Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Today we have Song Song Kimchi Ramen. Kimchi varieties out of South Korea are among my favorites. I really like the tangy as well as bright, spicy flavors. Kimchi is interesting; it’s cabbage as well as many other ingredients that is allowed to ferment for an amount of time.
I reviewed this, however in a different package many moons ago. Back then the packaging said Ramyonsari. Recently, I did one called Sari Ramen. Basically, this is a plain instant noodle block in a plastic pillow pack.
So for a long time, I’ve wanted to review the South Korean version of Shin Ramyun Black, and I know lots of people have wanted me to. Here in the United States, we have Nongshim America (NSA) in Rancho Cucamonga. Anywhere you find Shin Ramyun Black in the United States, it originates in California. However, Nonshim Korea (NSK) is its origin. You can thank Anders and his girlfriend Ji-Min from South Korea for sending this along! Thanks again! Here’s a little something about the Shin from Wikipedia –
What have we today? This is a popular South Korean snack noodle – Ppushu Ppushu – and an interesting new flavor. Ppushu Ppushu means… I don’t know what it means, but it’s pretty neat stuff. Let’s check it out – right now!
Nowadays, soon as there’s a knock at the door my son Miles is racing for the door. It’s really funny actually – he wants to steal the box and try to get it open as soon as possible to see what’s inside! I wasn’t expecting this one from Paldo – unexpected but definitely appreciated! Let’s see what’s inside!
Here’s one Samyang Foods sent a little while back – thanks again! So this is a jjamppong bowl – a spicy seafood concoction from South Korea. Here’s some more info from Wikipedia about it –
Here’s something the guys over at ExoticNoods.com sent over – thanks! Okay – guava noodles? I really enjoy guava juice, but never seen a guava noodle before. Better to tear into this pack and see what’s what.
Here’s a bowl version clad in the trapping of olde. Samyang Ramen was the very first instant ramyun to come out in South Korea – in 1963. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia –
So both the kids were interesting this box that came yesterday. Miri is just about to start crawling but Miles is running around like a beast these days! Let’s see what’s inside!
For awhile now, I’ve been trying to get my hands on some of this that actually is from South Korea. Thanks to Anders and his girlfriend Ji-Min, here we are! Here’s some info from Wikipedia –
A fellow reviewer from Happy Souper posted about these new Nonshim varieties and gave me the contact info for Nongshim Korea – I lost touch with my contact a while back. These were kindly sent by Danny – thank you very much! Let’s have a look!
I think it only makes sense for cabbage to have some kind of standing in Germany. I mean, sauerkraut is pickled cabbage after all. Never tried kimchi before? Here’s a little information from Wikipedia –
I’m pretty sure I found this one at HMart a few months back but to be honest I can’t remember. This one is a fancy variety of jjamppong. Here’s a little something from Wikipedia –
Recently, I did a Definitive Guide To Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun series. However, the cup was just mentioned and not one that I have tried. Indeed, there are two I’ve not reviewed of the series – the curry version and the 2x spicy bowl (although I scarf one down in the video).
Okay, okay. After being bombarded with people disagreeing with the odrer of the ranking on my The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles list, I thought I’d give this one another go-round.
Last moth I was looking for a specific variety at a local Korean grocery called Boo Han Market in Edmonds, Washington. Much to my chagrin, they have changed their instant noodle section! It used to be way in the back and kind of lackluster. Now it’s right up front and they’ve got an even better selection than before. That’s where I found this interesting instant noodle snack.
This one was sent by Anders and Ji-Min from South Korea! Thanks again! So here’s Paldo’s new extreme foray into the uber spicy class of instant ramyun. I really enjoy seeing these – especially how neat the packaging looks.
Here’s a bowl I got at a local Korean store – Boo Han Market – in Edmonds, Washington. I was looking for something else and found this. So there’s a company that makes this style but in instant noodles, not udon. Curious to see how they differ insofar as the heat and flavor. Indeed, let’s give this one a go!
This one was a surprise. Okay, so one question people ask me from time to time is ‘where can I get the noodles, but not the seasoning?’ Indeed, there actually are many many ways one can do trhis. Here’s yet another. So I’ve had sari ramen in the past as well, however it was with a different name. Sari ramen is (you guessed it) a single pack of instant noodles and no flavoring.
