66. Nongshim Budae Jjigae Noodle Soup

I have zero idea how to pronounce this correctly! Anyone who can help?

Budae Jjigae is popularly known as “sausage stew” or “army base stew” in Korea. It was invented in 1954 and the dish was created shortly after the Korean war ended using all the smuggled surplus foods from the US army base. Main ingredients of the original dish are – ham, hot dogs, spam, baked beans, kimchi etc.

It is said that budae-jjigae begun as a buttery stir-fried snack made of sausages, ham, cabbages and onions to accompany makgeolli (rice wine), but later on, anchovy broth flavored with gochujang and kimchi was added to create the stew that is enjoyed today.(sourec : Wikipedia).

 Cooking instructions-

1. Boil 500 ml of water. Add noodles, soup base and flakes.
2. Cook for 4 ½ minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and serve.

 All the traveling took a toll on this block on noodles (it was supposed to be a round block of noodles). But these still look promising kind of ramyun noods!

The soup base has a beautiful orange color to it and heady aroma of spices.

I was specially excited about the flakes for this one! It has – fish cakes, dried kimchi (!!!) in the form of napa cabbage and red chilli pepper and some dried green onions.

Firstly, and most importantly, the kimchi aka the cabbage was crunchy even after cooking!! Yes, you heard that right. And for someone like me who has zero taste for fish cakes, well you will start developing a taste after eating these ones!

As expected, the noodles are bomb – great quality, good chew and texture!

The broth is all kinds of wonderful too, its spicy but not too spicy and leaving a lingering after taste that I rather like.

All in all, this makes for a perfect bowl of comfort from Korea!

Rating: 4.75/5

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60. Samyang Foods – Samyang Ramen Noodle Soup (Beef Broth)

 

This Korean Samyang Ramyun has been in the market since 1963! Although it started out as a very different kind of ramyun, but Samyang soon adapted to a beef broth making this ramyun richer in taste to suit the Korean palates.

Cooking directions –

1. Put noodles, soup base and flakes into 550ml of boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes.
2. For better taste, add fresh vegetables and scallions, if desired.

 These noodles look thinner than other ramyun noodles by Samyang. Interesting. Since I don’t doubt the quality of noodles by Samyang, I am always game for a little good surprise!

The soup base gave a spicy and mild beefy aroma. And the vegetable flakes consist of dried – carrots, radish green, cabbage, welsh onion, mushrooms and red pepper. Wow.

As expected, the texture of the noodles is beautiful. As I have said before, it is so important to have the noodles cooked to the correct chew. Although accidentally I cooked them for full 5 minutes and to my surprise, these noodles did not succumb to the heat! They stood their ground firmly 😛

The broth has a smoky beef flavor, which I find oddly comforting. Its deep and rich in flavor, yet mildly spicy.

The veggies also hydrated well and I added some Bok Choy for additional crunch. Trust me, just like cheese, bok choy is never a bad idea! Plus healthier!

Pro Tip – add a few drops of chilli oil to your bowl if you like your beef broth spicier.

Rating: 5/5

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58. Nongshim Neoguri Udon Type Noodles Spicy Seafood Flavor

Korean ramyun by Nongshim manufactured in the US of A being eaten by a hungry Indian who dreams of visiting South Korea someday! #globalisation

 Nongshim’s Neoguri made its debut in 1982 and gained popularity for its thick Udon style noodles and distinct spicy seafood flavor.

Cooking directions –

1. Stove Top
   1. Boil 550 mL (about 2 1/3 cups) of water. Add noodles, soup base, and vegetable mix.
   2. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   3. Remove from heat and serve.
2. Microwave (cooking time may vary depending on microwave)
   1. Put soup base and vegetable mixinto a microwavable bowl, then add noodles on top.
   2. Pour 500ml (about 2 cups) of room temperature water.
   3. Cook for 8 minutes. When using hot water, cook for 5 minutes.

 Here we have a broken but beautiful block of thick ramen noodles! Up until the release of Neoguri in 1982, Korean ramyun noodles had always been thin.

The soup base has a slightly spicy and a seafood-y aroma to it. And the vegetable mix contains a generous amount of kelp along with dehydrated seaweed, green onion and carrots.

Delicious, thick and chewy noodles in a flavorful and spicy broth. The broth definitely has a strong seafood flavor to it, like that of shrimp or mussels.

