Is it just me, or do all spicy ramen noodles taste the same? Well, I think they do or at least they have started to for me… Ottogi’s Ddeok Ramen does absolutely nothing new with its traditional spicy ramen flavor, but it does add rice cakes, or at least something like them. If you didn’t figure it out already, ddeok in Korean means, rice cake. Now, the ones included in this cup of instant noodles aren’t exactly your grandmother’s tasty ones made with love, these are more like dried candle wax or plastic and made with pure hatred. I’m just going to get straight to the point today and say, I really don’t like these noodles. The rice cakes taste awful, even if they add another texture to play with in my mouth. On top of that, the capsaicin spice, kerosene, drain cleaner, whatever you want to call it, coats your mouth so you can’t taste anything anyways. Unless you are a serious, and I mean serious, fan of rice cakes in everything, then you should just skip these and find something better. There are plenty of other ramens to choose from!
Flavor:
Basically the same as any other spicy cup of noodles out there, but mostly worse. To be honest, I actually really didn’t enjoy the flavor of these noodles at all. The spicy flavor detracted from the flavor of the other ingredients. While there was a plethora of ingredients when compared to other cups of noodles, I couldn’t really taste any of them. The number of ingredients and the amount of them is the biggest strength of these noodles. Here’s what I managed to find after searching carefully through this cup of noodles: large pieces of beef (very generous), big slices of rice cakes, some spring onion, some slices of red pepper, a tiny piece of mushroom, and a piece or two of carrot. However, all of these ingredients don’t mean much if you can’t taste any of them.
Spiciness:
Another surprise today! I didn’t expect these noodles to be nearly this spicy, especially because they contain rice cakes. I would have preferred a more mild spiciness than this with ddeok (rice cakes). The unnatural spiciness in this cup of noodles coats your mouth, so you can’t taste a single ingredient. It will make you sweat a little and give you that “brain-zing” as well. I think you might as well go big and eat some Samyang “fire ramen” instead of picking these noodles up.
Smell:
This cup of noodles smells very similar to most other spicy cups of ramen, like Shin Ramen or Yeol Ramen. I can smell both the spicy broth and the ramen noodles. The ramen noodles are most prominent in the aroma, but the savory MSG smell with some saltiness is also present. It’s a very familiar aroma, which again, is just like any other spicy cup of noodles you have eaten.
Noodles:
These are basic ramen noodles, but there’s a lot of them! The ramen noodles are of average size with a texture that is more firm than soft. Lovers of al dente noodles will love these. They have a nice springy texture that cuts extremely well. Personally, I find the cook on these noodles superior to most.
I should also note in this section the texture of the rice cakes. They felt like plastic when they were uncooked, but they turned out slightly better after cooking for a while. They didn’t become too soft after sitting the in broth for a while. They remained tough to chew for my liking, but that might be different if you choose to put these in the microwave instead of waiting for 4 minutes. The rice cakes stuck together into sets of three, which was super annoying. Some might like the chewy texture, but I could do without the rice cakes. They have a strange taste and the texture just isn’t quite right.
Overall:
For people who love to eat rice cakes, you might find Ottogi Ddeok Ramen a fantastic choice for a snack. The rice cakes just didn’t do it for me. Like I mentioned above, the flavor of the rice cakes is off and so is the texture. Also, isn’t there already enough carbohydrates in these noodles? They just didn’t add much to the overall cup of noodles. The flavor of these noodles is okay. It’s not great though. The spiciness of these noodles tends to override all the other flavors, which leaves you with an unbalanced flavor to these noodles. So, I guess I’ll leave you with this… If you’re a rice cake fan, these are a hard yes, but if you’re not don’t expect the flavor to save these noodles. My personal opinion is that there are tastier cups of spicy noodles out there to enjoy. And flavor… is everything…
Do you like to have rice cakes in your soup or instant noodles? Or, do you prefer more dessert types of rice cakes? 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.
