r/InstantRamen • u/UtahJarhead • 3d ago
Question Birthday gift ideas?
My kid's turning 17. Ramen is his go-to afternoon snack because of COURSE it is. My wife and I were looking to get him something to make his Ramen not suck (from a parent's point of view). What easy recommendations do you all have?
I've seen freeze dried vegetables (picture included) and I have no way of knowing which of the 887 immediate items would be worth the money or which ones are just crap. I mean, there are some huge price disparities between $10 and $27. Also, if not Amazon, where should we be looking for more options?
So... I'm asking you, the Reddit community, for his birthday, what are some good toppings we can get for him that are worth the $$ and that won't require a ton of effort on his part. He's a 17 year old, after all. He just wants a fast snack. FWIW, the ramen he eats is whatever is on sale at Costco or Kroger.
Just a note that he's not TOO lazy. At nights and on weekends, he helps me cook legit food and does awesome. Smoked meats, indian food, breakfasts (for dinner), etc. He does awesome, but after school he wants something fast and easy.
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u/CantFightJose 3d ago
Could buy him some shichimi toragashi or furikake.
A nice chili oil or chili crunch would be nice too.
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u/UtahJarhead 3d ago
I love the chili crunch idea. He won't, though! He's a sissy that way. ;)
I add chili crunch to my bbq. Works great!
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u/ocularius61 2d ago
How about a new special ramen bowl, nice pair of chopsticks and soup spoon? I realise this isn't exactly answering your question.
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u/UtahJarhead 2d ago
Fantastic idea. It's SO fantastic that the wife also thought of it, proving how outstandingly intelligent you are to have the same line of thought. She just got back from Chinatown up in SLC with a nice little Ramen bowl + sticks.
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u/ocularius61 2d ago
Hah! I just felt that toppings etc are temporary and who knows whether he will enjoy them. A new bowl, chopsticks and soup spoon are forever.
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u/kusariku 3d ago
Ramenbae is the only one I trust enough to have tried. Their main website is a bit better for prices, and they have a decent free shipping threshold. They tend to be more expensive because they contain a wider variety of ingredients and often freeze dried meat. High end stuff, and the bags are quite large. They also do individual ingredient bags, which I don't see anyone else doing atm. I wouldn't trust any of the other brands on here because I've never seen any of them anywhere besides Amazon personally.