StudentsAugust 25, 2025

Instant Ramen Competition Draws Interest from Students

Written By: Ian Silvester

Late-night study snack and student-dinner stable instant ramen became a weapon in the culinary battlefield on Friday (Aug. 22) at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. Five student teams, armed with boiling water, secret ingredients, and rampant imagination, clashed in an “Iron Chef”- inspired cook-off hosted by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IV).

Freshmen to seniors, future engineers, dental hygienists, teachers, and business leaders tossed aside the Styrofoam cup stereotype to prove ramen can be delectable gourmet or at least a whole lot of fun.

Teams were given 10 minutes to plan their dishes and gather necessary ingredients, cookware, and utensils. Then, 30 minutes to prepare a unique meal to be presented to the judges. During preparation, teams competed in mini games, called “funishments,” to gain an advantage or be issued a disadvantage.

Before the competition began, Lucas Cheung, IV campus minister, challenged the participants to “lean into the uncomfortable.” His message hung over the competition, provoking thoughts of trying new foods like liver spread and sardines or embracing working with teammates students hadn’t met before the competition.

“This is the seventh time we’ve (IV) had this event (Iron Chef: Instant Ramen Edition),” Cheung said. “It started as a way to share part of my childhood and culture, and it’s continued because it brings all types of people together.”

Teams were judged on presentation, taste, and novelty, with the winning team earning bragging rights until the next competition and signing the unofficial mascot for the event: A stuffed package of instant ramen.

All five teams shared their confidence in the dishes they were making at the start of the 30-minute cooking period. As the cooking neared an end, the feelings wavered.

“Our confidence is a little shaky as things are coming together,” said Cristian Cisneros, a junior business major, as his team worked to wrap their spicy ramen and spam dish in spring roll wrappers.

Meanwhile, the team of Vy Le, a first-year international student studying dental hygiene, Linh Le, a first-year international student majoring in nursing, and Aki Shibata, an exchange student from Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts, a UAFS partner university in Japan, looked for an advantage by leaning into their Asian heritage to create a more traditional Asian ramen style.

“I’m feeling like things are coming together,” Vy said.

The five teams submitted their dishes to a panel of four judges, who sampled a rotisserie chicken ramen with spring rolls, a spicy ramen with sweet sausage and veggies, a spicy ramen and spam spring roll, a traditional Asian-inspired ramen, and a ramen with meatballs and chili oil-fried spam.

Top honors went to the ramen with meatballs and chili oil-fried spam, created by a team composed of sophomore business administration student Harmonie Yang, and seniors Daniel Zelaya, a music education major, and William Anderson, who’s studying computer science.

“I was very confident, even going against good teams,” William said. “We don’t know each other, but that made us stronger because we had to lean on our different experiences.”

IV uses the annual event to welcome all students to UAFS. For information, visit them on NUMALink or on Instagram. 

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