The environmental disaster and destroyer of worlds, Paldo King Ttukkeong, uses more different kinds of plastic than I have eyeballs. That means three, because I’m not a pirate and thankfully, somehow, I still have both of mine. I could keep naming pairs here, but I digress for the sake of brevity… Now, I might be a bit of a tree-hugger, but I think most can agree that in 2020, this amount of polyethylene is irresponsible.
I’ll chill out on the environmental stuff for now, so we can talk about what you’re probably here for… the flavor. Well, things aren’t so great in that department either. These noodles can definitely feed a small army of rabid kindergarteners, but that’s about it. The flavor is run-of-the-mill and just not that exciting. Once again, it’s another classic flavor. At one point in time not too long ago, I thought there was room for more classic cups of ramen, but this clone has me changing my opinion. King Ttukkeong tastes uncannily similar to Shin Ramyeon. That is why we should abide by the wisdom put forth by the movie, Highlander… There can be only one!
Flavor:
Honestly, there’s really not a whole lot to say about the flavor of these noodles. While the bowl itself is large and packed with ramen noodle frisbees, it’s definitely lacking in the flavor department. The flavor is one-note and what you would expect from a classic cup or bowl (in this case) of ramen noodles. I mostly taste ramen noodles and the mind-blowingly salty flavor of the broth. Of course, there is also plenty of MSG in here as well. King Ttukkeong has that well-known savory MSG flavor too. There quite a few flakes that help to round out this bowl of noodles, such as: mystery meat (beef?), little medallions of “King” fishcakes, spring onion, carrot, and some thin squares of egg.
Spiciness:
The powdered soup packet contains mostly red chili pepper powder. The spiciness is definitely coming from there. It’s not extremely spicy, but it will be enough to make you sweat a bit. I consider these classic noodles to be somewhere between mild and medium heat.
Smell:
King Ttukkeong smells almost exactly like the even more popular cup of Korean noodles, Shin Ramyeon. They have a very classic or old school smell about them. I can mostly smell the ramen noodles, but there are touches of the red chili pepper powder and MSG that come through strongly. Overall, it has a fairly simple aroma to it.
Noodles:
Now this is one generous bowl of noodles! By just eyeballing the amount of noodles, I estimate there is probably about 1.5 servings or a little more in this bowl. These are your basic ramen noodles, so nothing wild or fancy here. The noodles are thinner than normal, but actually came out perfectly soft and firm with a 3 minute cook time.
Overall:
A classic overall flavor that is both spicy and extremely salty. King Ttukkeong is very basic tasting, so I think it makes a much better base for other ingredients. These noodles will be even more delicious with some added: cheese, kimchi, or egg. However, without these ingredients, this bowl of noodles might be disappointing to most. Known more for its larger size than its ramen quality, these noodles are more of a dependable bowl of instant noodles to fill you up in a hurry than a joyride of new and exciting flavors.
Do you think typical cups of ramen have enough noodles in them? Or, do they need even more noodles? 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.
