Could someone please tell me if Jeju fell victim to some accidental military mishap that involved truckloads of radioactive material? I seriously want to know which farm the garlic in HEYROO’s Jeju Garlic Cup Noodle came from? So, I can finally get the superpowers I always wanted! Falling nothing short of Atomic with a capital A, this cup of noodles has such an irrefutably overpowering flavor of garlic, that I had to check in the mirror twice to see if I grew a few extra limbs. It’s that mind-meltingly powerful! Now, if you’re a garlic lover or like the unique spiciness of garlic, you’ll be freakin’ jazzed about these noodles. If you’re not and someone in your city decided to crack open this ramen, you’d better get to an underground bunker somewhere nearby, because you’re going to be waiting a few years until the radioactive fallout clears out. KABOOM!
Flavor:
You’re definitely getting your bang for your buck with all the garlic found in these noodles. Other than the garlic block that was included, I actually found real cloves of garlic that were tossed in! The predominant flavor of these noodles is garlic, but these noodles also have a spicy, salty, and savory flavor to them. The sodium content definitely matches the level of MSG in Jeju Garlic Cup Noodle. The flavor of the noodles barely managed to escape the grasp of the cooked garlic, so it kind of just tastes like spicy, cooked garlic soup.
Spiciness:
Jeju Garlic Cup Noodle was spicier than I was expecting. Having eaten thousands of raw garlic cloves during my time in Korea, I have developed quite the tolerance to the biting spiciness of raw garlic. However, these noodles combine both red chili pepper and garlic for a double whammy of spiciness. I would still consider these somewhere around a medium level of spiciness, but made my mouth and lips hot. If you’re familiar with Shin Ramyeon, as a comparison, these noodles are likely double the spiciness.
Smell:
Whoa! These noodles have an intense smell of cooked garlic. This is on the level of Italian Bagna, which our family used to cook outdoors. As you would expect, the garlic dominates the aroma of the other ingredients to create a rather flat aroma profile for this cup of noodles. If you’re hoping to ward off vampires for an entire city block, then you have two options Bagna or these instant noodles!
Noodles:
These noodles came out al dente, which was a bit firmer than I was expecting. I really liked the texture of these noodles compared to other cups of ramen that use basic ramen noodles. There’s nothing really special about these noodles, other than they are a bit thinner than normal.
Overall:
Jeju Garlic Cup Noodle is the quintessential garlic lover’s dream ramen. I’ve never tasted anything like it, to be honest. HEYROO took the nuclear option with this cup of noodles. The garlic is so… overpowering, that it makes me wonder what kind of experimental research they have been doing on their garlic in Jeju? Jeju isn’t even known for having explosive garlic like this! It really came out of nowhere…
The garlic flavor will undoubtedly be too much for some people. Don’t expect to taste any other flavors in this ramen and you’ll be just fine with these. But, that’s probably why you bought it, right? For the tiny islands of raw garlic in an ocean of garlicy broth. Garlic lovers all around the globe rejoice, because HEYROO just made a cup of ramen that’s perfect for you.
Have you ever tried Italian Bagna before? It’s absolutely delicious and even better if you love garlic! How would you utilize this ramen to deter a symphony of vampires? 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.
