Instant Ramen Is So Much Better With This Salty, Crunchy Topping

On its own, instant ramen is a fast meal that costs very little. But the more you eat instant ramen, the more you experiment with it. You might start by adding your favorite hot sauce to taste and pairing it with crackers. Crackers are salty and crunchy and add a pleasant texture, but they get mushy fast, so you look for alternatives. Enter pork rinds, aka chicharrones. Chicharrones stand up to the broth a bit longer, add a savory punch, and have a shatteringly crisp texture crackers can't compete with. The addition of this crunchy dimension is almost as life-altering as the first time you added a luscious soft-boiled egg (just one of several ingredients to elevate instant ramen).

Chicharrones are pork skins or pork belly, cut into pieces and fried to a golden color. You can make your own or buy them in bags to eat as snacks, though some pork rind brands rank better than others. Add a splash of hot sauce and some lemon to a bag, and you have a zesty treat (that talks to you like Rice Krispies in milk). Now take that taste to your instant ramen by dropping a few pork rinds on top to add a salty and meaty flavor to the broth. You don't want the chicharrones to get too soggy, though, so add them right before eating so only edges soak up broth at first while the interior retains that crispness you crave. Fortunately, a bowl of instant ramen doesn't usually sit that long — after all, you have to get back to work.

There are a few different ways to add pork rinds to ramen. You can throw them into a slow cooker with ramen noodles, canned tomatoes, and instant ramen condiment powder — or maybe chicken broth as a flavorful instant ramen broth swap. This results in a soft pork rind, a substitute for the pork belly often served in ramen, though the texture is actually more like that of tripe in menudo. Another method is to smash the pork rinds into crumbs to get all the flavor without risking large chunks of mushy rinds. Both of those are viable options, but without the crunch, you're not getting the full experience. So the best way is to use your hands. Take a few out of the bag, hold them over the bowl, squeeze, and release. This will keep the crunch and get the chicharrones crackling in the broth.

Instant ramen is not just for kids and college students. It's a simple meal solution for work lunches and even family dinners. Just add some freshly chopped veggies, the salmon or ground beef you cooked the night before, a boiled egg for a bit more protein,  and crispy pork rinds for a taste and aural experience as the rinds crinkle in the savory broth.