Inspired by a Netflix TV drama series “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories” (season 2), I followed the Master’s way to make his Curry Ramen. It is a quick and satisfying meal when you have instant ramen and leftover curry!
I’ve been sharing recipes for dishes that were featured in Netflix® Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (Here’s Season 1) and I’m close to finishing Season 2. If I have to pick one dish that I was reluctant to try, this Curry Ramen (カレーラーメン) has to be it.
What is Curry Ramen?
You don’t really see “Curry Ramen” as a regular menu at most ramen shops in Japan; however, it does exist. Because having curry AND instant ramen in a combo, it is considered rather Otokomeshi (男飯) or Men’s Meal, which implies all the dishes that men like to cook and eat. Do I hear some chuckles right now?
You can find a version of Curry Ramen featured on the popular Netflix® show – Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (Season 2, Episode 8).
As silly or snobbish as it sounds, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make a recipe for this. The truth is: I haven’t had instant ramen for eons! Then I remember my college days. I also remember seeing big families stocking up on boxes of instant ramen from the store. The brick noodle in the package does have its place in feeding people. It’s survival food, or perhaps emergency food. And I know it’s also comfort food to some.
How to Make Curry Ramen
The Curry Ramen that I’m sharing is my interpretation from the show. I basically followed the method presented by the Master. You’ll need two things:
- Instant Dried Noodles
- Leftover/Freshly-Made Japanese Curry
Let’s get into the details.
1. Instant Dried Noodles
I believe the show used Shio Ramen (Salt-Flavored Ramen). The best Shio Ramen brand that we can get here is Sapporo Ichiban.
You can use other brands of instant noodles, but I recommend choosing a simple flavor that can complement with curry. We’ll be using the seasoning that comes with the package.
2. Leftover/Freshly-Made Japanese Curry
Now, this is the part you’ll transform the instant ramen – the best homemade Japanese curry!
With a rich and flavorful homemade curry, your supposedly instant ramen can easily rival some of the ramen soup from the restaurants. What I did was to make the curry for the previous dinner and save a portion of leftovers to serve with the ramen noodles. It’s really as easy as that!
Add-On Torokeru Cheese – Yay or Nay?
In the drama, one of the diner’s guests, a young girl, asked Master for an add-on topping, which was Torokeru Cheese (とろけるチーズ) or “Melting” Cheese. Torokeru Cheese is a type of Japanese processed cheese that melts easily over hot food.
Since I can’t get the Torokeru Cheese from my Japanese grocery store, I let myself off the hook this time. But either way, I don’t have the desire to top the noodle with the cheese. Go ahead and try if you want to volumize.
A Few Tips for Making Curry Ramen
- Loosen up the curry – If you’re using leftover curry, it would get thicken overnight. Add a bit of water to loosen up. It’s easier to eat with the ramen.
- Use the package seasoning for the soup – The Japanese curry is used as a ‘topping’ in this recipe, so we’ll be using the convenient packet seasoning as the soup base. This gives the noodles some liquid and flavors to mix in with the curry. I understand if you decided to ditch the seasoning altogether but do add in some light-flavored broth to give the noodles a lift. Feel free to customize!
- Eat immediately! – These ramen noodles absorb the soup fast, so be ready to eat right away once it’s cooked.
Already have some instant ramen in your pantry? I hope you have fun trying this recipe out! Or make the Curry Ramen when you’re going to watch the Episode on your Netflix Night.
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Curry Ramen from Netflix Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories
Ingredients
- 1 package instant ramen noodles (I recommend Sapporo Ichiban brand Shio Ramen—salt flavored)
- the leftover Japanese curry of your choice (I use my Japanese Chicken Curry)
Instructions
- Reheat 1 serving of the leftover Japanese curry of your choice. Add ¼–½ cup water to loosen up the curry.
- Cook 1 package instant ramen noodles according to the package instructions. I usually add the seasoning before touching the noodles.
