Roy Choi's 'Perfect' Instant Ramen Is An American Cheese Awakening

Life is full of big moments. Babies are born, kids go off to college, people fall in love, and home cooks of every skill level realize they're not obligated to use the seasoning packets that come tucked inside packages of instant ramen. All three of those first events give way to endless possibilities, but that last one is particularly thrilling, probably because the stakes are so low.  

The internet is chock-full of ways to transform a square block of dried noodles that cost less than a dollar into a bowl of mouthwatering gastronomical bliss. One viral TikTok recipe upgrades ramen with a luxurious sauce that calls for a stick of butter, garlic, soy sauce, chili flakes, and brown sugar, finished off with an egg and a dash of everything bagel seasoning on top. It's a classic example of a low-effort, high-reward situation. 

Meanwhile, the Korean-American celebrity chef Roy Choi will tell you to upgrade instant ramen with a supremely melty ingredient: American cheese. Here's how it's done. 

Roy Choi's affection for instant ramen with American cheese long precedes TikTok. The chef mentioned the speedy dish to Reddit users back in 2014, adding that salted nori sheets and canned meats are also great candidates for an instant-ramen glow-up. Long live fried Spam. 

Choi's recipe appeared in The New York Times that same year, adapted by Jeff Gordinier, who billed it as "perfect." He and Choi aren't the only ones who sing its praises. Indeed, it's a beloved member of the Korean-American comfort-food canon. "It's our snack, it's our peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it's our bowl of cereal," Choi told The Times. "It's something that has been a part of my life forever." 

By our estimation, the recipe takes approximately 40 seconds longer than a standard bowl of un-doctored instant ramen. Choi cooks the noodles according to the package instructions, dropping a raw egg into the water for the last half minute. Once cooked, he tosses the noodles in a little butter, a couple of slices of American cheese, some toasted sesame seeds, and scallions. 

The food blog futuredish has its own recipe for American cheese ramen, also known as Kujirai ramen, a take on traditional Korean Shin ramen. The bloggers explain that the relatively modern take on a classic is actually the brainchild of a character in a popular Japanese comic series called "Furutto on Thursday," created by manga author Masakazu Ishiguro. 

What's unique about the dish, other than the bright-orange slices of cheese on top, is the fact that the character makes it in a frying pan with a small amount of water, as opposed to the pot method that's outlined on most package instructions. "This is not your typical soupy ramen," writes food blogger Christie at Home. "It's more on the stir-fry side." Like Roy Choi, she encourages readers to make their Kujirai personal by adding Spam, ham, tofu, minced beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, and the like.