
My friend Moses over at Paldo America offered to send some new snacks my way to try. I figure hey – I like South Korean snacks as well as noodles – why not!
Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002

My friend Moses over at Paldo America offered to send some new snacks my way to try. I figure hey – I like South Korean snacks as well as noodles – why not!

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.

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:

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!

My friend Moses over at Paldo America sent me a package!

Wow these are really big bowls! Jjajangmyen is a noodle with spicy black bean sauce and Jjamppong is a spicy seafood noodle soup! Thanks!

Hey look – it’s the return of the happy little cheese guy with the sign! He looks so happy that he will be eaten – after having been reduced to a powder mix! I wonder how he would look if he really knew he would be eaten?

Hey look – another prototype! Thanks, Moses of Paldo America! Kokomen is one of Paldo’s signature products. It’s a spicy chicken and jalapeno broth accompanied by a nice amount of noodles and a garnish that includes these little strips of chicken. Good stuff. This is a milder version. Let’s see how this one compares!

I got a message from my pal Moses over at Paldo America while back asking if I’d like to review some instant ramyun that hasn’t been put out yet but is being sampled with college students to see what they think. I was absolutely rceptive to the idea – prototype instant noodles sound very interesting! Let’s see how barbecue ramyun tastes – this is the first of two versions, the other I’ll try soon.

Hey look! A friend at Paldo America said he had something to send me!

It’s a pot! It’s square for square ramyun blocks!

Today I’m trying something really interesting. This is Paldo’s new spicy octopus ramyun! I thought I couldn’t make this stuff without adding some octopus, but I’d never cooked it before and was a little reserved and slightly nervous. Octopus? Hey, why not! I went to the Korean grocery and picked some up. It was a bit of a surprise how many different kinds of packaged octopus there are. I settled on frozen baby octopus. Let’s see how it turns out!

Hey look – a couple of little boxes came in the mail today – wonder what’s inside?

Korean beef soup is usually something that isn’t spicy; a departure from what people usually see in most ramyun varieties. Gomtang translates to ‘bear soup,’ but there’s no bear in there! It’s been – boiled for a long time. The ‘men’ at the end of gomtangmen is where the noodles come in. Men, myun, myeon and myon are all suffixes that mean noodles in Korean. I’ve had Paldo’s Gomtang variety in the gold packaging – that stuff is quite good. I’m very curious to find out how this one is. Let’s have a look.

A box of samples from Paldo – what are they?

My pal Moses over at Paldo America said it’s a new beef broth traditional soup – I’ve liked those in the past! Thanks – looking forward to trying this!

It’s no secret that I eat a lot of instant noodles. Last year alone, I did 320 new reviews! I’m often asked, “when you aren’t reviewing, what instant noodles do you like to eat?” South Korean ramyun is the answer. In 1963, instant noodles were first introduced to South Korea as ‘ramyun.’ People were a little confused at first; they thought it was a textile! They also weren’t super keen on it being chicken flavored; South Koreans prefer rich beef flavors as opposed to lighter poultry tastes. With a little tweaking, the spicy rich beef noodles synonymous with ramyun were born. The thick noodles, rich broth and spiciness keep me coming back for more. This list contains my favorites from the 1272 reviews I’ve done thus far. They are all made in South Korea, and many will be hard to find in the United States, if not impossible. With that, here’s my list.

Here it is! Now you can get a big cup of Namja here in the states! I reviewed the South Korean Namja King Cup before, and there are differences between the two. If you’re wondering, Namja means ‘men’s’ or ‘guy’s’ – still wondering if they will make a ramyun for the ladies. Let’s check this new one out.

Here’s something new from Paldo of South Korea – cheese noodle! I am a big fan of cheese! I also like noodles obviously, so this should be a nice pairing. Let’s dig in to some cheesy goodness!

My pal Moses over at Paldo sent me a message the other day: “I’m sending you something…”

This was sent to me by Kristina W. of Arizona – thank you! Jjajangmyun is basically a noodle that is coated in a black bean sauce. Let’s check it out!

So after sampling so many varieties of instant noodles over the years, of course there have been some that I didn’t like. There also were some that are so memorable for how awful they were. After people asked what my least favorites were a few times, I thought I should just make a list of them. I should point out that these are on the list because I couldn’t stand them. I’m pretty sure they are all still in production, and the only reason they would be is that people somewhere find them enjoyable. So who knows – you might have a completely different opinion on these than me, but I found them to be absolutely the worst of the worst. With that, here’s The Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time, 2013 Edition.

After more than a year of pondering and reviewing since the last list, here’s the new top ten instant noodle bowls. This encompasses all instant noodle bowls reviewed up to today, June 15th, 2013. With no further adieu, the top ten instant noodle bowls of all time, 2013 edition.

Today, I’m trying a new recipe sent to me by the folks at Paldo! Summer is right around the corner and this cold noodle dish is great to enjoy during the warmer months of the year. It was first introduced on a South Korean TV show on the KBS network called ‘Happy Together’ (click here to see the video). It uses some ingredients I’ve never heard of before, but I’m sure the folks in South Korea are very familiar with them – Cho Gochujang and Bai-Top Shell. Cho Gochujang is a gochujang infused with vinegar. But what’s bai-top you ask? Sea snails! Never had snails from the sea or otherwise before. Thank you to Moses over at Paldo America for sending me everything to make this! Always excited to try something new.

