here is how you make instant ramen:

1. Pick a ramen packet. Feel out what mood you are in. Do you want something a little heavier or lighter? Salty or spicy?
2. What toppings do you want? Spam, fried egg, green beans, meatballs, fishballs, dumplings, bok choy?
3. Get a smallish steel pot and boil water. Make sure the water level is enough to cover the ramen and other things that you would want to put in it later.
4. When the water is boiling, cook the meatballs first for about 5 minutes. Dumplings take a little less time. Then, throw in some bok choy, which will cook in a minute or less.
5. Get a bowl and put in the seasoning and oils from the packets.
6. Ladle out the meatballs and bok choy into the bowl.
7. Cook the ramen and follow the cook time on the packet. We are cooking the noodles last so that all of that starch won’t make the other components all foamy. If you want a cleaner mouthfeel, make the ramen in a separate pot. But, that kind of defeats the purpose of being quick and lazy. Taste a couple of strands of noodles to see if they are cooked enough.
8. After the noodles are done, pour some of the water into the bowl and mix it thoroughly. A lot of instructions will tell you to put the seasonings into the pot and boil it together. We aren’t doing that because we are lazy. Cleaning a pot with seasoning and oil is harder than cleaning just the starch from the noodles.
9. After everything is mixed, put the noodles into the bowl. Taste the flavor to see if you want to dilute it with more water.
10. Open a jar of chilli crisp or chilli paste. As you eat your meal, put little bits on most bites.
11. Congrats on your well-balanced meal. It is delicious.

DISCLAIMER: It will not be the same as ramen from Ramen Nagi.

There is only one rule of instant ramen.

1. No Maruchan or Top Ramen.

The following are my favorites:

Ichiran this is just on a whole different level because it is close to 10 bucks. It tastes as close as you can get to fresh ramen without going outside.

Black Shin Ramen – Again, this maybe a nostalgic thing. The noodles are good, though. I think that my go to now is just non-spicy.

Nissin Demae Ramen, Black Garlic Oil Tonkotsu – Tonkotsu is awesome. It is just really strong pork flavor. The touch of black garlic oil makes it feel elevated. But, I can make black garlic oil myself, so I don’t need to feel like they are being frugal.

Nissin Cup Noodle Curry – honestly this is more of a nostalgic one. I do enjoy the familiar curry taste, but their noodles and toppings could be upgraded a bit.

White Elephant Chicken – I enjoy their pork or chicken flavors the best. The soup packets that they use are concentrated. It is the closest to an actual chicken or pork soup.

When you are past 20, you are too old for ingesting large quantities of sodium for not even mediocre-tasting food, but bad-tasting food. Ruin your body for the good stuff. The amount of sodium in it is 71% of your daily intake! Even if it were 50% or 30%, that is still a lot of sodium. So, be warned.

The journey of instant ramen is diverse and exciting. There are many many more brands out there to try as compared to 20 years ago. Cheese, everything bagel, pumpkin, etc. Kind of like kit kats, you can try to combo anything to see what it would taste like. You can be as creative and as adventurous as you want.

You don’t always have to eat healthy. Sometimes you just don’t have enough time. Try to find something that is somewhat of a balanced meal and have some fun with it.

P.S. I got so hungry while writing this that I made a bowl of noodles with SPAM and eggs. It was delicious!