 

With every bite you can taste the warm spiciness and the rich seafood taste. Generous portions of dried kelp and other veggies help give both texture and taste to the soup/broth, adding a layer of flavor to these noodles.

The only thing working against me is the strong fishy/seafood smell. I know I have been complaining about this since long but my tolerance level has definitely increased and I do appreciate these noodles more now than I would have done before.

I decided to add a few strips of bacon and a slice of cheese because why not?

The cheese adds some richness to the broth while the bacon (apart from being delicious) cuts the strong seafood aroma. Feel free to add any veggies or meat of your choice and as much cheese as your heart pleases!

Just cannot wait to try the original in Korea! Fingers crossed!

Rating: 3.5/5

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56. Samyang Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen

Another hot chicken flavor ramen sent by the lovely team at Samyang Foods in South Korea! I cannot thank you guys enough for supporting Instant Noodle Me when we need it the most.

 The “Hot Chicken Ramen” is also known as Buldak Bokkeummyun in Korea (“Buldak” means spicy chicken and “Bokkeummyun” means stir fried noodle). Unlike most other ramyun in the market this one doesn’t have a soup sachet but instead has a sauce sachet for a stir-fry taste.

 Cooking directions as on the back of the pack-

1. Put noodles into the 600ml boiling water for 5 minutes.
2. Please remove the water from noodles (remain 8 spoons of water) and put liquid soup into the noodles, stir-fry 30 seconds.
3. Put flakes and stir well and serve.

 As expected, a big block of thick ramyun noodles by Samyang. I personally like my ramyun noodles a little bit more chewy instead of soft and squishy noodles.

So to get this springy texture I boil them noods for about 3 ½ minutes and not 5. This duration is enough to make them fluff up well. Let me know if this works for you too!

The spicy sauce is pure liquid gold! Love the wicked color it has! Not only that, the sauce smells a lot like fermented soybean paste along with the spicy aroma. Yummers!

The second sachet has some dried laver (which is a type of an edible seaweed) and some fried sesame seeds.

This bowl smells incredible! Although I am a sucker for all things spicy but I am sure this will have anyone’s attention. And just look at that color!

 Great noodles! They have a great springy texture a hint of sweetness while keeping the spiciness intact and it does taste a lot like soybean sauce. I failed to taste the chicken flavor in there again but I’m not complaining!

The little bit of sesame seeds and nori/laver go perfectly well with this ramen.

I was craving this ramyun for breakfast so I decided to add a fried egg and some strips of bacon. And although these packets are bigger than the standard instant noodles I am never really fully stuffed with just one pack.

A fried egg, bacon and cheese are some of my safest add-ons and like every other time I was proud of my decision!

I ate the noodles first because I just couldn’t stop eating them, they are sooo delicious. And once the noods were over I ate the egg and bacon. Advantages of doing so – I enjoyed the noodles as is and the egg helped in cutting the heat in my mouth post devouring these noods.

And again, I have more than a few “pro tips” –

1. Like I mentioned in my last post, please be careful while inhaling and eating these noods, you don’t want the bowl too close to your nose. Yes it is that spicy!
2. And keep a few tissues handy. Yes your eyes will water slightly and your nose might make a run too! But trust me it will be all worth it.
3. The heat in your mouth will get intense once you stop eating, so try not to pause too much while eating these.

If you like spicy noodles, this is bound to make you happy!!

Rating: 5/5

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49. Nongshim Soon Veggie Noodle Soup

Believe me I am always looking out for vegetarian options even though it might not seem like that considering I have hardly eaten/reviewed veg noods in the last 4-5 months!

 It is so tough coming across good vegetarian options but in Nongshim I believe! So please be nice to me.

Cooking directions –

1. Stove Top
   • Boil 500ml (about 2 cups) of water. Add noodles, soup base and vegetable mix.
   • Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   • Remove from heat and serve.
2. Microwave (cooking time may vary depending on microwaves)
   • Put soup base and vegetable mix into a microwavable bowl, then add noodles on top.
   • Pour 450ml (about 1 ¾ cups) of room temperature water.
   • Cook for 7 minutes. When using hot water, cook for 4 minutes.

A big, round, non-destroyed, ramen noodle block and the noodles are thick but not too thick. Just the way I like them.

The soup base has a pleasant aroma and seems to be mildly spicy just like the packet states.

And the vegetable mix is a colorful affair with bits of carrot and choy sum.

