Top Ramen sucks balls.
I was visiting an out-of-town friend and he began boiling up a pot of ramen on the stove while we were catching up. He then went on to plug in the waffle maker which I assumed was for something unrelated. I was taken completely by surprise when he mixed the cooked ramen noodles with sesame oil and dropped them on the heated waffle iron. They sizzled for a while and when he deemed they were done he took the "waffle," cut it in half, plated the halves and poured maple syrup and sesame seeds on each piece, offering me one. The most surprising part ... it was actually kind of good. Much like a pan-fried noodle. But I think it would have gone better under a nice stir-fry. It occurs to me I now have a waffle maker of my own. Perhaps I'll give it a try.
Ben Williams
Austin, Texas
My own favorite experience with ramen began when my teenage son, out fishing with a group of family and friends near our cabin, called to ask me if he could bring home a trout he caught but unintentionally killed at a nearby lake, which happened to be a catch-and-release-only lake. The all-teenage group on the other end of the phone clearly wanted to show off and eat their catch. I said sure, but I knew we had nothing in our meager stores at the time (no flour, no breadcrumbs, etc.) to use to prepare the fish. When they got home we decided to have some fun to see how creative we could be with what we had to prepare a batter. I pulled out a couple of packets of ramen (those that had not been nibbled on by the mice), opened one, and after fashioning a mortar and pestle with available utensils, began to grind the noodles into a flour, or I should say into a chunky flourlike compound. I had some bad beer so we added a little of that to make it pasty enough to stick on the fish, and oh yeah, the flavor packets (chicken flavor I believe), we of course had to throw that in too for the proper seasoning. We dipped the rainbow fillets in the homemade batter, grilled them, and they were delicious! Even the doubters I think were impressed. Ramen: the duct tape of fast food.
Tom Ciaglo
Louisville, Colo.
I lived in Tokyo and can't describe how good the ramen there is and how much I miss it here, since the only restaurant that made it in Philly has closed. I like to make kimchi ramen. I buy fresh kimchi from the Korean supermarket and a product called kimchi moto or kimchi base (although it is not in fact used in making kimchi). I break an egg into the boiling water along with the noodles and add the kimchi base to the regular "Oriental" ramen flavor packet in the bowl. Place the fresh kimchi, a little pork or ham, and some scallions on top when it's done. It comes out pretty close to what I used to get in Japan.
Joe Hughes
Philadelphia