Doctor Ramen

Knowing how to doctor your ramen is a great skill to have under your belt. At the 99, ramen is six for 99 which isn't the cheapest you can get it, but it's convenient and I've utterly given up scouring the sale flyers in the Sunday paper because inevitably I end up wanting to buy all this crap I really don't want to buy, so I end up spending more than if I'd just go to the 99 and get the ramen for 16 cents apiece rather than 10 cents apiece somewhere else on a good day. I'd say I have a big bowl of ramen for lunch about three times a week, and with all the variations, I can get it to taste and look different enough every time that I'm not bored.

First bit of advice: either don't use the flavor packet at all or only use half of it, mostly because the flavor packet is so full of msg and other gunk that it's not that good for you.

I always add:
about a tablespoon of soy
teaspoon of cider vinegar
teaspoon of sesame oil
hot sauce

You could also try:
fish sauce
mustard
miso paste

These items perk up the soupy part and starts the project of making the ramen taste fresh rather than off the shelf. Adding other fresh (or frozen) stuff, so that the ramen begins to resemble, say, a big bowl of ramen you might order at the noodle shop, is also key. Adding vegetables, eggs, tofu or whatever also makes it a really much healthier meal. Plain ramen out of the package is sortof filling but doesn't have much nutritional value.

A big handful of frozen mixed vegetables alone will bring a bowl of ramen to life.
The 99 also has these great jars of pickled vegetables: asparagus, carrots, hot peppers, green beans -- chop these up and throw them on top of the noodles. Some blanched broccoli is always good, but don't try to cook it right in the soup because it's impossible to get the noodles and the broccoli to both come out well. If I'm feeling really environmentally responsible what I do is heat up the ramen water, blanch the broccoli in it, then remove the broccoli and put the ramen noodles in there. It's also better for you since there's a lot of vitamins in the broccoli water (aka 'pot liquor'). This would work for any fresh vegetable like a carrot, that needs some cooking before going into the ramen bowl.

Egg is another thing that's really good to add, and it's pretty nutritious to boot. You can hard boil and slice it on the top, slip it raw into the hot soup on the stove and poach it in there, or break it into the soup and stir it around so the broth goes all foggy.

Sprinkle freshly chopped scallions on the top.

I have friends who swear uncooked ramen makes a great crunchy snack. Sounds awful to me, but then again, I haven't tried it.