Korean Ramen Party, part two

Continuing my “research” into Korean ramyeon, here’s part two:

스낵면 (seunaek myeon) by Oddugi (오뚜기):

Snack Myeon
Snack Myeon 2

Taste – 3
Spiciness – 2
Presentation – 4
Packaging – 2

Special notes: As the name suggests, this was intended more as a quick “snack” ramyeon. It cooks very fast, and wasn’t too gourmet (we’ll see gourmet ramyeon later). It wasn’t my favorite in terms of taste, but in terms of convenience it did its job well. :)

안성탕면 (anseong ramyeon) by Nong Shim

Anseong Ramyeon
Anseong Ramyeon 2

Taste – 4
Spiciness – 5
Presentation – 4
Packaging – 4

Special notes: Now this was another surprise. I’ve never heard of Anseong, but it sounds like this is a famous city in Korea. Maybe the name is a coincidence though, I am not sure. I had a slightly unusual flavor but great all-round ramyeon and it sure was spicy! This was another favorite of mine.

오징어짬뽕 (ojingeo jjambbong) by Nong Shim

jjambbong ramyeon
jjambbong ramyeon 2

Taste – 3 (wife says 4.5)
Spiciness – 5
Presentation – 4
Packaging – 2

Special notes: This was a more seafood-based ramyeon and wow it was spicy! My wife loves seafood and spicy food, but she had a hard time eating it too. Personally, I don’t like seafood flavor too much, but it was a good ramyeon overall with little bits of seaweed in there too. For some reason though I didn’t like the packaging too much, because of the squid and such. Must be an American thing. ;p

꼬꼬면 (ggu ggu myeon) by Paldo (팔도):

ggu ggu myeon
ggu ggu myeon 2

Taste – 5
Spiciness – 3
Presentation – 2
Packaging – 3

Special notes: This was another surprise hit. Apparently the words ggu ggu are the sounds a chicken makes in Korean, if I read my dictionary right. This was chicken flavor ramyeon and had a nice, smooth flavor while being pleasantly spicy. Normally I don’t eat chicken-flavored ramyeon, but I really liked this one and would likely buy again.

맛있는라면 (masissneun ramyeon) by Samyang (삼양):

Delicious Ramyeon
Delicious Ramyeon 2

Taste – 5
Spiciness – 4
Presentation – 4
Packaging – 5

Special notes: As the name implies this is really delicious ramyeon. The packaging explains that it has 60 different ingredients and it came with 2 sauce packets. Although I still can’t read Korean too well, my impression was that this was more of a high-end, gourmet ramyeon and it didn’t disappoint. I absolutely loved it. Good, solid, classic Ramyeon. It was spicy without being overpowering, and just looked and tasted awesome.

Winner

This was a really tough call between the Chapagetti, Cheese Ramyeon, Chicken ramyeon and the gourmet one above. To be honest, I loved all 10 of them, and would definitely buy them here in the US at the local Korean market. But I have to admit the cheese ramyeon barely edged out the others.

P.S. Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans. :)

About Doug 陀愚

A Buddhist, Father and Japanophile / Koreaphile.
This entry was posted in Cooking, Korea and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Korean Ramen Party, part two

  1. I’ll definitely be referring back to this next time I’m in a Korean store. Thanks!

  2. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Best of luck, Dan! Good to hear from you. :)

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