Well my friends, onward we march with the first post-1000 review! This is Dosirac with Cyrillic writing on it. I thought at first this is sold in Russia, but on the back there was a clue. I looked up the url mentioned – it turns out the .MN means Mongolia! Neato! So what’s Dosirac? It translates to ‘lunch box!’ I’ve had many of the versions that are sold in trays, but never have I seen a pack version. Let’s give this a try.

A box from California…

Wow how awesome! If you’re keen on South Korean noodles, you’ll probably recognize that this is the pack version of Paldo’s Dosirac tray. Paldo sells a lot of these in Russia.

This was sent to me by Kristina W. of Arizona – thank you! This one was a toughie to decipher so here’s what I found. GS25 is a chain of convenience stores in South Korea. From what I read on the packaging, this is a product made for them by Paldo. There’s a restaurant in Incheon called Gonghwachun – I think that’s what is being referred to here. Gonghwachun is a famous Chinese restaurant and well known for its Jjajangmyeon. Finally, Jjamppong (also jjambong, champong) is a spicy seafood soup. If I’m wrong, please comment! Anyways, on with the review!

Here’s one that was sent by Sungmin over at Paldo America – thank you! This is a new variety that just came out in South Korea. The name ‘Jong-gah-jip’ is of a well-known kimchi producer. Let’s give this a try!

Kristen W. of Arizona sent me some noodles she got while she was in South Korea!

This is a great little collection of South Korean varieties you can’t easily find here! Ottogi Cheese Ramyun and Spaghetti bowls – been wanting to try them for a while! The two above are Paldo Korea varieties – I think Rabokki and Jjajang. The Nongshim Shin Cup in the lower right is the South Korean version. Thank, Kristen! Soon as they’re made, some The Ramen Rater stickers will be coming your way!

Here’s the original review. It’s cold today so I thought it sounded good. I figure I should mention – there will be some new reviews very soon! I am working on a huge project that’s been taking so much time. A hint – it has to do with upgrading this blog! I’ve been editing every post and image. A lot of work let me tell you! It will definitely be worth it in the end!

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I thought this would be nice to have. I’ve reviewed the Korean version in the past – this is the version for sale in the US.

Here’s some more Kokomen – this is the one sold in the USA! It’s a really rainy day today and some spicy chicken noodles sound really tasty! Let’s hit it!

I went on a walk today and luckily, I missed the rain – but not the mailman! He had a very odd shaped package for me that I was completely befuddled about. That is, until I saw who it was from. Moses from Paldo had sent me some samples!

Been a while since I reviewed this one! Had it for #346 (check out the original review). I’m hungry – let’s go.

I have fallen ill with some kind of head cold it seems and I thought something spicy would be good. My lovely wife Kit was kind enough make me some noodles for breakfast – she’s so good to me! Thought I’d have these – they’re available in the US now, but this is a Re-Review of the pack that is sold in Korea. The version sold in the US will be being reviewed soon! Here’s the link to the original review I did during Paldo’s Meet The Manufacturer.

Last night, Obama got re-elected as the President, and here in Washington state, same-sex marriage was approved – as was the recreational use of marijuana. Quite an evening! Anyways, was fun watching the political process wind up and come to a close for this cycle. Now, on to the urgent task of noodle reviewing! The last time I reviewed this one was back in February of ’11 and was #287 (link). I forgot how awesome the picture on this one – I love how it says ‘serving suggestion.’ It makes me think that this is one enormous king of the lobsters that wants you to serve it these self-flavored noodles! Roarrr!!! On a side note, if you look at the lower right hand side of the cup, you can see it says “Chitosan Oligosaccaride 2 mg.” What the heck is that?!?! What I got out of this Wikipedia article is that this is something that comes from the exoskeletons of crustaceans. It got me thinking – Chitosan… ChitoSlim? I remember commercials for ChitoSlim, a weight lossupplement. I found it and lo and behold it contains 1000 mg of Chitosan. I figure it’s basically like a super-fiber. Anyways, let’s continue.

Yep – another re-review! Had this one back in February of this year for #658. Today I felt like something spicy from Korea!

Here’s a new one from Paldo not yet available in the USA – Namja cup! Namja translates to Man’s or Guy’s – gender-specific noodles – that’s something new! I think would like to know about the ladies’ ramyun and what that would be… Anyways, let’s give this new one from Paldo a gander.

Our refrigerator has been on the fritz lately so I had just let the maintenance guy out when there was a knock at the door; I figured he left something. But it was our mailman! With a box! I really like when that happens!

I’d thought I’d had everyone’s bowl noodles by now but lo and behold, a shrimp flavor by Paldo. So let’s give it a try!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had this one – thought it’d be a good one to finish Meet The Manufacturer: Paldo with. Hot day, cold noodles. I should also mention the last time I had this was review #118 – over 700 packs ago – and my tastes have changed a bit. I’m happy to say I like cold noodles nowadays.