"GOURMET" RAMEN

I am a big noodle-soup fan.  Udon, ramen, naengmyun, pho, chicken noodle soup - I love them all.  So despite its sodium and fat content, and the fact that it apparently takes your body days to digest the noodles, I always keep packs of ramen in my cupboard for a lazy day or just to satisfy a craving. Ramen was a staple in my home while growing up.  But I'm not talking about your 25-cent Top/Maruchan ramen packages.  My mother got the more filling Korean ones.  These are slightly larger and usually on the spicy side.  They also usually have a separate packet filled with dehydrated veggies.  We always threw an egg in there, and sometimes, chopped scallions and/or a splash of sesame oil.  

Here in NYC, the best ramen place that I've tried is Ippudo.  There are a few others that I'm curious about, but the lack of plentiful seating  at these places deters me from going.  I once toyed with the idea of making my own ramen broth.  Have you seen the blog posts on how to make that broth?!  No fucking way was I doing that.  So packaged ramen, it is, with a trip to a ramen joint once in a while.

Despite its convenience, pretty much everyone knows that packaged ramen doesn't keep you full for very long.  At least, that's been my experience.  I scoured the internet for packaged ramen review websites when I stumbled upon one that looked somewhat legit.  One of the posts linked to the following youtube video on how to make a meal out of ramen:

White people.  I don't quite get their sense of humor sometimes, but that's beside the point.  I made a few changes to their suggestions.  I used another nongshim ramen called Shin Ramyun Black.   It's the "gourmet" version to Shin Ramyun.  It tastes similar but the broth is less spicy and creamier. This ramen is supposed to be based off of some beef soup or something  It's more expensive than your standard ramen fare but it's good stuff.  

check out the three little packets

 I did not cook my ramen for 5 minutes.  I don't like my noodles to be that thoroughly cooked.  It gets all mushy and the texture of it grosses me out.  3-4 minutes is more like it.  I didn't have any frozen odang, so I used a sliced hot dog.  Yeah, judge me if you want, but the only way my mother could get me excited whenever she made kimchi jigae was by throwing hot dogs in it.  I used an all beef one.  I added my egg much sooner, after about a minute of my noodles cooking.  I like my egg fully cooked.  Again, it's a texture thing.  Finally, I refused to put a slice of cheese in my ramen.  I know the lady says it's amazing, but I was not putting that shit in my perfectly good bowl of ramen.