Jam-packed full of kimchi and bursting with the flavors of jjigae, Jonggajip’s Kimchi Jjigae Ramen might be the closest thing to the authentic Korean cuisine that you can get in an instant form. Like I mentioned yesterday, Jonggajip is already well-known for their conveniently packaged kimchi products, so they tossed some of their kimchi straight into a cup of noodles for our collective enjoyment. Now, I really do think there is a special placement in the kimchi flavored ramen pantheon for Jongga’s offering. And… it’s somewhere near the top!
Flavor:
Jonggajip Kimchi Jjigae Ramen tastes like you would expect with a kimchi or cooked kimchi flavor. It really does taste similar to authentic Korean kimchi jjigae. It’s very salty and even a bit sour from the fermented kimchi. It does have an MSG taste to it, which makes it savory, but that might be one of the only alterations to the original flavor of kimchi jjigae. There’s not much for flakes in this cup of noodles. I could only find the kimchi and some spring onion sprinkled about. Jonggajip really played up the kimchi jjigae, which typically has very few ingredients to it.
Spiciness:
The level of spiciness in this cup of noodles is similar to what you would find a bowl of kimchi jjigae at someone’s house or at a restaurant here in Korea. Most of the spice comes from Korea red chili pepper powder, which is used in virtually every dish. The spice wasn’t enough to make me sweat, but I could feel the tingle in my mouth. I consider these noodles fairly mild.
Smell:
These noodles from Jonggajip really do smell like Kimchi Jjigae. They aren’t spot on, but they are very, very close. The aroma was a bit different because it was more acidic than you would expect from a bowl of jjigae. It was so acidic that the altered flavor tasted similar to tomatoes. I’m not sure why they tasted like this. Maybe it was something in the preservatives or artificial flavoring?
Noodles:
Another hefty helping of noodles with Kimchi Jjigae Ramen. This cup was seriously overflowing with ramen noodles. The noodles are a bit basic, but I can overlook it, since the noodles were plentiful and added to the overall flavor of the noodles. The texture of the noodles was perfect. They ended up not too soft and not too firm, but somewhere in the middle. Make sure you follow the timing on the instruction and you’ll have perfect noodles!
Overall:
Jonggajip Kimchi Jjigae Ramen is a solid cup of noodles that I think many people will enjoy. If you’re familiar with the taste of jjigae, especially kimchi jjigae you’ll love these noodles, one-hundred percent. This cup of instant noodles might just be the best base for adding other ingredients to it as well. I would suggest adding some type of protein like tuna, but that’s just my preference. You could add virtually any protein to these to spice it up a little. Delicious and versatile, you can’t go wrong with these!
What protein might you add to a cup of Kimchi Jjigae Ramen? Do you think jjigae makes a good base for other proteins? 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.
