5 Instant Noodles I Tried in Korea: Udon, Cheese, Kimchi and More
Asia is basically the kingdom of instant food — there are so many wildly different kinds of instant noodles out there, and Korea is no exception. While I was in Korea I spotted tons of instant noodles I’d never seen before, so I figured, why not just buy them all and give them a taste! So today is Part 1 of the 5 different foreign instant noodles I’ve tried! There are still plenty more I haven’t gotten to, but they’re not opened yet, so once I’ve eaten my way through them I’ll slowly share those with you too!
1. Nongshim Saeng Saeng Udon Instant Noodles (4❤️)
This is the most distinctive bowl of Korean instant noodles I’ve ever had — because it’s udon! Udon instant noodles! For the first time in my life I learned that udon can be turned into instant noodles too. Honestly, the flavor is pretty good — it’s the familiar udon broth paired with noodles that aren’t super chewy, and for an instant noodle that level of texture is already seriously impressive.
Full article:
https://www.dcard.tw/f/food/p/246473013?cid=e205d59c-9976-4a1b-9c76-1f9ad9520a9e
2. Ottogi Cheese-Flavored Stir-Fried Instant Noodles (3❤️)
I bought the cheese-flavored dry noodles twice. The first time I prepped them wrong and turned them into soup noodles, which ended up tasting bad (well, obviously). But if you add a little less water, or toss in a few extra cheese slices yourself to boost the richness, it might end up tasting a lot like cheese fondue. The second time I finally got them right as dry stir-fried noodles. They were actually pretty decent — kind of like cheese powder mixed into overcooked Prince Noodles. But the aftertaste of the cheese itself, just like most Korean instant noodles, has a bit of a spicy kick. Would I recommend them? Personally I’d say they’re alright — buy a pack if you happen to see them!
3. Nongshim Kimchi Instant Noodles (2.5❤️)
The kimchi instant noodles taste a lot like a kimchi-flavored instant noodle that A-Q used to make in Taiwan, except they’re not as sour as A-Q’s and instead have just the tiniest bit of heat (yep, chili has to butt into everything around here). The shame is, I think instant noodles really need to pack a bolder punch — out of all these bowls, this one actually came across as a bit on the bland side.
4. Ottogi Hot & Spicy Ramen (3❤️)
On the surface this spicy instant noodle looks kind of terrifying, with a whole pile of chilies drawn on the package. But in reality it’s not as spicy as you’d imagine — if “so spicy I can’t take it” is a 10, this bowl is maybe a 4 to 5. The broth is that so-called hot-pot stock vibe — it has flavor, but it’s basically a bonito-kombu-MSG kind of taste. The whole point is to make you sweat from the heat; beyond that, it’s just there to fill you up.
5. Nongshim Spicy Beef Soup Noodles (1.5❤️)
This one tastes a lot like what we’d call “hot-pot stock instant noodles.” If I had to find the closest comparison, it’d probably be the seafood-flavor cup noodles back home, minus the shrimp taste. Overall it’s pretty unremarkable, nothing memorable, but the toppings include fish cake, seaweed, and some mystery item — both my family and I were puzzled about what that weird object actually was, because the picture on the package showed a piece of meat, yet it didn’t taste like meat at all. And it was only after doing a reverse image search that I realized it was actually beef soup noodles — we’d been assuming the whole time it was seafood noodles!!! There was no beef flavor whatsoever!!!
