Ramyun/ Ramen Noodle Isle:
I always ate Ramen noodles as a broke, starving college student and did not care much about it. That was until, I started watching Korean drama, now I have new appreciation for Ramen or Ramyun as Korean Native would say. I am went around to search for Ramen noodle history and I found Zengirl’s post : Inexpensive Food: Ramen Noodle Hacks which has done extensive search, so I got permission to share it here with my thoughts.
In typical Korean drama, there is at least one Ramen/Ramyun noodle eating scene. In Boys over flowers, Lee Min Ho’s Character eats Ramyun once and he likes it a lot, so later he wants to eat it again and does not know how to cook it. So he eats uncooked Ramen noodles. Usually in Kdrama, ramyun is cooked in pot and pot lid is usually used as plate or eaten straight from the pot, something I learned was not a good manners by family members, but when Kdrama actors does it, it seems cool trend. now I too want to eat my Ramyun in pot lid with metal chopsticks just like my favorite Korean stars!
Image source: Kimpoppers
Ramen Noodles History:
Instant noodle were first marketed in Taiwan, which was under Japanese regime in late 1950s.In early 1970′s Japanese Company called Nissin introduced “cup Noodles”, which you can still buy at grocery store, which comes in waterproof Styrofoam cup, and all one has to add is boiled or warm water for noodles to be cooked and ready to eat in no time.
Instant noodle is one of the major inexpensive food, eaten in many countries, specially popular with not so rich, college students who can eat cheap and quickly make these noodles for their busy college life. There has been said, that about 95 billion people in world eat some type of instant noodles. Top Noodle consuming countries are China, Indonesia, Japan, and south Koreans along with many South Asian Countries such as India too.
Instant noodle have been criticized for low protein, vitamins and fiber while being rich in carbohydrates. One can add fibrous veggies with vitamins to make it much rich and healthy in nutrients.
I asked my Korean friends and tried out 7 different brand/version of Korean Ramyun and here three that I liked, other 4 were so so. Here are the favorite Korean Ramyun Noodles, if you ever wanted to cook for yourself at home.
Nong Shim Shin Noodle Ramyun:
This Ramen is the best Ramen in the world. It is very spicy and has great flavor. It is so much better than the $.10 Ramen you find in your avg. grocery store. Authentic Korean ramen. Add some egg to it, and you’ll be in Ramen Heaven. Many native Korean seemed to agree that it is one of the best Ramyun. If you like less spicy food, then use less of spices packed with it, simple as that.
This Shin noodle is made in the USA and it is a American version of the very popular Korean instant noodle.
You can try you local grocery store, order it online with discount and home delivery from amazon: Nong Shim Shin Noodle Ramyun
Nongshim Neoguri Spicy Seafood Noodle Ramyun
This is one of the tastiest brands of ramen ever. There quick and easy to make, no prep work needed, just boiling water. The noodles are thicker then those card board cup o noodle and so much more tastier. The sauce is spicy so it’ll get you sweating on a cold night. I recommend eating these while watching your favorite TV show or if you need a quick noodle fix. As an added bonus, after you finish off the noodles, you can add a bowl of rice to the soup and enjoy a 2nd serving! Eat it with Kimchi and you will again be in heaven!
This is spicy ramyun noodle, so if you like less spicy food, use less amount of spices that comes with the package.
You can buy this Ramyun here: Nongshim Neoguri Spicy Seafood Noodle Ramyun
Nongshim Chapagetti Chajang Noodle
East meets West with spagetti-style noodles in a secret Chajang sauce (Chinese black soy bean sauce). Chapagetti is “chajang” + “spaghetti”, chajang myun (noodle) being a Korean interpretation of a Chinese dish.
Chajang literally means “fried sauce”. It’s a thick, black, soybean paste that’s slightly sweet. For the instant version, Nong Shim replaced the paste with a mix-in powder. Inside the bag are 3 flavoring packs: a packet of sauce powder, an oil packet, and a dehydrated vegetables packet. Preparation is easy. Just add the vegetable pack to the noodles when cooking, drain, then add the other 2 packets and stir well before eating.
A tip for you all: Don’t boil the water first and then add the noodles. I recommend having the noodles in the cold water as you bring it up to a boil. For some reason it adds another level and the noodles come out tasting better.
Click here to buy: Nongshim Chapagetti Chajang Noodle
Nongshim Ramyun Noodle Review
Top Instant Ramen Noodle Hacks:
Since I am vegetarian, I am sharing vegetarian hacks that I know and have used successfully in kitchen. Ramen Noodles have come a long way in US and I have eaten a lot during my college years.
Adding Veggies:
- Adding, red onions, green spinach, Thinly sliced cabbage, lettuce, Scallion, will do wonder. Once I put home grown potato because my son wanted to try it, and it worked out so well.
- I have tried also broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, sweet peas, corn, and other veggies in the noodle. Some vegetable may need to be pre-cooked before as instant noodle cooks quicker.
- One can add frozen or boiled veggies inside the Ramen noodle too.
Add Sauces and Condiments
- In addition to vegetables, I like to use my own spices, sauce or condiment with Ramen noodle. You can try curry power, ginger, garlic paste, soya sauce, chili sauce, miso paste, bean paste (from Chinese or Japanese store), African Harrisa paste, Garam Masala and Emli sauce (Indian Store)
Other Cooking Suggestions:
- I have made Vegetarian Pad Thai with Ramen Noodle instead of Thin Rice noodle and while it looks different, it taste wonderful.
- Make Chinese sweet and sour chow mien or low-mien with Ramen noodle. You can use pineapple chucks or pineapple for sweet ingredient.
- Make Spaghetti with sauce and wheat balls with Ramen Noodles.
- Make a cheesy, noodle with cheese and tomato sauce.
- Instead of Mac and Cheese with Macroni Pasta, Make Ramen and cheese for kids.
- Make Ramen Veggie Primevera, Ramen Fettuccine, or Ramen with extra virgin olive oil and garlic to make simple pasta dish with instant noodles.
- If you make vegetarian Shepard pie, make it with Ramen noodle instead.
- I have also make Green spinach salad with walnuts, and broken pieces of ramen noodles (extra crunchiness) with red wine vinaigrette dressing.
How To Make Korean Ramyun Noodle
Enjoy your Ramyun Noodles while watching your favorite Korean Drama! Let me know how it turned out.