- When the dried noodles look moisten, gently loosen up the noodles with chopsticks. Once the timer is up, serve the ramen noodles in a ramen bowl (or a large bowl).
- Serve the hot curry over the noodles. In the "Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories" drama, the curry was served over one-third of the noodles. Enjoy immediately!
Oh my gosh this was perfect! Came home from camping and had some curry sauce left that I took for stuffing crescent roll dough and cooking in a pie iron (campfire curry pan!!). I modified that curry sauce recipe from your doria recipe and typically use the sauce on top of fries 🙂 Really wanted soup, found this recipe, happened to have 3 packs of Sapporo miso ramen on hand. It hit the spot!
Hi Janelle! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We’re so glad to hear that this recipe arrived just in time! 😊
Happy Cooking!
I got Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen – a really yummy leftover curry meal. I also added an egg.
Hi Irene! Awesome! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us!
Delicious and super easy.
Hi Paula, We are glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you very much for trying and for your kind feedback!
Wow, this is so rich and delicious. Definitely a comfort food, and one I will not eat often because it is so rich (and, well… not that healthy of course, haha), but this to me is a really nice treat to have once in blue moon to change things up. I am happy to see your recipe used Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen. I didn’t fully read the recipe before choosing one for this recipe, and that is the one I chose! 😀
What a sweet idea to make it on the night you watch the episode… Wow! I haven’t watched Season 2 yet. I only saw season 1. I will have to check it out soon. 🙂
Thanks for this recipe, Nami! I love how versatile Japanese curry is. There’s so many ways to make it and serve it! I used rehydrated shiitakes and shiitake dashi for 1/3 of the broth when I made the curry and it was really good! Tasted great with this ramen!
Hi Lion! Haha I’m glad you got the same instant ramen and enjoyed the recipe. I agree, it’s not something we eat all the time (in fact I haven’t made it since the day I tested and the day I photoshopped). Glad to hear you liked it with shiitake dashi. Thank you for your detailed feedback, as always, Lion!!
I’ve enjoyed the Midnight Diner series and the Master since the first time I watched it. The intro music is very comforting as well.
In these days of ‘sheltering at home’ and minimizing shopping trips, a stash of instant ramen is a great convenience. I’ve had both the shrimp and beef Sapporo Ichiban flavours and added my own protein to ‘bulk it up’. Curry ramen soup is delicious too.
I’m glad you enjoy the show too. I agree. It’s a nice variety to enjoy instant ramen noodles. 🙂
I love that you’ve been recreating the dishes from Midnight Diner – Thank you! BTW you wouldn’t recommend instant curry for this, right?
Hi Dylan, We glad to hear that you enjoyed the Midnight Diner shows and foods! If you prefer using instant curry as an ingredient for this recipe, sure, you can do that too. Happy Cooking!
Nami-san,
Thank you for your delicious recipes and also introducing several interesting Japanese videos available in the United States! Similarly to you, I was not too enthusiastic about trying this, yet, since I do like curry and often have a few servings in the freezer and use it for both curry rice and curry udon, I gave it a try so bought Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen for the first time in how many years I can’t even recall. Below is my personal opinions.
I tried twice, first time using the enclosed soup package, second time without but added dashi powder as I usually do with my curry udon. I do prefer making it without the soup package. The version with using the soup package is way too salty and I also did not like the dried scallion pieces floating around on top. The sodium content of Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen is very high even though most ramens equally are. For me, the sodium already included in the curry mix (and dashi powder) was enough for my taste.
Hi Kazuko! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Haha, me too, I don’t eat instant noodles too (after having kids), so this episode’s recipe was a tough one to try. LOL. It was fun though, and felt a bit nostalgic buying and cooking instant noodles. So I can relate your feelings. Did you try the cheese on top like the show? I just couldn’t do that part. Thanks for your detailed feedback. I wasn’t sure from the episode how much Master added the seasoning package into the noodles, but I guess we can cut down or omit if anyone prefers less sodium intake. 🙂
Não é só lindo de se ver, mas é maravilhoso de se comer.
