9 Ways to Upgrade Instant Ramen

These ramen packages are about to transform

into elevated delicious dishes.

My name is Eunjo Park,

I'm a chef based in New York City.

Today I'm using restaurant skills

to upgrade this packaged ramen.

Last year I was on Epicurious taste panel.

We tasted 16 very different ramens,

some which I loved

and some which I didn't love as much.

I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy.

I picked ramens that I wanted to create new dishes.

[rolling pin thuds]

If you see them as a base,

you can create any dishes of your liking.

Sapporo Ichiban, French onion style ramen.

caramelized onion, cheese melted into it,

serving it with a fried Chinese donut.

We are taking Japanese Ramen and we're going French cuisine.

So first we are making caramelized onion,

it's been cooking for 15 minutes.

At this point you see all this delicious fond

that are building on the bottom of the pan.

So I'm gonna use a little bit of water

[water sizzling]

and basically try to scrape all the fond.

It's basically like a caramelized sugar.

So you want to get all the flavors out of there.

Soy sauce and Worcester sauce gives that acidity

and butter to give the body.

Bring this to a full boil, drop the noodles.

I picked Sapporo Ichiban original.

The soy flavor almost felt to me like a beef broth.

By adding additional flavors like Worcester,

it really mimics the flavor of the French onion soup.

I'm gonna keep the noodles intact,

it keeps this wiggly shape together

and the texture is more bouncy.

[spice rack rattling]

Lots of fresh brown black pepper.

I have smoked mozzarella, smokiness from the mozzarella

really adds another complexity.

Traditionally use Gruyere

and I do want little bit of cheese

in every slurp of the noodle.

So French onion soup is served

on top with a toasted baguettes and cheese

and melted like this Chinese donut.

I'm going to just put this, soak up all the good flavors

and there you have it.

Instant French onion noodle soup.

It does taste like french onion soup

and this cheesy caramelized onion works very good

with this soy clean flavor.

Just delicious together.

Jin Spicy Ramen, toasted seaweed, and sesame ramen.

Well-rounded because of the chili oil and the sesame oil

and a lot of umami from the toasted seaweed crushed on top.

First we're going to make a quick chili aromatic oil.

I have this neutral oil, just a drop,

make sure the pan is nicely heated.

This pot is traditionally used for instant ramen,

it's made with aluminum, it's cheap, it boils very fast

and it's a perfect portion to cook one order of ramen.

Gochugaru is a dried Korean chili flakes.

It's not all about the heat,

it also has floral sweetness to it.

I'm going to add are soup base.

The flavors from Jin Ramen is very well balanced

mushroom, beef, a nicely balanced soup base

that you can build

and we're gonna bring up to a boil.

It smells great, already.

Drop all of our flakes and ramen.

In the flakes, there are scallions, carrots,

mushrooms and chilies.

The ramens are starting to fall apart

from their normal shape.

I'm not going to actually like force it to separate,

I'm just gonna flip it to keep the noodle

as tingly as possible.

So they are actually almost done,

I do like to eat it little undercooked.

So at this point I'm going to crack the egg in a side

so they're gently poaching.

30 seconds, we will cook the egg

and by that time the noodle should be ready to go.

This is distilled white vinegar,

helps to brighten up the noodle.

Green scallions, sesame oil.

This is a toasted seaweed, its seasoned with sesame oil

and a little bit of salt.

This will add flavor, texture, and lot of savoriness.

Sprinkle of sesame sea

and that's it, toasted sesame and seaweed ramen.

You want to eat ramen as soon as it's ready,

you don't want to overcook it.

If you have cup noodle, you can make your own little plate,

by folding the lid, it's very common in Korea.

It's also easy way to eat your noodles.

[food slurping]

That toasty seaweed,

it really brings out like almost like a oceany umami bomb.

It's very comfort, tastes like a childhood to me.

Momofuku Spicy Soy Ramen.

Fried chicken tenders.

Our batter is gonna be made with ground ramen noodles.

It's Momofuku, I had to make it into fried chicken.

So I'm gonna grind it into a fine flour. [exhales sharply]

I mean, it just seasoned flour,

I'm actually adding little more flour and cornstarch.

It doesn't have any gluten, so it helps to make it

more like a shattery crisp butter.

Little salt, toasted sesame seed

to give extra crunch while we are frying.

sparkling cold water.

Since these noodles are very dry,

will actually rest in the fridge

for about 10 to 15 minutes,

they'll thicken up a little more.

So while the butter is resting,

we're going to make our glaze.

Butter, honey, toasted sesame oil.

We're using everything from the packet,

the sauce becomes the glaze

and the ramen noodle becomes the batter.

This spicy soy ramen sauce, it's pretty salty.

So I am making honey butter to balance.

We are gonna set it aside and stir frying.

The chicken tenders been drying one hour in about 5% salt.

This is dried butter mix that I saved,

into the wet batter and into the fryer.