Wait a second – this looks familiar. So there are two versions of the Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkummyun cheese flavor bowls. Indeed there are two versions of the packs as well. Here’s the orange version I reviewed – #2291. What’s the difference? I’m going to guess that they came out with the black one first and people mistook it for the regular version and were annoyed. Kind of makes sense since the black one definitely looks like the standard Buldak Bokkummyun bowl. Well, except for the chicken with the cheese. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the original variety:
It’s definitely been a while since I reviewed anything by Ottogi that’s for theSouth Korean market. Actually, this one is an export version, but the more recent ones have been for Mexico and so this is more of a South Korean variety. So, what is jjambbong? Wikipedia has this to say about it:
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!
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.
Well, today is my birthday and I’m up at 5am getting this post ready. Actually it’s 6am now – I’ve been getting all my ducks in a row (actually chickens har har) in order to post The Ramen Rater’s Definitive Guide To Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun. It’s a total of 9 posts including the guide itself that I’m putting up today. A lot of work, that’s for sure and I’m rushing to get it up.
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 –
Today it’s the cold variety. Indeed, cold noodles with spicy sauce have long been around in South Korean ramyun varieties. However I’m guessing while cold in temperature, these will probably surpass most other in their hot flavor. This particular one is the export version, sent by a reader named Colin from Massachusetts. I noticed that the liquid sachet didn’t say ‘ice’ but ‘cool.’ Was this to be the original name? Well, I asked!
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.
I’ve reviewed a lot of snack noodles in my day and still delight in the comments I get about them. I get people telling me about smashing domestic US varieties, sprinkling the seasoning on them and eating them raw; kind of like they’ve uncovered something fascinating, new and innovative. Unfortunately – I have to break it to y’all, but this isn’t anything new. Moreover, varieties designed and sold in South Korea to be smashed and sprinkled and enjoyed have been around for a long time.
This one came by way of eBay seller 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.
This one came by way of eBay seller 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. .
This one came by way of eBay seller 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. This is the variety that set off the Fire Noodle Challenge. In reality, Buldak Bokkeummyun is spicy fried chicken flavor. In South Korea as well as many places in Asia, fried chicken is extremely popular. Korean fried chicken is great; double coated and comes in violently spicy, regular and honey garlic to name a few.
I’ve had the export version in the past but this is the version that Koreans eat in South Korea. I picked this up in Taipei at a Carrefour store. I’d never been to one before and really didn’t know anything about them other than that I knew they existed in Taiwan. Here’s some info from Wikipedia –
Buldak Bokkeummyun is the Korean name for what people all over the world have been enduring in the Fire Noodle Challenge. It’s a seriously spicy variety – #3 on my Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition. Well, they’ve come out with a spicier version that’s supposed to be just amazing. I contacted them and they sent me some along with other varieties – let’s check it out!
Here’s one sent by Colin – thanks! I think I saw this one years ago up in Canada – I honestly think I got it but never reviewed it back then. Here’s a little about kalguksu from Wikipedia:
Here’s a new jjajangmyun from Paldo of South Korea sent by Yongmin Park of Paldo. Thank you very much! For those of you unfamiliar with jjajangmyeon, here’s some info from wikipedia:
Yet again, a donation from Colin of the east coast – thanks, bro! This is another ‘no way – I’ve reviewed this one’ kinda variety, but it turns out indeed I haven’t. It looks like the Nongshim ‘BIG Bowl’ line, but it’s definitely not the export version if it is. Let’s have a look – very curious about this one.
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.
Another one sent by Nissin Hong Kong for the Meet The Manufacturer they participated in! Thanks again! This is a lower calorie option instant cup – rice vermicelli is usually fat-free, which definitely cuts the calorie. Let’s give a Hong Kong product with a Korean skew a try!
I’ve liked jjamppong for a while now. For those of you not familiar with it, it’s kind of like a spicy Korean seafood hnoodle soup. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one I found in Taipei – this one was the last instant noodle I bought there.
