A day later and I am still perplexed by Ottogi’s choice when naming this ramen. I closely inspected the label of this mysteriously named cup of noodles and found out that only ten percent of the actual cheese sauce is REAL! I guess we finally found our answer to yesterday’s burning question… This cheese is “real,” meaning almost entirely synthetic.
Despite my sadness in officially finding out the hard to swallow truth about the cheese sauce, Ottogi Real Cheese Ramen tastes artificial, albeit in a pleasant way. The good news is… I wasn’t really expecting to have cheese made from the teat of a mammal anyways. It’s instant ramen noodles! Ten percent real, REAL cheese might have been stretching it a bit, but I’ll forgive Ottogi, just this once for their cheesy-transgressions.
Flavor:
Ottogi Real Cheese Ramen has the oozing cheesiness of carny cheese combined with the buttery smell of movie theater popcorn. The flavor is creamy and buttery, but lacks seasoning. I wish there was a bit more salt, pepper, or spiciness in these noodles. They really could have used another layer of flavor. They were a little bland for my taste. Now, that doesn’t mean they were bad…
My personal preference for ramen requires flavors that are based on authentic cuisine and utilizes flavor profiles that work well together. Without going into depth, these are my basic needs. I just don’t think Ottogi’s Real Cheese Ramen met those standards. However, I think there is an audience out there for this cup of noodles. I just wanted to make that clear, because it might seem like I’m bashing these noodles…
The flavor is simple, but fun. It’s unique as a ramen flavor, but all so familiar. If I had to take a guess, frequent movie-goers and children are going to find this ramen very exciting. It’s going to bring back all those memories of movies past with its buttery and cheesy flavor.
Spiciness:
The Coke Zero of spiciness… Real Cheese Ramen doesn’t even have a hint of spiciness. It’s non-existent. This would be a perfect cup of noodles for children. They would probably even enjoy the simple, yet fun, flavor.
Smell:
This cup of noodles really smells like the movie theater. When I take a big whiff of these cheesy noodles, I’m instantly transported via olfactory stimulation to a movie theater lobby with a pimply teen standing ready to take my order at the counter.
Not only does this ramen have a strong artificial cheese smell, but it has those buttery notes as well. If you blended a supersized bag of cheese popcorn, you would probably get the same aroma that can be found within the creamy sauce of these noodles.
To tell you a little about my cheese street cred, you’re talking to a guy that brought back the 5kg limit of cheese from his last visit to Europe. I’m still confused by the “real” cheese title, a day after processing all of the different elements that make up this cup of noodles. There is nothing “real” about this cheese aroma. It’s purely artificial, or artificially “real,” if that’s a thing? And, I can confidently say, “I know my cheese.”
Noodles:
The noodles look closely like basic ramen noodles. They are the same size and thickness, at the very least. The cook on the noodles ended up being quite soft, especially when combined with the creaminess of the artificial cheese. It was almost like the texture of chamois cream (if you know what that is…). I nearly missed something really important with these noodles. It actually came as a surprise. I almost finished the cup of noodles and was about to put the bowl in the sink, when I glimpsed a few teeny-tiny macaroni noodles. Yes, there’s not only ramen, but macaroni too!
Overall:
This might not be my personal favorite ramen, but I can’t emphasize strongly enough that there is a market for these noodles. Someone out there is going to find Ottogi Real Cheese Ramen either fun or delicious. It’s kind of like slurping up noodles with movie theater butter! I might have done this before, but major props to Ottogi for thinking outside the box with this one. While I prefer more natural and authentic flavors (no quotes this time), this is a great cup of noodles for children, which might not be able to appreciate more complex flavors quite yet.
So, what is your favorite flavor of popcorn at the movie theater? I prefer a mixture of cheese and onion, or caramel. Do you think these noodles could replace your mac ‘n cheese? Let me know down 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.
Note: This article may contain affiliate links that support the author’s ramen purchases for these how-to guides and reviews.
