Instant Ramen — @teekeatz on TikTok

4 stars ★★★★☆

This ramen recipe is definitely worth a try. I mixed the egg, seasoning, minced garlic, and Kewpie Mayo in a bowl. Then I added the cooked ramen noodles along with the boiling water, and added scallions as garnish. Japanese mayo adds a creamy texture that enhances the umami flavor that comes in the seasoning. The garlic compliments the flavor of the seasoning packet, also adding more depth in the flavor of the broth. Not to mention how easy the recipe is to make and the common ingredients that allow you to make a simple and delicious meal or snack. This recipe is the perfect way to upgrade your instant ramen and enhance the flavor of it.

Feta Pasta — @feelgoodfoodie on TikTok

4 stars ★★★★☆

This pasta is absolutely delicious. All you need to do is add cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, olive oil, seasonings of your choice to a baking dish, and bake it. When the cheese is melted and the tomatoes burst, all that’s left is to add the pasta and fresh basil. The dish has a very refreshing and comforting taste, and the additions of roasted cherry tomatoes along with the fresh basil make this dish perfect for any season. Some people might complain about the acidity or saltiness of feta cheese, but luckily, this recipe is very versatile. If you dislike the taste or texture of feta, substitute it with Boursin spread, artichoke dip, Brie cheese or goat cheese, which is my personal favorite for this recipe. Similarly, if you do not like tomatoes, you could replace them with another vegetable like mushrooms or asparagus, or you could give the pasta a creamier, smoother sauce by blending the tomatoes and cheese.

Crispy Rice Sushi

2 stars ★★☆☆☆

I was very excited to make this recipe, but I was not very happy with the result. I mixed my cubed salmon with soy sauce, sesame oil, japanese mayo, sriracha, and green onion in a bowl. Then I placed the mixture on top of the crispy rice and topped it off with a slice of jalapeño. I did forget the avocado, but I doubt it would have made me like it any more than I did. The fried rice became very chewy and the oily taste took away from the freshness of the salmon. However, I would be open to trying this again but doing things in a different way, maybe flash-frying the rice and trying the recipe with the avocado would result in a better taste. A poké bowl with the fish would have been a much easier and more satisfying experience overall.

100-Hour Fudgy Brownies — Alvin Zhou on YouTube

4.75 stars ★★★★★

These brownies took a very long time, 100 hours to be exact, but they did not disappoint. The recipe is fairly easy as well, all you need to do is brown the butter, add espresso powder and a coffee ice cube to it, then add that mixture to the batter. Let the batter sit in a dish in the fridge for 100 hours, then bake it. The espresso and brown butter adds a very unique and rich taste that no other brownie recipe can match. With that being said, the brownies were a bit too dense and fudgy for my taste, but if you are a fan of fudgy brownies, I highly recommend you try this recipe. The dense texture comes from the days of rest the batter has in the refrigerator which is something that fortunately can easily be adjusted, so next time I would bake them after making the batter, that way the texture would better suit my preference.

Firecracker salmon — @myhealthydish on TikTok

2 stars ★★☆☆☆

This recipe is very fun and easy to make, but the end result is not super exciting. All you need to do is season your salmon and fry it, then put a piece of it along with green onions inside a sheet of rice paper. Lastly, pan fry the wrap until crispy. The salmon does not hold together very well and the flavor is lacking. The original recipe only uses salt and pepper to season the salmon, so the flavor experience becomes dependent on the dipping sauce. I recommend that if you make this, you thoroughly season the salmon, because that is where all of the flavor in this recipe comes from. Also, just like the crispy rice sushi, I would prefer the salmon with rice next time instead of in the rice paper wrap.