Enjoying a bowl of ramen noodles to the fullest doesn’t mean just slurping them—there are several things you can do to truly enhance your ramen experience.

1. Untangle the Noodles

When you are first served a fresh, steaming bowl of ramen noodles in broth, the noodles will likely be still tangled together. It can be a bit of an annoyance (not to mention a little sloppy) to try to pick up some noodles only to have a large tangled mess much too large to fit in your mouth with ease. Use your chopsticks to untangle them a bit before eating them, and it will much less of a battle and much more of an enjoyable ramen experience. But don’t spend too much time doing this, because you want to enjoy the ramen while it is still hot, which brings us to step 2…

2. Eat It While It’s Hot

Seems like common sense, right? Of course, there are cold ramen noodle dishes, but if you’re ordering a hot dish, it’s best to enjoy it while it still remains hot. The reason for this isn’t just for the taste and heat alone. The more the ramen noodles continue to sit in the hot broth, the more they will continue to cook. Let the noodles sit too long, and you end up with noodles that are overcooked and a broth that is very starchy.