Make An Irresistible Sauce For Your Instant Ramen With Ginger Ale And Peanut Butter

Ramen can be a transformative dining experience that warms you up on a winter night. You can even opt for the instant dried noodles you can grab for 99 cents per pack. You might not be able to get a Tokyo-worthy bowl every night (sadly), but you can dress up your convenience store ramen beyond the confines of its "instant" nature. The secrets to a better bowl of ramen might already be in your kitchen.

Here us out: try putting ginger ale and peanut butter in your ramen. It's an unexpected combination in the best way, and there's even culinary precedent to back it up. Ginger root and nuts are common ingredients in several Asian meals across the continent because they suit umami dishes with meat, rice, or noodles. Ginger ale and peanut butter specifically have a sugar content that balances spicy and sodium-dense instant ramen. The thickness of peanut butter also gives instant ramen a rich, foggy broth like the bowls you'll find in restaurants.

The ginger ale and peanut butter trick is best for spicy ramen. These flavors have the potential to overpower more delicate miso and shoyu broths. For this exercise, you might want to try brands like the original Nongshim Shin Ramyun, Samyang Buldak, or Maruchan Hot & Spicy. One of the drawbacks to instant ramen is that the noodles can be too stiff, so it's better to boil them directly in a pot of water if you're using a packet instead of a cup.

Once you have some tender noodles, mix together a couple of spoonfuls of ginger ale and one scoop of peanut butter with the seasoning included in the package. A sauce like sriracha can help dial up the heat, and sesame oil will bring these flavors together and improve the mouthfeel. Don't be afraid to top the bowl off with any leftover kimchi or sliced meat, either.

You can also upgrade your ginger ale and peanut butter ramen with another creamy ingredient. Some Thai cooks put coconut milk into their peanut-based ramen, combining it with red curry and lime for a deep and flavorful experience. Ramen is great because you can do pretty much anything with it, and instant ramen is no exception.