Instant Curry Ramen
Recently, there has been ravings of a certain TikTok ramen hack. You might have heard of it, or maybe even tried it. But if you’ve not, here’s a quick primer—in that hack, you beat an egg in a bowl, together with some Kewpie mayonnaise, a clove of grated garlic, and a few sashay of the flavouring satchet that comes with the pack of instant noodles. Then, you boil up your noodles, and slop it into the sauce, before tossing it together with some of the noodle water. It turns out thicker and saucier than your typical bowl of instant noodles, and it’s been quite the revelation for many.
The dish—or the hack, if you want to call it that—is admittedly a good one. Adding egg and mayo gives the noodles a lot more body than a thin broth would, and adding garlic is a simple way to add a whole lot more complexity and comforting depth to a dish (especially to Asians who can’t ever get enough of garlic.)
But the thing is, in the TikTok ramen, the flavour of the dish is still largely dictated by the flavouring packet itself, which can be hit or miss, depending on the brand of ramen. Plus, with the extra backslop of noodle water, the richness of the egg and mayo is somewhat diluted.
To address these two issues, may I present to you my personal ramen hack, inspired by carbonara, mazemen—a thick, soupless Japanese ramen—and Indomee.
But before we go through what makes this dish so special, and what makes it different. Imagine creamy, delicate noodles, thick with a spicy-sweet curry sauce clinging onto them, dotted with specks of funky parmesan cheese and nori. As you slurp them up, the noodles slips off your chopsticks like liquid gold, spraying the scent of comforting Japanese curry all over your mouth before they slip down the back of your throat. Alright, now that you’re primed, let’s learn how to make it!
About the Dish
As you might’ve guessed from the description, for this ramen hack, instead of relying on a meagre clove of garlic and the flavour packet for, well, flavour, I turned to a source that I know for certain will give me all the punchy, spicy-sweet umami that I love—Japanese curry cubes!
Like all instant noodles, you start by cooking up your noodles in a pot of boiling water. And as they’re are cooking, you can heat up a block of Japanese curry in some milk. (You can use water too; I use milk for the extra creaminess. Optionally, you can add in the flavour pack that came with your noodles for even more flavour.) Then, drain out the noodles, discard the water, and toss the cooked noodles through with an egg, a la carbonara (or a la part one of TikTok ramen hack). And finally, you pour the curry sauce onto your ramen, and mix it together until the noodles are slick and slippery with the golden sauce. Then, you can top it with any garnish you like, just like Indomee. with the simple garnishes of parmesan cheese, spring onions, and a sprinkling of nori and bonito flakes from a pack, but you do you. It has the versatility of Indomee—have it plain, with an egg on top, with some slices of grilled chicken, or even a few shakes of togarashi or furikake.
However you make it, with the curry ramen base, I promise you it ends up creamier, slurpier, and better than any TikTok ramen out there. It’s a dish I’ve been making a lot over this pandemic, and I hope you make it too!
Instant Curry Ramen (Not The TikTok Ramen)
For 1
Ingredients
1 packet instant ramen
1 portion of Japanese curry cube
180ml (3/4 cup) milk
1/2 packet ramen flavouring (from the pack of instant ramen), optional
1 egg
Garnishes (optional)
10g (1 tablespoon) grated parmesan cheese
5g (1 tablespoon) Japanese nori and bonito flake mix
1 sprig spring onion, thinly sliced
Directions
Cook noodles: Fill a medium pot with water, and bring it to a boil. Cook your instant ramen in it, according to the packet instructions. (Depending on the brand you’re using, this can take anywhere from 2-4 minutes.) When the noodles are done, strain it out using a sieve and discard the water.
Make sauce: While the noodles are cooking, place the Japanese curry cube, milk, and the half pack of ramen flavouring in a small pot or saucepan. Heat it up and stir it until it comes together into a smooth curry sauce.
Combine everything: Crack the egg into a clean bowl. Add the cooked ramen noodles to the same bowl, and give it a good mix. Then, add in the curry sauce, and stir it all together until all the noodles are coated in the slick sauce.
Plate up, and eat: Transfer the noodles into a bowl, then top with the grated parmesan, nori and bonito mix, and the sliced spring onion. Eat immediately.
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