A safe place, a middle-of-the-run instant ramen that splits the difference between the classics and more adventurous instant noodles. Ottogi’s Chamggae Ramen (Sesame Flavored) will nuke your mouth with kilotons of sesame flavor. It’s also a very customizable cup of noodles with the addition of a packet of pepper oil that you can use to spice up your cup. Featuring large flakes of meat, a giant slab of dried egg, and intense sesame flavor, Ottogi’s Chamggae Instant Ramen is an interesting cup of noodles that plays it safe to appeal to the masses.
Flavor:
Like I mentioned in the intro, Ottogi Chamggae Ramen has an overpowering sesame flavor that might not be for everyone. I can also subtly detected some minute traces of egg, but it’s only present in the aftertaste. I find that absolutely mindboggling, because the dried block of egg included with this cup of noodles was as massive as it was generous. Sesame just has such a strong flavor in general. It coats your tongue with its fatty and oily goodness, so you can’t seemingly taste anything else. The overall flavor of this ramen is light, which I think many people find appealing.
Spiciness:
Options. Options. Options. This cup of instant ramen includes a tiny sachet of pepper oil, which can be used to create a spicy sesame ramen. It’s not necessary to use in the mix, so you can either keep the cup salty, spicy, or somewhere in the middle in terms of heat. Even if you go all in with the pepper oil (like I did), it’s still nowhere near as spicy as a dedicate cup of spicy noodles. The noodles end up being much more salty than they are spicy in the end.
Smell:
This is an easy section to answer today… Of course, these noodles have a completely saturated odor of sesame oil.
Texture:
We’re dealing with regular instant ramen noodles here. I was underwhelmed by the texture of these noodles to say the least. They just don’t hold up well at all. Even when following the directions perfectly, these noodles become saturated with sesame oil and fall apart. If sesame oil is the nuclear weapon in this analogy, then these noodles have issues with radioactive decay. The noodles disintegrated in the oily bath until they became one with the soup.
Overall Impression:
These noodles aren’t good or bad, they are just okay. They are pleasant to eat, but just play it a bit too safe. I like the options that are available for customizing your cup of noodles and the generous block of dried egg. However, the noodles are a train wreck and the sesame oil conquers all the other flavors to bring them into submission. Ottogi Chamggae Ramen does have that Asian vibe going for it with the sesame, but it just doesn’t play well with its flavorful friends in this cup of instant noodles.
That’s it for today! What do you guys and gals think of sesame? Do you find that it has an overpowering flavor? 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.
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