Since I work in a professional kitchen, most people assume that I am an amazing cook at home. Not...exactly. I love pastry and making desserts, but it's different when it's your profession. Not to mention, savory food is a completely different mindset. At work I'm all about precision, consistency, and volume. I use my arsenal of tested recipes and techniques to ensure that every guests gets exactly what they want. But at home, anything goes. I don't follow recipes and I cook on a whim. There's something very satisfying when you're cooking for yourself. That gets lost sometimes at work, cooking is part of the hospitality business, its all about the guests. Honestly, most of the time I'm too tired to cook an entire meal after I get home

. And that's when ramen comes into play. I love packaged noodles. I grew up on them. There's just something so comforting to me about the chewy noodles, salty and spicy broth, and the fact that it cooks in 5 minutes in one pot. When I come home after a long day, it's Shin Ramyun noodles with all the leftovers I can fit in the bowl. This is an example of one of my leftover ramen dishes. I always have kimchi at home (perks of dating a Korean who's mother makes amazing homemade kimchi), so that is thrown in. Tofu, check. I always have some type of leftover protein, whether it's korean bbq, steak, chicken, seafood, that gets thrown in. Of course you have to have vegetables, so thats where the pea shoots come in. All that gets topped with some chopped green onion. My other ramen add-in favorites include an egg, avocado, melted american cheese, bok choy, baby spinach, and seaweed. Honestly, anything works. It's whatever you want to eat. That's the best part. A bowl of this, on the couch, watching my favorite show (currently, Scandal) and it is bliss.