Everyone's got a favorite memory eating a bowl of instant noodles.
It's delicious, there's no doubt about that, and super easy to prepare. Whether it's staving off hunger or curbing an untimely hunger pang late at night—it always comes in handy.
Here are a few easy ways to transform this easy-to-prep supermarket find:
1 Cheese, cheese, cheese!
We're giving you options on what kind of cheesy you want.
You can also add chili garlic oil, cayenne pepper, Sriracha or even chili powder added to shredded quick melt cheese and a splash of milk. Microwave for 30 seconds on high or melt on a pan on low heat.
An even easier trick: use those cheese sachets or a little bit of cream cheese.
2 Eggs make everything better.
So simple, so cheap, so genius!
The real question is, how come we haven't done this before? Prepare the noodles as usual and set aside.
In an oiled hot frying pan, glide in some whisked eggs. Add in your noodles and cook like your average omelet.
3 More sauce, please.
Mix up some sautéed garlic, oyster sauce, sesame oil, grated ginger, chopped onion leaks and a little bit of sugar. Skip the flavor subtleties and go for a dish that's packed with flavor.
4 Curry for instant gratification.
There are tons of curry pastes available at local supermarkets' Asian aisle from Thailand, Trinidad, Japan, India and more and every single one is a little bit different.
They're all easy to use too! Follow the directions on the curry's packaging and simply add to your noodles.
5 Get Fresh!
You know those tiny dehydrated little pieces of meat and vegetables in those little packets?
Sometimes represented as actual meat and vegetables on the packaging? Why not make a great stir fry?
Cook your instant noodles and set aside.
Start stir-frying meat and vegetables you have in the kitchen in a wok, then throw in your noodles last just to get the noodles warm again.
Right when you turn off the heat, drizzle with a little bit of sesame oil and toss.
As long as you have instant noodles in your pantry, there's always a good, quick meal you can have.
We know that you can stick to the basic three-minute prep, but make it six minutes and you've got something impressive.
This story originally appeared on Yummy.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the PEP.ph editors.