Parabéns Nami, mais uma vez ficou uma obra de arte,
como todo o seu site, que da um enorme prazer desfrutar
as suas receitas.
Obrigado mais uma vez pelas maravilhosas receitas do
Midnhight Tokyo.
Olá Syd! Obrigado pelas suas palavras gentis!
I am looking forward to trying this. I make Curry Rice often so this would be a fun way to use up my leftovers as I usually make enough curry for two meals.
Hi Barbara! Have fun making this dish! 🙂
Hello,
You know, this recipe just falls right when the weather turned out cold and rainy. Perfect.
Also, when I was living in Japan, I worked in a udon shop in the Aoyama ichoume station. We made a lot of curry udon in winter, we offered torokeru cheese as an extra topping, and as a French, I must say that I was always so surprised to see how popular it was. I mean, for me it’s the same as those processed hamburger’s cheese slice… So it was a mystery! (though I admit it added a little creaminess that wasn’t bad)
Have you tried the Korean shin ramyun instant noodle? The chewy noodles are perfect for curry ramen, in my opinion
Hi Andrea! Recently I received a comment on my Curry Doria recipe that she was pleasantly surprised that curry and cheese combination was delicious. I like that combination but for some reason… I just couldn’t put the cheese on this curry ramen. Either I am hesitant with ramen + cheese or curry and cheese… maybe I feel strange about the ramen noodles + cheese combo. 😀
I ate shin ramyun in college. It’s probably one of the best quality instant noodles for sure!
Hi Nami, I enjoy your sharing of recipes and cooking hints very much. May I suggest cooking the noodles separately. After cooking and draining the noodles, prepare the soup stock and then putting everything together as suggested. For me, the soup stock tends to be salty so I dilute it.
Hi Earl! Yes, you can do that. I followed how the Mater (the main cast) made this dish in “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories” as this is a copycat recipe from the drama (not my own creation). 🙂
Hi Namiko,
First of all, I have been enjoying making your recipes for a couple of years. Using toasted panko to make baked Katsudon has become a staple in my kitchen. I just made Namasu and this too is great. I am making my own dashi and miso soup regularly. So thank you so much for your yummy and easy to follow recipes. (Homemade miso is next.)
But I also want to say thank you for your message in your latest email about donating the profits of your ebook. I have purchased your book to add my little bit of support to your cause.
Arigato Gozaimasu,
Richard
Hi Richard! Thank you so much for trying my recipes for years and I appreciate your kind words. So happy that you’re making Japanese food at home. 🙂 And thank you for your contribution!!
Nami,this looks awesome! I just made a huge pot of curry this week. I am going to try this tonight so that we don’t get bored eating curry and rice everyday.
Hi Jenine! Hope you enjoy(ed) it! Yeah, we can make variations of curry rice, curry udon, and now curry ramen. 😀
Have you tried to substitute Kraft Velveeta cheese for the torokero? It is a processed cheese that always melts easily. It has a mild flavor profile.
Hi Chris! I’ve never used the Kraft Velveeta cheese before! Interesting, I didn’t know America has process cheese that melts easily. Thanks for letting me know. From your description, it sounds similar to Japanese processed cheese that melts easily. 🙂
Thanks so much for the recipe! I love Midnight Diner and Netflix just added Season 3 so I’m really happy 🥰
Hi Jenny! Yes! We’re excited to watch Season 3, too! We have two more Season 2 recipes coming up on JOC. Then we’ll start with Season 3 recipes next!
Looks delicious.. Here in Malaysia, we have instant noodles with curry flavor which are the favorite amongst many.. It’s delicious, minus the hassle of making the curry 😅
Hi Huda! Thank you! I can imagine the delicious curry instant noodles in Malaysia… 🙂