Topped Ramen: Number 1

The time has come. I have begun to eat Top Ramen. It's time for true college food now. I'd like to thank my brother for giving me an electric kettle for Christmas, as well as the school for now selling Top Ramen in their new market (which is pretty much a mini-convenience store in the basement of the cafeteria, which uses meal points to pay for purchases instead of actual cash).

If I were to just eat Top Ramen as per the actual instructions on the packaging, this blog would be pretty boring, as would my meals. So, instead, I introduce to you Topped Ramen. From time to time, I will be sharing different ways that I have improved these instant noodles. Some of the inspiration comes from Serious Eats: Ramen Hacks, while some, too, comes from the Ramen Homepage.

My first Topped Ramen is extremely simple and only requires two ingredients. Yet, it tasted much better than plain top ramen. To make it, just follow the instructions on the packaging using as much or as little of the seasoning as you want. I also poured out some of the water, which makes the flavor a bit more concentrated so I didn't need to use as much and it also made it a bit less soupy. Then, I simply added a few whole, pitted black olives. I did this with Beef Flavor Top Ramen, but any brand should work, and I am sure other flavors would work quite well, too.

This ended up tasting delicious and it was super easy, fast, and cheap to make. There were very few ingredients used to make it. However, it was absolutely not healthy. While scientifically, olives are considered a vegetable, when it comes to nutrition, they should be considered an oil. Not to mention, each package of Top Ramen includes 2 servings of noodles. That makes the entire package (with flavoring) have about 22% of your daily fat intake. Plus, both olives and Top Ramen are high in sodium. So, it's not intended to be a nutritious meal, by any means. But it is hot and tasty, which was all that was important when I made this.


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