 The first thing that came to my mind while cooking these noods on the stove was that it has an aroma similar to Indian Maggi! And I love Maggi!

As expected the ramen noodles are brilliant without a doubt with the right amount of chew to them. The broth does indeed taste similar to Maggi. Also the broth is flavorful and mildly spicy and the veggies hydrated well. What more can you ask for?

I think there should be some kind of a rule to add mushrooms chunks to the vegetable mix of vegetarian noodles!

So I took the liberty of sautéing some shrooms in butter and pepper and I am pretty glad about it!

This is going to my must-have-at-home-at-all-times list.

Pro tip: even if you don’t have or want to add mushrooms, do add a pinch of black pepper post cooking these noods, it elevates the taste to greater heights.

Rating: 5/5

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37. Nongshim Champong Noodle Soup Spicy Seafood Flavor

“Champon” is a noodle dish that is regional cuisine of Nagasaki, Japan and was inspired from the cuisine of China! Different versions of this dish from Korean and China also exist.

This packet by Nongshim was manufactured in South Korea and I am super excited about it!

Some more googling reveals that “Champong” in South Korea is actually knows as “Jjamppong” because that is what it sounded like to the Koreans when Japanese referred to this dish. And around the 1960’s, chilli powder and chilli oil started getting added to Jjamppong in South Korea!

Cooking directions –

1. Stove Top
   • Boil 500ml (about 2 cups) of water. Add noodles, soup base and flakes.
   • Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   • Remove from heat, stir in seasoning oil, and enjoy.
2. Microwave (cooking time may vary depending on microwave)
   • Put soup base and flakes into a microwavable bowl, then add noodles on top.
   • Pour 450ml (about 2 cups) of room temperature water.
   • Cook for 9 minutes. When using hot water, cook for 6 minutes.
   • Stir in seasoning oil and enjoy.

Lovely looking thick and flat noodles in a round noodle block. I haven’t had the opportunity to eat such noods yet, looking forward to this.

The soup base has a strong seafood aroma (which has me slightly worried, because i cannot stand that fishy smell. Eh).

The seasoning oil seems to be a chili oil with a weak garlicky and oniony aroma I think.

And lastly the dried flakes are a combination of – cabbage, bok choy, mushroom, seaweed and freeze dried cuttlefish and red chilli peppers.

Brilliant looking thick and chewy noodles! Very different from regular instant noodles and it could take some time getting used to these thicker slithery noods.

The broth is flavorful, spicy and has a smoky flavor (and does not have a very strong fishy smell! Yay!). Some of the veggie flakes hydrated really well, the cabbage and bok choy turned out to be super crispy but the mushrooms and the seafood bits did not hydrate so well and were a little chewy.

The strong fishy aroma was a little upsetting personally, but the “champong” flavor with the spicy oil is indeed interesting. This is a near perfect winter dish.

Rating: 3/5

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32. Nongshim Seafood Ramyun

I am so thrilled to be eating my first Ramyun by Nongshim from South Korea!! This is why being a noodle blogger is one of the best things ever! 😉

Also, “ramyun” means instant noodles/ramen. And this is the second best part about being a noodle blogger – i learn something new everyday!

A relatively larger pack, weighing 125g! The more, the better I guess!

Cooking directions – add noodle, flakes and soup powder into 550ml of boiling water. Cook for 4 ½ minutes. Stir well and serve.

 Cute + big + round noodle block = yay!

And so many veggies or flakes as they refer to it! There is – carrot, fish cake, seaweed, green onion, kelp (a type of seaweed) and mushrooms!

Good quantity of seasoning powder but it doesn’t really have any strong aroma. Neither spicy nor seafood-y. Actually I am glad it doesn’t have a strong fishy smell, because I cannot stand that.

Let’s get cooking!

Wow. The noodles swell so well. Great texture and chew to them. The broth is neither too spicy nor too bland. I had to add some chili oil since I like my ramen spicy.

Apart from this, the broth has a good seafood flavor without being too fishy in taste. Additional points for that! And the veggies/flakes are present in good quantity and have hydrated well.

I was so excited about these noods that I went all out and prepared some butter garlic prawns and some bacon chunks! Although it’s a complete and a very filling meal without these add ons but some prawns and bacon never hurt anyone.

Pro Tip: if you are a slow eater like me you would like to add about 600ml of water instead. This is because the noodles soak up all the broth very quickly so there is none left to slurp on in the end.

Rating: 3/5

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