CU and their collaborators might be onto something here with this ramen. Huimangjul Ramen doesn’t seek to recreate the wheel. What it does do exceptionally well is stick to the ramen basics and a long list of classic flavors, while offering more ingredients at a better value than most. I’ve got to be honest with you, I thought this cup of noodles wasn’t going to be anything special. Well, it isn’t special… but I was still wrong. It reminds me of every other classic ramen out there, but at a different level of quality. Old school is new school or at least that can very well be like in this case. CU Huimangjul Ramen is definitely a cup of instant noodles to keep on your radar if you’re craving the classics with a dash of modern ingenuity.
Flavor:
Alright, so… Old school flavor with a bit of an upgrade is the best way to describe these noodles from CU and literally the Korean Government. First of all, there’s a truckload of beef in this cup. The pieces are large for a cup of instant noodles, which makes identifying the type of meat as simple as could be. I’m positive that this is good quality meat that’s not your typical mystery meat. There’s not an insane variety of ingredients, but from what I observed floating in the broth, there’s a large amount here. I easily found: spring onion, leek, and the large pieces of beef. However, that’s it! That’s all there is for ingredients… The broth is salty and savory with a mushroom and beef flavor to it. And… last, but not least… There is plenty of spice!
Spiciness:
Holy sweet mother of god… these noodles are spicy. I expected something somewhere around the Scoville level of Shin Ramen, but these are much, much hotter. Huimangjul Ramen is definitely not for everyone. It has the stopping power of pepper spray that tastes like it comes from a mixture of lots of Korean Cheongyang Gochu (green chili peppers) and red chili pepper powder. It burns. I could I feel it in my mouth and my stomach, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to zing my brain like the capsaicin oozing likes of Samyang’s Buldalk Series. I’m not a fan of spiciness that really lights up my brain, but this was clearly a spiciness that came from natural ingredients in Huimangjul Ramen. I would also expect to sweat a bit while eating these noodles. They are a solid medium spiciness that borderlines on hot.
Smell:
This cup of instant noodles has the aroma of lethality to it. It smells spicy. You can probably leave your kitchen after making these noodles and still be able to smell the Korean green chili peppers. The aroma is balanced by the ramen noodles, so it doesn’t actually smell all that bad.
Noodles:
I really liked the noodle choice that accompanied Huimangjul Ramen. These noodles are thin, basic ramen noodles. They came out perfectly textured to my liking with the four minute cook time, which left them soft and chewy. They mesh well with the incredibly spicy broth and bring a certain satisfaction that thicker noodles just can’t bring to a cup of ramen. It made transferring that volcanic broth to my mouth easy. There’s also a ton of noodles in this cup, so you won’t go hungry.
Overall:
Simple and effective! I can definitely say I recommend these noodles for quite a few reasons. If the CU delivery guy on the scooter didn’t hook you already, Huimangjul Ramen is super spicy, but still very tasty. These noodles are also convenient to make, because they only have a single powdered soup packet to add to the cup before adding hot water. There’s not many cups of noodles that can actually achieve this level of deliciousness without multiple packets of ingredients, so this is a huge win for CU and the Korean Government sector that helped bring these noodles to life. The noodles and ingredients are plentiful, but are lacking in diversity. That’s a small gripe, but it is significant nonetheless. I can’t believe that’s all the complaining I have to do about a cup of instant noodle, so this is quite the achievement indeed! If you stop by your local CU, give these noodles a try and see if you like them as much as I did.
Can old school actually become new school? Does this apply to ramen as well? Which classic cups of instant noodles would you like to give an upgrade? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re interested in hearing more about instant ramen, check out my on-going series, Noodle Story: An Exploration of Korean Instant Noodles, here on Medium.
