An instant sensation

Exactly half a century ago in 1971, Nissin launched its famous Cup Noodles, the world's first instant ramen product in a cup. Nowadays, you'll find instant ramen cup products like Cup Noodles all over the world in homes, dorms, storerooms, company kitchen cupboards, police station storerooms, and more.

And if you're watching the anime adaptation of Dr. Stone, even in a world thousands of years in the future that has reverted to the Stone Age, a genius with knowledge of 21st-century science finds instant ramen cups important enough to include along with the likes of hydroelectric generators and light bulbs in his list of essential inventions required in his quest to restore modern civilization.

But as much as Cup Noodles are satisfying, there's one thing that some people worry about and that's what to do with the left-over soup once you've eaten all the noodles and contents inside. Assuming you're hungry and need the extra sustenance (since the soup does give you extra calories), just drinking all that soup at the end can feel anti-climactic or uninteresting.

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A good way of using left-over soup

One solution has been getting attention online thanks to a viral tweet by self-professed cooking expert and illustrator Boku (@boku_5656).

As it turns out, you can make a simple variant of chawan-mushi 茶碗蒸し, a type of savory steamed egg custard which is often served in Japan.

As Boku points out, the recipe comes from Nissin's website, but the company probably doesn't mind the free advertising. Thanks in large part to the great photos he took, his post went viral, garnering 163,000 likes and 33,000 retweets at the time of writing.

Nissin's official recipe for Cup Noodle Chawan-Mushi

If you can't read Japanese, here's the official recipe from Nissin's website:

• 1. At the very least, eat all the noodles of your soup. (Tip: If you leave some of the other ingredients inside, you'll have a more chunky and hearty chawan-mushi)
• 2. Drop one raw egg into the soup. (Tip: You may want to wait until the soup cools down to below 50°C / 122°F so that the egg doesn't thicken)
• 3. With your chopsticks or if you have one, a whisker, break the egg well and mix with the soup.
• 4. Transfer to a microwave-safe container such as a mug or teacup. (Tip: Use a tea strainer to evenly distribute the mixture.)
• 5. Cover with a lid or light plastic wrap and microwave for about two and a half to three minutes at 200 W. If it doesn't seem to be hardening, add more heat while monitoring carefully.
• 6. Enjoy with a spoon

Or, like Boku did, you could also add cheese in step 3 before putting it in the microwave. Try and experiment for your favorite variation!