We tried this instant noodles with mayonnaise recipe that went viral – here’s what we think of it

With dining restrictions constantly changing with the situation we’re in, it makes sense that we’re spending more time trawling the internet for recipes that we can easily whip up or even “food hacks” to jazz up our at-home cooking.

Recently, one particular “food hack” made waves when it caught the attention of YouTubers, TikTokers, and RED netizens alike.

The “food hack” in question? Mixing mayonnaise with instant noodles to create a low-rent version of Tonkotsu-style ramen.

Where did the hack originate from?

From what we could gather online, the recipe was popularised by a Japanese YouTuber and was subsequently found in the depths of the YouTube rabbit hole by a ramen YouTuber in the US.

From there, it didn’t take long for the “food hack” to make its global appearance as YouTubers, TikTokers, and RED users started replicating the recipe on their own.

In the original hack, the Japanese YouTuber used a packet of miso-flavoured ramen but you can actually use any soupy instant noodles that you like.

Together with a few extra ingredients, you’ll be able to elevate your usual bowl of instant noodles into a luscious fortified soup, reminiscent of a tonkotsu ramen.

The recipe

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The recipe calls for very simple ingredients: one packet of instant noodles (the red-coloured Shin Ramyun is a hot Internet favourite), one whole egg, mayonnaise (preferably Kewpie), and garlic.

Start by cooking the instant noodles without the accompanying seasoning in a small pot of boiling water.

While the noodles are being cooked, crack open the egg in a bowl and add one tablespoon of the Kewpie mayonnaise, one clove of finely grated garlic, and the instant noodle’s seasoning packet into the egg.

Mix the ingredients well until they form a smooth paste.

Once the noodles are ready, add them straight into the bowl of smooth paste, pour in just enough of the boiled noodle water to make a nice broth, and quickly mix all the ingredients together to emulsify the egg and mayonnaise.

You can simply eat it on its own or top with any garnishes you prefer such as vegetables, meat, or a cooked egg.

Some netizens also shared that you can add in a slice of cheese if you want to further bring out the richness of the soup.

What we think of the instant noodles recipe

Looking at the recipe on its own, it was hard to imagine how all the ingredients would come together to taste like but putting them together couldn’t be any easier.

We tried the recipe twice – the first time with Shin Ramyun and the second with Maggi 2-Minute Instant Noodles (Curry) – to see if there’s a difference in texture and taste.

We’re no Masterchef contestants but in both our attempts, cooking the soupy noodle dish took no more than five minutes from start to finish.

The tricky part in both attempts, though, was to gauge the amount of boiled water to pour into the bowl to make the rich broth.

In our first attempt, we added too much boiled water such that the dish ended up being too diluted.

So, heed our advice and go easy with the water, slowly adding it in while mixing the ingredients to emulsify the egg and mayo until the soup reaches the consistency of your liking.

Using two types of instant noodles in our test also yielded different tastes for us – with Shin Ramyun, the noodle had a silkier, springier texture compared to the Maggi variant.

Overall, the dish gets our vote simply because it was a rather hearty dish that’s relatively fuss-free to make at home with ingredients that you’d pretty much already have in your pantry.

And it was also quite delicious… if you nail the amount of boiled water to pour in to make the broth.

That said, it didn’t quite replace the tonkotsu ramen that’s carefully cooked by a trained chef in a restaurant but for a quick supper or on days when you can’t be bothered to think of what to eat for lunch or dinner, we’d say that this is definitely an easy, handy recipe to fall back on.

Plus, you may also want to play it safe and go for pasteurised eggs for this recipe if your stomach is on the sensitive side – we, unfortunately, learned this the hard way and suffered a bout of diarrhoea from the raw egg in the recipe.

Featured image taken from here.