You shake it and when I drop it,

the cook side is gonna come up

and not stick to the bottom of the pan

and also we are using sparkling water,

once it gets deep fried, it's like a air pockets

to make it extra crispy.

Give the glaze and the garnish for the fried shallot

and there we have it,

fried chicken tenders using Momofuku Spicy Soy Ramen.

[chicken crunches]

Perfect chicken tender.

Would I buy instant ramen to make fried chicken?

Not necessarily,

but it shows that anything is possible

if you want to be creative.

Maruchan chicken flavor Matzo bowl soup.

It's literally chicken soup,

just ground up, bound it to a bowl

and calling it Matzo bowl soup.

So I have the garnish is here.

The seasoned noodle, I'm going to put in a Ziploc bag

and we're going to crush it into little crumbs.

I'm gonna use two egg whites to make them lighter Schmaltz,

to make it savory richness.

Little water, soy sauce, pinch of white pepper

and I'm just gonna create little bit of ginger.

[glass clinking]

Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes

and by that time, the starch should absorb all the moisture

and we should able to form into a ball.

Most of the flavors are inside the ball

and the flavors will come out as they're cooking

and this can rest while we bring our broth together.

One spoon of soy sauce, little salt and our garnish

and we're going to drop our ramen ball.

I wanna make sure it cooks through

and becomes like delicate pillowy.

So a gentle simmer for about 20 minutes.

It feels cooked all the way.

These are cup noodle as our serving bowl,

little more white pepper

and little drizzle of toasted sesame oil.

You don't wanna make it salty

because the bowl itself is already seasoned

with the ramen seasoning.

To finish, some nice fresh dill sprigs and there we have it,

Maruchan Matzo bowl soup.

Buldak Spicy Ramen.

Kimbap with Mortadella

Inside of the kimbap are seasoned noodles.

All the creaminess, spiciness just a perfect bite,

it's going to be delicious.

So noodles are ready,

I'm going to use all of our spicy Buldak sauce.

Hit you with spicy, savory umami.

It says artificial chicken flavor, there is no chicken,

but it does really come off as a chicken.

I think that's nutritional yeast.

As the noodle are sitting in the sauce,

they're gonna expand.

The sauce is just gonna get absorbed into the noodles

and it's easier to roll the kimbap fillings

if the fillings are not too wet

and this will almost become like a broth.

For our next step, we're going to make thin egg crepes.

But for Kimbap, it's usually like a thick omelet.

I'm just gonna put enough egg to just cover the bottom.

[eggs sizzling]

I'm going to strow my pan

and as soon as it's flipped, it's fully cooked.

Classic Kimbap, it has like a Korean Kimbap sausage,

made with fishcake.

But today we're going to use Mortadella.

Mortadella is a Italian sausage made with pork,

spices with pork gel fat.

I'm going to take half to crisp them up

and have two types of texture and a flavor.

Next we have rice, seasoned with flakes from the Buldak.

There is a little Kim strips and toasted sesame seed.

Kim is a seaweed for Korean, so Kim Pop,

Kim seaweed and pop is rice,

basically rice rolled in seaweed.

Sesame oil, salt.

So next we're going to roll our Buldak into

an egg omelet.

You can tell this ramen, absorb all the sauces.

Roll them as tight as possible.

This is the seaweed, it's toasted but unseasoned.

Bred the rice about three quarters from the bottom,

leaving the top and don't crush the rice.

Perilla leaves, tastes like a very earthy mint.

You got chives and we'll put American cheese.

Nothing is traditional when it comes to kimbap,

and it goes so well with Mortadella.

We got our egg crepe with Mortadella.

As you can see, I'm putting everything throughout is even,

so when I slice it, you get everything.

Danmuji is a sweetened, pickled radish.

Ready to roll.

With my thumb, I'm supporting,

I'm lifting the bottom, with my fingers,

I'm trying to keep all the fillings inside.

You don't wanna press too hard,

or the noodles gonna come out.

Brush the top with extra sesame oil for flavor

and also for the visual.

So nice bite size.

So here we have our Buldak Mortadell Kimbap.

There is actual Buldak noodles coming out,

and it's very clear that this is Buldak kimbap.

It still has the spiciness in the back of the no,

but surprisingly with egg, cheese and Mortadella,

it really balances out.

Buldak Carbonara, Italian Rabokki,

which is a rice cake dish with instant ramen, cheesy, spicy.

We're going to take into an Italian direction.

In a pan, I started to sweat garlic and onion.

I'm going to add Nduja, spicy Calabrian paste

made with pork, chili and fat

and gochujang is a Korean fermented chili paste

and by toasting gochujang, it tunes down the spiciness

and the sweetness really comes through.

So we have this spicy Buldak sauce.

Cheese powder goes in, just mix it in.

By cooking the noodle with rice cake, they're both starches,

so it'll thicken itself nicely.

Rice cakes are basically extruded rice tubes.

They're soft, they're chewy,

and it's really fun to eat together

with this different texture with the noodle.

You know when you make pasta, you're constantly tossing

to get the starch to thicken up the sauce, same idea.

