Instant Ramen Hack

Spice Up Your Instant Ramen Noodle Recipe with these simple hacks

Instant ramen noodles are one of the quickest & easiest meals to throw together. And a favorite dish to hack. Spice your instant ramen noodles up with these hacks and make a delicious & nutritious dinner! In Japan, traditional ramen toppings totally vary by region: pork, seafood, bamboo shoots, corn, mushrooms… the list goes on! One of our favorite combinations is to use fish balls, scallions, nori seaweed, and a soy sauce egg. In this video, we explore Asian Midway Foods to gather ingredients, and then we made the Spiced Up Instant Ramen recipe below!

Ingredients (serves 1)
1 package of instant ramen
1 T brown sugar
3/4 C soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
6 eggs
2 fish balls
1 sheet of roasted nori
2-3 scallions

1-2 hours in advance:

You’ll want to start by making the soy sauce eggs, and it’s best to do this ahead of time. This recipe is for 6 eggs, but you’ll only need 1 or 2 for your ramen, so save the rest for another time! To store them just remove them from the marinade and place in a sealed container in the fridge. These are good for 2-3 days. These make delicious deviled eggs by the way!

Bring a pot of water to boil, and also prepare a bowl of ice water. Boil the eggs for exactly 6 minutes and 50 seconds, and then plunge them into the ice water to stop them from overcooking. 

To make the marinade, add the brown sugar to 1/4 C of warm water and stir to dissolve. Mix this sugar water with the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Add your soft-boiled eggs, and let sit for between at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Immediately before eating:

Cook ramen noodles according to package directions. Add fish balls to the boiling water to cook alongside the noodles.

In the meantime, dice the scallions and tear off a few pieces of nori.

When the noodles are done cooking, remove the fish balls and set aside. Pour the noodles and cooking water directly into your serving bowl. Add the seasoning packet(s) and stir until evenly mixed. 

Slice the fish balls into bite-sized pieces. Remove a soft-boiled egg from the marinade (it should now be a beautiful golden brown!) and slice in half lengthwise. Top your ramen noodles with the egg, sliced fish balls, diced scallions, and the pieces of nori. Enjoy! 

Watch Episode 1 of our new video series “Aisle of Spice” to see Madison Eats owner Otehlia gather these ingredients for the easy instant ramen noodles and cook the recipe!