Tag: korea

#2723: No Brand Delicious Ramen

#2723: No Brand Delicious Ramen - South Korea

Here’s one I found at a Carrefour on my trip to Taiwan in November of 2017. Okay, so it says No Brand. I think that’s pretty evident – and it also says Delicious Ramen. That too is nondescript. I searched for the bar code and found nothing from the pack code and very little from the 5 pack code – basically that it is what it is. An eBay seller had it marked as ‘Korean Noodle Ramyun Rameon’ although that’s a little less than what it says in English on the pack already. My thought is that this might just be a store brand but who knows. Ah ha – I just looked it up by the phone number on the package – 080-023-8593 – and it comes up with a lot of Paldo stuff. Perhaps this is by Paldo. Anyways, I’m guessing it’s time to crack this open and look within. ...see full post

The 0.5x Spicy Mala Fire Noodle Challenge

Here we are again with the Fire Noodle Challenge. This is the Samyang Foods Mala Buldak Bokkeummyun. So, all over YouTube, people are wincing and screaming as they choke down packs of Mala – why? Well, for some reason, they are under the impression that it’s 4x spicy. Don’t get me wrong – it’s quite spicy – it’ll kick your butt. But it is a far cry from the 2x Spicy Nuclear Fire Noodle, that’s for sure. ...see full post

#2634: Samyang Foods Ramen Bokki

#2534: Samyang Foods Ramen Bokki - South Korea - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles ramen

Oh hey, ramen bokki! So this is a fusion of two foods: South Korean ramyun and one of the words I would say I’ve seen spelled about a zillion different ways, tteokbokki. Tteokbokki are big chewy tubes made from rice flour and they’re really good. Usually, it’s made with a spicy and sweet sauce, egg, fish cake, etc. Good stuff! So this is that but instead of with the rice tubes, you get the noodles. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#2620: Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun Stew

Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun Stew - South Korea - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

This is the only variety of Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun series to have a broth. Spicy chicken stew sounds good, and it is – at least the pack version was really good. There are usually some differences between packs and bowls. Mainly, bowls are almost always steeped, so the noodles may come out a little different than being continuously boiled. Also, bowls sometimes have extra ingredient sachets. Let’s give this one a try and check out this super spicy variety! ...see full post

#2614: Samyang Foods Chacharoni

#2614: Samyang Foods Chacharoni - South Korea - The Ramen Rater

Chacharoni is a play on words. Jjajang kind of sounds like ‘cha cha’ and the roni calls to noodles. There are other plays on words in the South Korean industry when it comes to jjajangmyeon. So basically what you have here is a thick noodle with a black bean sauce – also known as jjajang. Here’s a little about jjajangmyeon from Wikipedia – ...see full post

#2594: Samyang Foods Yulmu Bibimmyun

#2594: Samyang Foods Yulmu Bibimmyun - South Korea - The Ramen Rater

Here’s a spicy one from South Korea. Not just spicy but cold, bibimmyun is a favorite in South Korea during the summer months. Usually accompanied by a bright and spicy sauce, bibimmyun brings a strong taste to the table. This variety mentions yulmu. Yulmu (also known as Job’s Tears) is used in order to make yulmu-cha, a tea enjoyed in South Korea. ...see full post

#2568: Nongshim Mr. Bibim Stir Fried Kimchi Flavour

#2568: Nongshim Mr. Bibim Stir Fried Kimchi Flavour - South Korea - The Ramen Rater - ramyun

So I have a new contact named Danny at Nongshim Korea – one of the guys from Happy Souper helped me get a hold of him via email – thanks! Danny was kind enough to send along these new Mr. Bibim varieties. They’re dry noodles with a liquid base and kimchi included. Here’s a little about kimchi from wikipedia – ...see full post

#2424: Samyang Foods Cheese Type Buldak Bokkeummyun

#2424: Samyang Foods Cheese Type Buldak Bokkeummyun

Well lookie here – another one from Colin – thanks again! This one’s a cheesy version of the ever popular Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun. This is what people use to do the famous ‘fire noodle challenge’ – although this is the cheesy version. This stuff is hot – real hot. The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodle Of All Time list kinda hot. Let’s take a look. ...see full post

#2382: Nongshim Seaweed Instant Noodle Cup

#2382: Nongshim Seaweed Instant Noodle Cup - South Korea - The Ramen Rater

Here’s a cup I found at Carrefour in Taipei, Taiwan during my trip in November of 2016. I’ve never seen this one before and from what it looks like, it’s made for the Chinese/Taiwanese market. At least the packaging in Chinese gives that away. Also, I can see that it’s referencing www.nongshim.com – not a .cn or .tw, so these should be made in South Korea. It also has a little banner proclaiming ‘number one’ but unsure what that’s referring to. Anyways, let’s see what we have here and give these seaweed noodles a try! ...see full post

