Shin Ramyun Rice Bowl with Pork and Egg

The dot cake went viral this past week and I immediately wanted to do an instant ramen version. It’s a single-serving cake in a cup with sprinkles on top that you scrape through with a spoon. I watched enough of those videos and started thinking about what a savory take would look like.

My first attempt used mashed potatoes as the base. If you’ve watched my videos, you’ve seen how that went. I used gomashio on top and it was way too salty. I switched to traditional furikake and that wasn’t right either. The flavor didn’t match the potatoes.

Then someone in the comments suggested rice. I tried it. This is what came out.

A Few Notes Before You Start

The dot cake has its sprinkles sitting on top of the cup, coating the surface. The savory version I chose for that is furikake. I used Nori Komi Furikake, a fine nori and sesame blend. The small flakes coat evenly, which is what you want here. Pour it onto the plate first, spread it flat, then flip the container onto it. The rice lands in the furikake and coats the top when you lift.

This is a more interesting way to serve a rice bowl than just piling everything on top. Every scoop gets noodles, pork, egg, and rice in one bite instead of making you dig for each component. If you’re making it for friends, the flip is half the fun. They don’t see the layers until they scoop with a spoon. You can set out the components and let people build their own mold before the flip, which makes it a good setup for a small group.

The Shin Ramyun can be swapped for most other instant ramens without changing anything else. The pork and rice are neutral enough to go with different flavor profiles. Chapagetti is a solid noodle layer with the black bean sauce. Any chicken-based ramen lightens the whole bowl. Whatever you use, the stir-fry step at the end is where the noodle flavor sets, so adjust the seasoning amount to taste.

Ingredients

For the pork:

• Neutral oil
• Ground pork
• Garlic
• Fresh ginger
• Scallion whites
• Soy sauce
• Mirin
• Sugar
• Toasted sesame oil
• Half a Shin Ramyun seasoning packet

For the noodles:

• One Shin Ramyun noodle block
• Vegetable flake packet
• The other half of the Shin Ramyun seasoning packet
• Starchy noodle water, reserved before draining

Everything else:

• Large eggs
• White rice
• Furikake

Full quantities are in the recipe card below.

How to Make Shin Ramyun Rice Bowl with Pork and Egg

The Pork

Mix the sauce ingredients into a thick paste, then add a splash of water to the same bowl right before it goes in the pan. This thins it out and rinses the bowl at the same time. No scorching from the sugar concentrating on contact.

Cook the garlic, ginger, and scallions whites first, then add the pork and break it up small. Pour in the sauce and reduce until the pork looks glossy. Before the sesame oil, taste it. If it’s flat, add a pinch of salt. Finish with toasted sesame oil off the heat, then spread on a plate to cool before assembling.

The Noodles

Break the noodle block into pieces before it hits the water. It will be easier to scoop with a spoon later on. Boil with the vegetable flake packet in the water. Pull a couple tablespoons of that starchy water out before draining. Don’t rinse.

Return to the hot pan with the reserved water and the seasoning packet and stir-fry until coated and glossy. Less boil time means more crunch in the finished bowl.

Assembly and the Flip

Fry the eggs sunny-side up. The yolk needs to stay soft and intact going in. When you press the rice down on top, that’s what breaks it. The yolk seeps into the rice from there. Check out how to fry an egg if you want a guide. Have everything warm before assembly. Rice especially needs to be hot so it presses into a seal.

Layer each deli container from the bottom: noodles pressed firm, pork spread flat, egg yolk-side up, rice pressed just enough to seal.

Before you flip, pour the furikake onto your plate and spread it into an even layer. Then invert the container onto the furikake. Lift straight up. The rice lands in the furikake and it coats the top of the bowl. If a flip fails, press it back in and try again.

If you’re not feeling risky, I’d actually recommend skipping the flip entirely. Sprinkle the furikake on top and eat it straight from the container. The layers are still there, it tastes exactly the same, and the furikake-on-top look is the whole point of the trend anyway.

Other Fillings to Try

Once you have the format down, what goes inside is up to you. Pork floss is a natural fit as a layer between the noodles and the egg. Crispy pork bacon works the same way with more crunch.

If you want to swap the egg, a soy-marinated egg halved and placed cut-side up gives you more flavor in that layer and a darker yolk. Canned quail eggs are worth trying if you want more than one egg per container.

Kimchi pressed flat makes a solid protein-free layer and adds fermented heat on top of the ramen spice. You can also add a drizzle of chili oil over the pork before the egg goes in.

You can build a regular rice bowl and it’ll taste the same. But the layers stay compressed so you can pack more food into each container, the furikake coats evenly when you flip onto the plate, and the whole thing is just more fun to make. Let me know in the comments how the flip went.