There no need to sugarcoat it. Getting a good, home-cooked meal in a dorm is hard to do sometimes. But Tristan Daily is here to show The Vision that with six easy steps even a meager meal of ramen can be heightened to a culinary masterpiece.

Step One: Prepare your bowl

The first step in the journey to the perfect ramen begins with choosing the perfect bowl to contain the noodles. Daily recommends using a glass or ceramic bowl because some of the microwaves in the dorms do not turn properly, so using plastic can lead to a melted mess and nobody wants that.

After selecting a proper bowl, it is time to add spices to give your ramen the zest that you are looking for. Daily uses a plethora of spices from his spice rack and recommends using the following to obtain the perfect bowl of ramen.

It is important to stir all spices into a homogeneous paste before adding ramen or water, because if this is not done the spices may clump to the ramen itself. Daily’s personal favorite spice recipe is as follows:

• Shichimi togarashi (to taste)
• Powdered ginger (to taste)
• Sometimes MSG (to taste)
• Bouillon cube (chicken or beef)
• Sesame oil (1 drop)
• Rosemary extract (1 drop)
• Soy sauce (2 tsps)
• Lime juice (1 tsp)
• Basil paste (1 tsp)
• Sambal chili paste (3 tsps)

Step Two: Obtain the Ramen and Add water

The second, and arguably most important, step of our process is to put the Ramen in the bowl. It is important to purchase the seasoning and brand of ramen that best suits your personal tastes. Daily recommends Maruchan Oriental flavored ramen.

It is also important to break up ramen before you cook it, as this allows for well-proportioned noodle sizes.

After your ramen has been added to the bowl, water should be added to just above the noodles.

Step Three: Add Vegetables and/or Meat(Optional)

For the truly adventurous ramen engineers, Daily recommends adding grilled chicken and/or frozen vegetables to add a little more diversity to your ramen. It is imperative that the chicken is cooked; the microwaves can probably cook chicken, but it is strongly recommended to buy precooked chicken.

Step Four: Cook the Ramen

After water has been added to your ramen, Daily recommends cooking the ramen in the microwave for eight minutes. It is important to remember that, as stated in Step One, some of the microwaves do not have functioning turnstiles so every few minutes you should shift your dish within the microwave.

If you prefer your ramen on the more “al dente” side then it would be recommended to trim a minute off the cooking time to tailor the dish to your preferences.

Step Five: Add an Egg for One Last Bit of Flair (optional)

The final option to add flair to what was once a mundane bowl of ramen is to crack an egg into the noodles when there is approximately one minute left of cooking. By mixing the egg into the noodles with one minute left, the egg is cooked to a perfect medium.

Step Six: Enjoy

If you have followed along to Chef Daily’s tips and tricks, you now have a delicious and truly artisan bowl of ramen in front of you. Don’t forget to wash up your dishes afterwards!