#2380: Pulmuone Non-Fried Ramyun With Spicy Beef Broth

#2380: Pulmuone Non-Fried Ramyun With Spicy Beef Broth - South Korea - The Ramen Rater

So here’s something new I found at HMart. This is going to be battle for me, however you might wonder why. Well, much of the package is shiny gold colored. Unfortunately, shiny gold and silver packages are evil. I mean, not really, but really at the same time. Indeed they look nice, but they add a bit of an issue to my process. Indeed, scanning gold or silver foil packs presents a real problem. No matter what, there are wrinkles in the packaging, and ones I usually can use Photoshop to get rid of. However, these wrinkles when in a shiny foil wreak havoc with the scanner and the images come out extremely light and dark in spots. Anyway, just a little behind the scenes on what I do when putting out a post. ...see full post

#2369: Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun Curry Flavor

#2440: Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun Curry Flavor - South Korea - The Ramen Rater - fire noodle challenge

Part Of The Ramen Rater’s Definitive Guide To Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun

HOT Chicken Flavor Ramen Curry / 커리불닭볶음면 / Curry Buldak Bokkueummyun   Launch 2016.12 / SHU 3,810

Here’s the newest variety from Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun line. Curry! I make no illusion to the fact that I absolutely think that curry is the finest thing in the universe. I freaking love curry. Here’s a little about Korean c urry from Wikipedia – ...see full post

#2367: Samyang Foods 2x Spicy Haek Buldak Bokkeummyun

#2425: Samyang Foods Haek Buldak Bokkeummyun - South Korea - 2x spicy - hot fried chicken

Part Of The Ramen Rater’s Definitive Guide To Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun

GET AN ASSORTMENT OF THE SPICEST INSTANT NOODLES IN THE RAMEN RATER’S SPICY PACK FROM GOURMET RAMEN CLUB – CHECK IT OUT HERE!

2X Spicy HOT Chicken Flavor Ramen / 핵불닭볶음면 / Hack/Haek Buldak Bokkueummyun / Launch 2016.1 / SHU 8,808

Alright. Today’s the day. I heard about the double spicy Buldak Bokkeummyun a couple of months ago. After hoping to simply find it at the store with no luck, I received a few of these packs – first, I got one from Anders from South Korea which is a reader who’s sent varieties in the past – thank you! Since I wanted to try these as soon as possible, I (for the first time) ordered some from an eBay seller called 1theKorea – they’ve got all sorts of neat South Korean varieties, and lots of the spicy ones that aren’t the easiest to find or are unavailable in the USA. I also got a ton of varieties from Samyang Foods – including the bowl versions of this one and the Stew as well as a couple snack variants. ...see full post

#2291: Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkummyun Cheese Flavor (Orange Bowl)

Okay so most of your should be familiar with the popular ‘fiore noodle’ challenge. That’s where you take a bowl of Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkummyun (spicy fried chicken flavor) instrant noodles and scarf ‘e,m down in one sitting really quick. If you don’t know about this, just go to YouTube and type in fire noodle challenge – you’ll get a ton of videos. Nobody’s ever challenged me to do this; kind of bummed. Anyways, this is a new variety – I think there will be three of these spin offs, but right now we have cheese. Let’s see is the cheese chills this fiery noodle out or if it still has the burn of burns. ...see full post

#2062: Ottogi Ramyon Sabor Mariscos

Here’s another one sent by Colin, a reader from back east – thank you! He went to Mexico recently and sent me a ton of varieties that he found there. You’d think with Mexico being next door I’d be able to find more varieties, but actually it’s been really hard. This one’s made in South Korea for the Mexican market. Instant noodle are hugely popular in Mexico, and with spicy flavors coming out of South Korea, it’s a pretty good fit. Let’s have a look! ...see full post

#2049: Ottogi Ramyon Sabor a Res

Here’s another one sent by Colin, a reader from back east – thank you! He went to Mexico recently and sent me a ton of varieties that he found there. You’d think with Mexico being next door I’d be able to find more varieties, but actually it’s been really hard. This one’s made in South Korea for the Mexican market. Instant noodle are hugely popular in Mexico, and with spicy flavors coming out of South Korea, it’s a pretty good fit. Let’s have a look! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Snacks Of All Time 2016 Edition

Instant noodle… snacks? Yeah! Snacks of all kinds have come from instant noodles – candy, crunchy bits, you name it. They’re popular all over Asia and also the United States; have you ever taken a pack of instant noodles, crushed them and added in the seasoning and shaken the bag up and eaten them like potato chips or popcorn? Well, this is popular elsewhere as well! Let’s check out my favorite instant noodle snacks from over 1,900 reviews. Enjoy! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition

South Korea has the highest per person consumption of instant noodles in the world. It’s not a surprise that their instant noodle are quite good – usually the noodles (known as ramyun) are thicker and accompanied by a spicy broth. These are my very favorite varieties of South Korean instant noodles – hope you enjoy! ...see full post

