Add Kewpie Mayo To Your Instant Ramen For A Deluxe Flavor Boost

Although instant ramen has long established itself as a college dorm staple, its simplicity doesn't mean it's a subpar meal. Rather, if we consider instant ramen as just the base for a more complex dish, the possibilities are endless. One deliciously easy upgrade involves adding in a dose of Kewpie (or Japanese) mayo.

Unlike American mayo, which uses both egg yolks and whites, Kewpie mayo uses only the yolks. As such, this mayo is richer in flavor and texture, and hits harder where general egginess is concerned. It's a perfect — not to mention efficient — addition in this case, considering how eggs are one of the best ingredients to turn instant ramen into a restaurant-worthy bowl.

For the ultimate eggy, creamy, and umami-tasting instant ramen, add just a tablespoon of Kewpie mayo. You can mix it in at the same time as the flavor packet, or, alternatively, you can mix the Kewpie ahead of time with the flavor packet to create a separate sauce. In the latter case, be sure to thoroughly whisk everything together to avoid clumping. Either way, for a thinner soup, you can leave in all the water used to boil your noodles, but you can also remove some water to let the Kewpie mayo sauce shine in all its creamy glory.

Kewpie mayo might have more of an eggy taste than regular mayo, but we highly recommend taking this ramen hack a step further by adding an additional egg into the bowl. After all, who wouldn't want a little more textural contrast, a richer flavor, and extra protein?

For this tasty trick, cook your ramen as described on the packaging. While your water is boiling, mix the tablespoon of Kewpie mayo with the flavor packet and a raw egg. Once your noodles have cooked, transfer about half of the water to a separate bowl to temper your mayo/egg sauce like you would when creating egg ribbons in egg drop soup. (Adding it slowly helps prevent it from turning into scrambled eggs, and instead retaining its silky texture.)

After your egg and mayo mixture is completely incorporated, you can add the remaining water and noodles to the bowl. Give the dish another good stirring to evenly disperse everything, garnish with any fresh veggies or cooked proteins, and you're ready to dig in!

If you can't get your hands on Kewpie mayo or you simply don't like the condiment, you have plenty of other options for whipping up a creamy and flavorful bowl of instant ramen. For instance, you can easily upgrade a basic ramen with some canned soup. Simply take a can of your favorite cream-based variety — mushroom, chicken, etc. — and substitute it in for some of the boiling water. Just like that, your ramen will have a deeper flavor and a creamier texture than you could ever get from broth alone.

Alternatively, you can add peanut butter to instant ramen for the perfect balance of salty and savory. The resulting dish is silky, nutty, and deliciously reminiscent of Pad Thai. Of course, you can also include additional seasonings, herbs, soy sauce, gochujang, or even chopped peanuts to further emphasize those Thai flavors. That being said, peanut butter contains salt, so you might want to cut back on how much of the salty flavor packet you use so that all those other delicious flavors shine.