Spinach

I used to throw away half a bag of spinach every time I bought one. The leaves would go slimy in the back of the fridge before I got around to using them. Then I started dropping spinach into ramen, and the bag stopped going to waste. A handful at a time and the bag is gone in a week.

The other reason it lives in my fridge: I donate platelets, and my iron levels need to stay up to qualify each time. Spinach is one of the easiest ways to keep my numbers where they need to be. Two minutes in a hot bowl and the iron is in.

Why Spinach is Great for Ramen

Spinach cooks in seconds. Drop a handful into a hot bowl and it wilts before you’ve finished plating. That’s the fastest cook of any vegetable topping on the site. If you’re tired and you want something green in the bowl, spinach is the answer.

The flavor is mild with a slightly earthy ground note. It doesn’t fight any broth I’ve tested it with. The leaves also pick up broth as you lift them with chopsticks, which means every bite of spinach comes with a little soup.

Ways to Add Spinach to Instant Ramen

Dropped into the broth at the end. The default. Add a handful of washed spinach to the pot in the last thirty seconds of cooking. Stir once, kill the heat, plate. The leaves wilt, the broth coats them, and the bowl gets a green color shift it didn’t have a minute ago. This is the move 80% of the time.

Stir-Fried In (for Dry/Saucy Noodles): I usually saute some onion and garlic while the noodles are cooking. Then I add the spinach before throwing the drained noodles into the pan. Add sauce and then stir fry briefly until all the noodles are coated in sauce. You can see when I add it in this video where I talk about an instant noodle debate: The instant noodle debate started at our reunion

Raw Topping: If you love the taste of spinach, just add it as a topping! Make sure it’s washed, of course, but more power to you if you enjoy it this way. It definitely adds a nice crunch from the spinach stems.

How to Serve It

Cooked-in spinach plates with the noodles. Stir-fried spinach plates with the noodles. Raw spinach goes on top last. The thing to avoid: dumping spinach into broth and letting it sit for five minutes. The leaves get over-soft and the broth turns slightly bitter from the iron leaching out. Cook it briefly and serve right away.

My Instant Ramen Suggestions

• Nongshim Shin Ramyun
• Samyang Buldak Spicy Chicken
• Maruchan Creamy Chicken
• Itsuki Miso Tonkotsu
• Ichiran Ramen

Are you a cooked-in or a raw-on-top person when it comes to spinach? Tell me below.