Finished with grated Pecorino Romano.

Because this ramen is such a full-on flavor,

it needed more sharp cheese, lemon juice for brightness,

and we're gonna plate

and on top I have toasted Italian breadcrumbs,

just lightly toasted in olive oil with salt and pepper.

This will give a nice crunch, fresh grated Pecorino

and fresh basil to finish and there we have it.

It's a perfect bite.

Mama Pork, spicy pork larb,

with lettuce wraps.

Iceberg lettuce, round pork with ramen crunchies,

and eat it in a one big bite.

Using the good friend, the Ziploc bag

and I'm just gonna break them apart.

We'll reserve this and we're gonna cook our pork first,

pork garlic scallion and red chili.

The oils are coming out from the pork

and I'm actually gonna use this fat

to toast the ramen crunchies.

All goes in, these are already fried,

by toasting them in extra fat, they become super crunchy.

I'm going to use one of this packet, it says chili powder.

So this will be like a spicy ramen crunchies.

Porks are back on the heat,

Gochugaru gives a nice red color,

add all over rest of the seasoning.

It has sugar, it has MSG and all these lemongrass

and aromatics that we're looking for in the Thai cuisine.

Fish sauce and lime juice to brighten up the food.

Thai basils or regular basil,

if you can find, some fresh mint

and cilantro.

The beautiful iceberg lettuce,

fresh cucumber, our spicy larb, spicy ramen crunches.

Here we have our spicy pork larb, lettuce wrap

and cucumber and lime.

As a Korean, when you make some, like a lettuce wrap,

you do have to eat one bite

so you get all the flavors in one big mouthful.

It had a good foundation to start,

so it was very easy for me

to just up the flavors,

create into something totally different.

Indomie Mi Goreng noodles, sizzling noodles,

with savory vegetables and shrimp on top.

Chewy crunchy noodle with this savory, sweet,

and also spicy sauce that goes very well together.

I have sauteed garlic, scallion

with the vegetables you have in the fridge.

This is cornstarch water slurry,

so it's going to thicken our sauce, oyster sauce.

In this Mi Goreng, there is five different seasonings.

Starting with chicken powder

with onion and garlic

and here we have seasoning oil,

I think it's cooked in shallot,

so it's more like a shallot oil.

In the middle is a sweet soy, on the side is a soundbar,

it's a chili sauce.

It thickens with using the cornstarch slurry.

I'm just going to add our shrimp

and cook it until they're just ready.

Smells great, I'm just going to finish it off

with a little bit of vinegar,

keep it aside and we're going to sizzle our noodles.

I'm gonna put the noodles

and gonna get them really nice crispy on one side.

You want to hear this sizzle. [food sizzling]

By searing the noodles,

it has some of the chew of this boiled noodle,

but also have this crispy edges of the crunchy bits.

Put our vegetable shrimp garnish on top.

[food sizzling]

Our fried onion garnish, let it sizzle

and serve it right away.

Such a full-on flavor from all these different

seasoning packs that we used.

The crunchy noodles, once it hits the sauce,

it does get soggy, but the crunchy bits are still there.

Nongshim Shin Black, New York Army Stew.

Budae Jjigae is another well-known Korean dish.

Since we are filming this in New York,

I'm going to use pastrami, sauerkraut,

pierogi and frank sausage from Gray's Papaya.

So first we are going to make Dadaegi.

Dadaegi is a Korean seasoning paste.

Here I have Ssamjang, a mix of gochujang and doenjang.

So fermented soybean paste, fish sauce, soy sauce,

sugar, gochugaru, Shin Ramen Black.

There's a soup paste, it has the spicy beefy flavor.

Make sure they're all mixed into a nice thick paste

and use it later.

We are going to build our army stew, cabbage, onion.

Have a hot dog frank, cut in diagonal.

I'm just gonna put it all the ingredients in their own

so it looks nice and presentable.

Pastrami, I do like to add tofu because it absorbs

all the flavors.

Breakfast sausage, baked beans,

and the Dadaegi, the seasoning paste we made

and our final ingredients are flakes.

Nice chunks of mushrooms, scallions and chilies here.

I'm just going to mix this beef bone base with the water.

After it comes to boil, let is simmer for like five minutes

until the vegetables are cooked,

the flavors will really come together.

If it was in New York enough,

we're going to add more New York ingredients.

Pierogis works like mandu, like a Korean dumpling,

it will absorb all the broth and sauerkraut,

this will work like a kimchi,

the lactic acid tank will brighten up this very rich stew.

Chopped garlic, and we're putting the noodles in.

American cheese is classic recipe for Budae Jjigae,

and just let it melt.

I like to grab all the noodles first,

and I'm gonna grab it with the cheese on top.

Honoring classics, not necessarily always by repeating it,

it's by where you're living it

and using the ingredients that you have

to make it delicious food.

[food slurping]

It's so good.

We prove today that the possibility is unlimited,

have fun, be creative, and just enjoy instant ramen.