Latest poster boy for the Korean Wave - ramyeon or instant noodles

[The_King]

SEOUL - Move aside, kimchi.

Korean ramyeon, or instant noodles, is now the rage.

Exports hit a record high last year, hitting US$603 million (S$803.3 million) - four times more than kimchi - amid stronger demand for ready-to-cook meals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figure marked a 29.3 per cent increase from 2019, Korea Customs Service data showed.

China was the largest overseas market for ramyeon, followed by the United States, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines.

The Japanese may have invented instant noodles, but the Koreans spiced it up with tongue-tingling flavours such as food giant Nongshim's best-seller Shin ramyeon, which comes in a spicy beef base soup, and Samyang's buldak-myeon, commonly known as fire noodles.

 

 

Ramyeon is known to be comfort food for the Koreans who can whip up a pot any time of the day.

Even when out on a picnic along the Han River in Seoul, Koreans will bring along cup noodles and hot water, or go to the nearest convenience store to buy a packet of ramyeon to be prepared on an aluminium tray.

They are also spoilt for choice, as ramyeon makers vie to introduce new and exciting flavours to entice consumers, especially those who live alone. Even traditional foods such as army stew and gamjatang (pork bone soup) have found their way into ramyeon packets.

Ms Kim Seul-won, who works in a legal office, eats ramyeon two to three times a week.

 

"It is easy to cook and eat, it is delicious, and I can eat it without proper banchan (side dishes)," Ms Kim, 28, told The Straits Times.

"There are so many types of ramyeon available, so it's nice to be able to choose what flavour I want to eat."

Ms Kim Seul-won with one of her favourite brands. PHOTO: COURTESY OF KIM SEUL-WON

Experts said ramyeon was already getting popular overseas due to the Korean Wave, with it being portrayed as a delicious and essential part of Korean life in numerous dramas.

In the 2016 hit drama Descendants Of The Sun, the elite soldier played by Song Joong-ki is seen asking the surgeon played by Song Hye-kyo: "Ramyeon meokgo galrae?" which means "Do you want to eat ramyeon before you go?" This is a common refrain heard among dating couples.

South Korea's largest noodle maker Nongshim said it has been running its factories in the US and China at full capacity and ramping up exports.

A Nongshim official said the Chinese love Shin ramyeon, the company's best seller, for its "spicy taste unique to Korea that cannot be found in China".

"Shin ramyeon has established itself so successfully that many Chinese people regard it as their own product," the official said.

"It was even selected as a Korean luxury product loved by the Chinese in 2018."

In the US, it was the overwhelming popularity of boy band BTS and Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite that drove the sales of ramyeon last year.

It was as if "chapaguri won the Oscars", JoongAng Ilbo newspaper wrote, referring to the noodles seen in the film that shot to global fame after it was named Best Picture in February last year.

 

 

Chapaguri is a mixture of two key Nongshim products - chapagetti (dry noodles in sweet black bean paste) and neoguri (noodles in spicy seafood soup).

In Parasite, a story of class divide, the cheap dish gets upgraded with premium hanwoo (Korean beef) in a rich man's house.

The posh nosh inspired a legion of cooking video clips online, many getting millions of views on YouTube and other social media channels.

 

 

Meanwhile, fans of the hugely popular BTS have been learning about ramyeon through their idols.

The jet-setting group is known to travel with all kinds of ramyeon in their suitcases and have appeared in various variety shows eating all kinds of ramyeon.

YouTube eating channels have also helped fuel the popularity of ramyeon, with one such video clip garnering 71 million views.

Samyang's spicy fire noodles took YouTube by storm in 2014 after viral videos emerged of people challenging themselves to eat them, sweating buckets in the process.

 

 

Given a surge in global demand for ramyeon, Samyang said it would try to widen its product range and grow the US into a major export market.

A word of caution though. Ramyeon is also known to be unhealthy, loaded with oil, sodium and preservatives.

"I'm a little worried about it being unhealthy so I'm trying not to eat so much," said Ms Kim.

[The_King]

instant noodles is poor man food or those that cant cook

 

 

 

if not eat a proper meal 

[ManOfTheHour]

Instant noodles suck