#1658: Choripdong Hurricane Rice Cake (Topokki)

Topokki time! Okay so you’re probably thinking ‘what? Yesterday he reviewed rice porrige and now it’s rice cake?!’ Well, this one has topokki (Korean rice cake) as well as noodles in it. One thing to note as well – see where it says to keep it refrigerated? I saw pallets of these where I got it that weren’t. To be honest, I think putting that on certain instant products that have these kind of fresh noodle packs inside is a way to give the illusory guise of something less shelf stable, making one think it’s higher quality. Honestly though, that kind of thing doesn’t really phase me. So! What is topokki? Wikipedia for ya – ...see full post

Re-Review: Paldo Teumsae Ramyun Noodles With Soup Mix

I thought it was about time to re-review this one. When people ask me about hot and spicy instant noodles that they can possibly find at a local Asian grocery, I usually steer them towards Teumsae Ramyun. Many consider this one to be the ultimate spiciest, although I have had one or two I think that have been hotter. That’s not to say that this stuff won’t challenge even the staunchest of spicy fans. This is mean. Real mean. If you ate a spicy pepper, the best thing to get rid of the heat would be a crunchy chip – when you chew, it scrapes the heat off your palate. Or milk, or sugar. The last thing would be beer or water. Well, this is soup. It sinks that spicy heat right down into your taste buds even deeper! Let’s revisit this spicy Paldo Teumsae Ramyun again and see why it’s been on the Top Ten Spicy List since the list’s inception. ...see full post

#1523: Paldo Jjamppong Seafood Noodle King Bowl

Here’s a new Jjamppong King Bowl from Paldo. The king bowl is yet another instant noodle form factor. There are cups, king cups, bowls and king bowls. I think the main different between cups and bowls are really the portability factor. I think a king cup and a king bowl hold the same amount of liquid though; I’ll have to compare them some day. But I digress. This is Jjamppong – here’s a little from Wikipedia about Jjamppong who are unclear about what it is: ...see full post

#1491: Ottogi Potato Ramen

Woot woot – potatoes! These sounded good today – potato ramen… I really like the little Ms. Potato Head on the packaging. Ottogi makes some interesting varieties – I reviewd many of them waaaay back when I moved to Edmonds, WA. I would walk every day and pick up a single pack and bring it home, cook and review. Those were in the #100-#300’s. Seems like forever ago! These noodles are made primarily with potatoes, which give them an extra chewiness. Let’s check out Ottogi Potato Ramen! ...see full post

#1480: Paldo Jjol Bibim Men

Here’s a new variety of Paldo’s Bibim Men line to come out recently. Jjol means ‘chewy.’ Bibim Men – now this is slightly trickier but isn’t that hard. Bibimbap is a mix of vegetables, meat and an egg topped with gochujang (a spicy sauce) over rice. It’s one of my favorite Korean dishes, often served in a stone bowl and sizzling like nothing else! Well, the ‘bap is rice. In Jjol Bibim Men, the Men is the same as -myun or myeon, which means noodles. So what you have here is a cold, spicy, chewy noodle dish. I’m hungry – let’s get to it! Bring on the Jjol Bibim Men! ...see full post

#1443: Nongshim Harmony Korean Spicy Noodle Dish With Chipotle

Here’s a new one from Nongshim, and it’s definitely unique. It’s a stir noodle, which means that there’s no broth, but a sauce that it stirred in to coat the noodles. Another unique thing is that it can be served hot OR cold! I was thinking of using a special divided bowl I have, but one side is bigger than the other and so I came up with an idea: since they sent a few packs, I’ll make one hot, sample it and then make one cold and sample it – easy enough. Something else I found interesting was on the right and left sides of the package. It says “NONGSHIM BLACK CLASS NOODLE DISH.” The final interesting this about this one is the inclusion of chipotle. Chipotle? Now that’s different – don’t think I’ve come across that being used in an instant before. Well, let’s open this one up and see what’s inside! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2014 Edition

Yeah – it’s that time of year again! Cups are interesting; they usually hold a lot less water than a bowl, so the steeping process is a little different and so are the noodles. I’ve had some horrendous cups over the years, but then there are some that are really quite good. This last year has been a great one where cups are concerned! Let’s have a look at the best of the best! The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2014 Edition! ...see full post

#1430: Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkummyeon (Hot Fried Chicken)

Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkummyeon. I’ve had the pack form and did up a recipe a while back involving a way to cool the heat. This is the bowl – and a fiery bowl at that. This stuff doesn’t mess around; there’s no broth. The noodles have a violently hot coating that really means business! It’s so hot that people challenge each other to devour a bowl as fast as they can on YouTube all the time! Let’s open up this bowl and see how fiery this one is! ...see full post