The Ramen Hack You'll Wish You'd Known Sooner

When you think ramen noodles, you probably think college and cheap dinner or late night final munchies. However, it might surprise you to learn that ramen has not always been considered an economical food. Per Insider, when Japanese markets first started selling these convenience noodles, they cost six times the amount of fresh noodles. Can you imagine? But since they made their way to grocery store shelves, ramen noodles have fed billions of people. Planet Forward shared that in 2012 calendar year, our world ate 100 billion servings of ramen. Fast forward to the present and we are still noshing on these noodles. According to Axios, during the height of the pandemic, sales of ramen shot up 578 percent between February 23 and March 21, 2020. 

Ramen noodles are not only perfect for the budget conscious. They are a quick meal you can dress up with vegetables and protein or keep them simple and plain; they are versatile. Ramen noodles are also filling, can satisfy cravings, and they taste pretty darn good, if you ask us. The one drawback of these instant noodles are those seasoning packets. They can be messy — yes, we get them all over the place when we tear them open.  And they just feel like an extra step. Lucky for us, someone agrees with us and has come up with a great ramen hack that will change your ramen game. 

Buzzfeed was combing the Reddit pages and stumbled on this genius hack from one redditor: instead of the water you normally use to cook your noodles, substitute broth. The individual wrote: "Use broth, not water. Buy a carton of beef or chicken stock for a couple of bucks, then simmer that on the stove with some green onions, garlic, chili paste, peppercorns, and fish sauce. Throw your ramen brick in for a couple minutes and you're done!" 

Sounds like a plan to us, but what about that packet? We realize for some throwing it away it is not problematic. However, if you are a believer in the aphorism "waste not, want not," then you can't just toss the packet in the circular. One Reddit thread suggests adding that seasoning pack to your stock with one forum user noting, "It's a great way to add layers of flavor and complexity to your broth. Just be careful not to over salt it if your initial stock is seasoned."