Tasty Tuesday: The Ramyeon Diaries: Taste Testing

Ramyeon...pronounced "rahm-yon", if you are here in Korea...try to pronounce it this way or you just get strange looks...it's everywhere.  And Koreans love it...my students explained that it is because it is so fast and easy and there are so many varieties.  And there ARE dozens of varieties...in fact, most grocery stores have a whole aisle dedicated to it.

(I posted this picture last year of the ramyeon aisle in the closest market to my apartment.)

It costs a little more than you are used to paying in the states (here it hovers in the 70 cents to a dollar range for a bag single....bowl singles and multi-packs, obviously, cost a little more) and let's be honest...it's better tasting.

In all honesty...when I first arrived I was intimidated by the ramyeon aisle...it was overwhelming when you think about the 30 cents a pack same general flavor (salty) from back home.  So, I decided that I was going to start taste-testing them...starting with the single packets.  So, I went out and bought one of every packet in the store.

I will start off my taste test with this one:


To be honest...I couldn't decide which one was the name/brand/etc. of this one.  But, I digress.

It starts with 550mL of water...that's just a splash over 2 cups for you Americans...bring the water to a boil and then dump all the stuff in.

That is: the noodles, the flavor pack, and the pack of dried scallions (no lie..it's in the pack) and boil/simmer for 4 and half minutes.  At this point most Koreans would add something else...meat, egg, vegetables, etc...but since I was testing the ramyeon itself at this point I stopped cooking and sat down to eat.

The noodles were just that ramyeon noodles.  A little chewier than the ones back home (they are the slightest...and I mean slightest...bit thicker), but they taste just like ramyeon noodles.  The soup was nice...slightly beefy (I think that was the intent...based on the picture on the package) and probably half as salty as the type back home and the flavor was not a strong.  Think...if you used half of the flavor pack in a beef ramen from back home.  And the scallions made a nice addition....not over-powering, but just enough to add to the flavor.  Koreans probably think this one is bland since it is not the least bit spicy and probably add a bunch of stuff to it

My overall verdict?  I like it...and I like it for its mildness.  This may be my go-to ramyeon for the days I would just like something not spicy or just want noodles.