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Every month on the first of the month, I send out a letter to my readers that includes my monthly recipe roundup, heartwarming and humorous stories, upcoming events, reader comments, and pictures of what you guys are cooking! You can view the November letter here if you’d like to see what it looks like.
- Korean ramen
- Other English name(s): instant noodles
- Korean name: 라면
- Romanized: Ramyeon
- Also Romanized as: ramyun, ramyeun
Which should I get? Both are best sellers, so if you want to learn how to cook Korean food at home, either one is a good option. My second book, Maangchis Big Book of Korean Cooking, has more recipes, more pictures, and more variety than Maangchis Real Korean Cooking, but it still contains all the recipes for all the necessary Korean pastes and sauces.
This is not dressed up instant noodles
There’s a whole ramen hack movement these days. Strangely addictive hacks. Like some sort of noodle drug. It’s huge for a reason. But this is not that.
It also has nothing to do with how it’s done in Korea. Korea is the OG of ramen hacks.
And they are really good at it. So good they have Ramyeon restaurants that specialize in it.
This has nothing to do with instant noodles. This is more akin to traditional Japanese ramen with Korean flavors.
Not full-bore Japanese tonkotsu ramen though. That takes a day to make. At least. It’s epic. This is simplified. You can make Korean ramen in an hour.
That’s the great thing about adding big Korean tastes. It eliminates the necessity of preparing those delicate Japanese flavors.
Those nuances take real work. Not weeknight dinner material.
One thing I’m pondering though. What would happen if I added gochujang to my tonkatsu ramen broth?
It would be off the scale. Pretty sure about that. However, I would have to give up some of my priceless tonkatsu ramen broth. My all day broth.
This Korean ramen is already really good. So I haven’t pulled the trigger. Not yet.
Korean ramen – it’s a food trend waiting to happen
This style Korean ramen doesn’t exist in Korea. There’s no such thing as traditional Korean ramen.
Korean ramyeon is all about the instant. The Japanese invented instant ramen. However, the Koreans grabbed the ball and took off.
They consume more instant ramen per person than any other nation in the world these days. And they export a lot of it.
I can buy it at any grocery store. Halfway around the world. And I can find 14. 7 million ways to hack instant ramen so I can eat it for dinner
This is a little different. It’s a more traditional take slammed into Korean flavours. In my head it’s the next great thing. A mashup of two great noodle dishes.
Remember that you read about it here first if it does occur.
