They say that if you have a pack of ramen, you have a meal.

Well, know what else you have?

A pretty nifty version of mac and cheese in the making, too.

That’s just what “Spinach Ramen Gratin” is like.

It’s from the ingenious cookbook, “Instant Ramen Kitchen” (Chronicle Books, 2025), of which I received a review copy.

It’s by Peter J. Kim, a food entrepreneur who was the founding director of Brooklyn’s now-shuttered Museum of Food and Drink, the former head of creator partnerships at Pinterest, and the former host of Counterjam, Food52’s food and music podcast. He readily admits to eating several bowls of instant ramen each week.

Ramen has a storied history and a fierce following. It was invented in Japan by Momofuku Ando in 1958 in the aftermath of World War II, when he was inspired to create something fast and cheap to nourish his impoverished countrymen.

How beloved is it? As Kim writes in the book, the Fuji Research Institute conducted a poll in 2000 to ask people to name the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century. The winner, of course, was instant ramen.

Read more