This will be the first review in a series of Korean Samyang spicy ramen reviews. I picked up all of the ?flavors? offered by my Asian supermarket and will be trying them all one after another. I?ve had this one and the cheese one previously but it?s been a while and I want to do a fresh take.
These were all $1.39 each at the Asian supermarket, which is a steal if you poke around Amazon for these. I?ve been both looking forward to and dreading eating all of these spicy Samyang ramens, as I love spicy food but these guys always get me sweating and the oil really coats your lips and mouth. Although the packaging calls these ?ramen? it also says ?stir-fried noodle? in the bottom-right corner. Seeing as how the cooking instructions have you dispose of all but 1/2 cup (125 ml) of the water, stir-fried noodle does seem more accurate than a traditional ramen.
I don?t recall seeing this on some of the older packaging but it?s worth mentioning that this is Halal certified by the HACCP which is really cool.
I think this is the first instant noodle I?m reviewing for the blog that contains a liquid soup base. I really enjoy this style; not sure what it is about it but it?s a nice change from the powder and I always feel like you get a better end result.
We?ve got a substantially larger brick of noodles here; noticeable in that my usual saucepan I use really isn?t large enough to accommodate it until it softens up. The liquid soup mix contains artificial chicken flavor powder, soy sauce, sugar, chili pepper powder, soybean oil, onion, red pepper powder, red pepper seed oil, yeast powder, garlic, decolorized chili extract, paprika extract, black pepper powder, curry powder, and a few other things. Spicy indeed! The ?flakes? sachet just contains roasted sesame seeds and laver seaweed.
Cooking instructions
Cooking instructions here are a bit different than other instant noodles. First thing (which is easy to miss) is that they instruct you to boil 550 ml of water, that?s right, not 500 ml (or 2 cups) but 550 ml (or 2.3? cups). Best to use milliliters if you care about that sort of thing. For review purposes I am following these to a T. You then ?simmer? the noodles for 5 minutes and after that you dump out all of the water but ?8 spoons?. Assuming that this is a reference to tablespoons, this would be about 125 ml or 1/2 cup of water remaining. You then add the liquid soup base and ?stir-fry? for 30 seconds. I took this to mean just add to the pot with the 1/2 cup of water and stir, making sure it heats through for about 30 seconds. Add the sesame seeds and laver and stir, then serve!
The final product
If you don?t like spicy foods or are sensitive to them, you will not like this ramen. I don?t taste much chicken here despite it being hot chicken. It is just HOT and it?s a very different kind of hot. Very oily and it really coats your mouth and lips and sticks around. My scalp always starts to sweat while eating this and at the end I drink up the bright red ?soup?. Noodles are great, liquid soup base is very tasty and spicy, and the sesame seeds and laver are a nice cherry on top.
My only issue is with leaving a whole 1/2 cup of water behind. Maybe 8 spoons means something else, because in my previous experience of just leaving a small amount of water in the bottom (much less than 1/2 cup) you don?t have 1/2 cup puddle of bright red fire in the bottom of the bowl. If this is a stir-fried noodle and not a soup, there should be no broth. The noodles should be coated in the sauce. Either way, this is a super solid instant noodle and its notoriety on the internet is a clear sign of that. This will always be my favorite for when I?m looking for spicy stir-fried noodles.
Rating: 5/5
