Last week we asked all of you to share your ramen hacks for a challenge we dubbed Rethinking Ramen. The instructions on the packets simply say just add water, but we were interested in what you use to doctor up your noodle soup. Here's a look at some of our most innovative ramen redux. More

As a half-Japanese kid in the '80s, I grew up eating instant ramen at least once a week, and it still holds a special place in my gut. That said, my tastes have changed and expanded considerably over the years, and sometimes that little flavoring packet just isn't enough. As such, I've spent a lot of time devising ways to upgrade my ramen in cheap, easy ways. Ghetto gourmet, if you will. More

We've probably all eaten instant ramen before. Late at night, pressed for time, the dry noodles in-a-pouch make the best midnight snack, or dinner on a poor college student's budget. But have you ever eaten real Japanese ramen? Without a single dehydrated vegetable in sight, Japanese ramen is wholly different from instant noodles. No matter which type you prefer, how much do you know about either type of ramen? Take the quiz! » More

"Is my ramen some third grader who's no good at dodgeball and gets picked last for the team?" The now defunct Chili Mushroom Ramen. Do you have that one thing, that favorite thing, on that one menu that you always order? You go back to that same restaurant for that same dish, year in and year out. But would you go back if that dish was brutally, surreptitiously stricken from the menu one dark night when no one is around to save it? This is the story of how I was separated, cruelly, from my Chili Mushroom Ramen: #28 at Wagamama. Wagamama is a ubiquitous British noodle house chain, at which customers seat themselves up and down clean communal tables... More

Photograph from crazytales562 on Flickr The Official Ramen Homepage, which offers 451 recipes to date for preparing instant noodles, has a new demographic: "I’d like to welcome a new audience to my site, Wall Street CEOs. Even if ramen costs a dollar per pack in Manhattan, they will be able to buy a packet of ramen every minute of every day in 2009...." A $1 package of ramen for every minute of the year would come out to $525,600—and that's not factoring in the cost of hypertension meds.... More

After we blogged about the personal-size ramen vending machine, Serious Eats community member lammoreaux pointed us to a video showing a Japanese operation that allows you to personalize your own ramen cup and then pack it with the noodle-and-ingredient combo of your choice—all shrink-wrapped just as you'd find it in stores. The video, after the jump.... More

"In the same way an omelet is considered the Western chef’s yardstick, I believe shio ramen is the true measure of a ramen chef’s skills." Shio Ramen. One’s love for ramen is a highly subjective affair. So I feel it necessary for me to explain why I would go against popular opinion and rank Kahoo Ramen in San Jose, California, above what many would consider its “betters”: Ippudo in New York City, Asa in Los Angeles, and the likes of Ramen Halu in the Bay Area. The truth is, I love ramen. Love it. It’s the closest thing I have to a religion, and it wasn’t until I moved too far away (18 hours by plane) from my family’s favorite... More

"I can't believe I'm admitting to eating Top Ramen this often, but in the past couple of months I have had two separate packets that contained two flavor packets each. And then today my ramen contained no flavor packet. Where's the beef (powder), Top Ramen?" —Michele Humes... More

Rameniac, one of the premier noodle blogs, has revealed its 2009 King of the Bowl ramen ratings, with lists for Las Vegas, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City. In Los Angeles, the noodle scene was largely static, "save for the opening of one or two sub-par shops." Seattle was all about tonkotsu (a specific type of ramen). "Had Kurt Cobain slurped down a few Samurai Armor Plates (from Seattle's Samurai Noodle) during his lifetime, grunge might have never happened." Vegas is more famous for "99¢ buffets and Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo," but there are three ramen spots worth noting. And then there's New York. Fresh off the Japanese airlines, the heaviest hitters go straight to this... More