First Posted: 4/17/2014

All those nights you spent drunkenly spinning a packet of Ramen noodles into a badass midnight snack are about to pay off – I give you the Ramen burger.

Buns are boring, so why not nestle that meat patty inside two golden brown buns made purely of Ramen noodles? These college dorm staples are all the rage now when it comes to the craze of food hybrids, and this one is actually really delicious (despite the fact that it looks kind of gross in the beginning).

For one burger, you’ll need a single packet of Ramen, one beef patty, one egg, vegetable oil, and whatever you’d like to top your burger with (I went with the classic lettuce, tomato, and cheese).

The first step is to make the Ramen. There are various Ramen flavors out there, but I chose to go with beef since I figured that would work best with the type of patty I was using. If you want to make a chicken sandwich, chicken-flavored Ramen would probably be your best choice. As for the shrimp-flavored Ramen? I have no idea what you’d put with it, and I’d stay away from it anyway – my friends and I couldn’t sleep in a dorm room for days after cooking that smelly stuff.

After the three-minute cook time, drain the Ramen and mix it with the seasoning packet.

Though the original recipe for this (found on mashable.com) says to let the noodles cool for 15 minutes prior to mixing an egg in, I dove right in and threw the egg in as soon as the noodles were ready. Why? Because I did go to college once, and I know what Ramen looks like after cooling down a while: a giant noodle brick that’s impossible to untangle.

After mixing the egg in with the noodle, line two bowls with plastic wrap, the circumference of which is at least slightly bigger than your patty (unless you don’t mind meat hanging out of your burger). Divide the noodle mixture in half, putting one half in each bowl. Press the noodles into the bottoms of the bowls to form discs, then wrap the plastic wrap to enclose them completely.

Put something heavy on top of the covered buns, like another bowl, to weigh them down and press them into shape.

Put both buns in the fridge. Though the minimum time to leave them in there is 15 minutes, I left mine in for a half hour. The longer they’re left to set, the easier they’ll be to transfer to the pan.

Heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Remove the Ramen from the refrigerator and unwrap one bun, then flip it onto the pan (hopefully in one piece). Cook for four to five minutes, until golden brown. Flip and cook until the other side is also golden brown. Repeat the same steps with the other Ramen bun.

Prepare the meat patty to your liking, place it on one of the buns, top it with whatever you’d like, then finish it off with the other Ramen bun.

Enjoy, and relish those drunken memories I’m sure this will bring back for you.

RAMEN NOODLE BURGER

Courtesy of mashable.com

Yields: One burger

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Ramen noodle packet

• 1 egg

• 1 beef patty

• Vegetable oil

• Burger toppings of your choice

HOW-TO:

• Cook the Ramen noodles per package directions, draining the noodles and mixing seasoning packet in.

• Mix one egg in with noodles thoroughly.

• Line two bowls with plastic wrap. Divide noodle mixture in half, placing one half in each bowl. Form noodle discs in each bowl, then wrap plastic wrap around each to enclose. Place another bowl or heavy object on each disc to press them into shape, then put in the fridge. Leave there for at least 15 minutes.

• Heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Remove newly formed buns from fridge and flip one onto pan. Heat four to five minutes, until golden brown, flip and cook until other side is golden brown. Repeat with other Ramen bun.

• Cook meat patty to your liking then place on bottom Ramen bun. Load on desired toppings, then finish off with remaining Ramen bun, and enjoy.