Chef Chris Oh Puts This Bizarre Ingredient in His Instant Ramen (He'd Also Top a $100 Steak With It)

When asked about his favorite ingredient, Chris Oh has an obvious answer—cheese. "I love cheese, I'll take cheese over rice or meat or Korean food, or anything," the Los Angeles-based chef declared in an interview recently with The Feast. "I'll take cheese over my mom's food."

Fromage over Mom's home cooking? Scandalous! And while Chris loves all kinds of cheese—"the creamier and the stinkier the better," he says—he's not a snob about it. His ideal cheese board? It might start off with some aged Cheddar, manchego, and gouda, but it also must include "a little bowl of nacho cheese with a side of tortilla chips for sure, and some pickled jalapeños."

On second thought, who needs those other fancy cheeses? "You know, just fill a cheese board with a little bowl of nacho cheese and some tortilla chips and some pickled jalapeños and I'm good to go," he asserted.

Chris got to experience the cheese-tactic dinner of a lifetime when he teamed up with Graham Elliot for an episode of Going Off the Menu. The two dined at an underground pop-up bistro run by a French chef, who turned out an eight-course dinner full of uni, truffles, and duck hearts. But the highlight came after the meal, when the chef wheeled out a cart stocked with a variety of cheeses illegally smuggled over from France—stuff you can't find anywhere here in the U.S.

But while Chris is passionate about Epoisses and Humboldt Fog, his tastes can also run a little more…shall we say, lowbrow? "I grew up on Kraft Singles," revealed the former Recipe for Deception judge. "Dude, I'd put Kraft Singles on a $100 steak if I could."

Chris, who recently opened a casual restaurant called The Korean Mkt in L.A., said that Kraft Singles are actually a staple ingredient in Korean homes. "You know you can put your Kraft Singles in your instant ramen and stuff like that? And it actually works," he claimed. "It's so weird, because Kraft Singles is not cheese; when it melts into the soup it disintegrates into this sauce, and then it helps round out all the flavors" in the ramen, he explained.

Hmm. We'll take your word for it.

The processed cheese product also factors into his all-time favorite sandwich: "egg, bologna, Kraft Singles, and white bread," which he craves when he has a hangover—or, really, any time. "With mayo, you've gotta put mayo on it though," he added.

Sounds like a pretty effective hangover cure. We're still not sure about the Kraft Singles on $100 ribeye, though.

Bravotv.com’s digital series Going Off the Menu takes viewers on an exclusive culinary adventure as host Graham Elliot uncovers the most delicious offerings within Los Angeles’ underground food scene. From a secret supper club serving smuggled cheeses to an eight-course liquid dinner, join Lance Bass, Cheryl Burke, Reza Farahan, and more as they give fans the secrets to unlock these extraordinary food experiences.