Samyang’s Doenjang Ramen is a wonderful twist on a classic bowl of Korea’s all-time favorite soybean paste stew, that is marred by a single unexpected problem I have never encountered before in my ramen reviewing career. It breaks my heart to have to bring the sledgehammer down on an innocent cup noodles because of some really stupid mistake or misstep in the labeling process. However, things like these should have been ironed out before coming to market and customers have every right to know about the problems along the way that can destroy their ramen experience.
While this is an easy fix, I’m not happy that I have to be the bearer of bad news and still can’t believe errors that affect the preparation haven’t been fixed by some sort of quality control team over at Samyang. I don’t know if Samyang is just getting lazy or have lost their edge, but this product situation is unacceptable. If you read my “how-to guide" yesterday, you probably already saw my warning about not putting these noodles in the microwave.
No, they don’t create fireworks in the microwave, but the cook on the noodles becomes absolutely unpassable by any standards if you follow that single step (like I did). It was a mistake, a cup of disgusting noodles I had to forcefully consume for a review, and for many, would have probably ended up in the trash as wasted food.
Is this cup of instant noodles delicious?
Of course it is! It would have been a stellar cup of instant noodles if it weren’t for that single issue. And that’s exactly what frustrates me the most about these noodles from Samyang. They had the perfect chance to share the deliciousness of Korean cuisine with the rest of the world in a form that even a chimp could probably figure out how to prepare in his or her apartment. Unfortunately, the joke’s on me and I’m our chimpanzee friend who botched a perfectly good cup of ramen because I was given faulty directions from the start. I expect more from our future dystopian ramen mega corporations and I demand noodle justice to be served!
Flavor:
Samyang Doenjang Ramen tastes strongly of a concentrated version of doenjang. It’s less soupy than its traditional counterpart, which I kind of miss. The noodles absorbed most of the liquid and turned into a ramen slurry instead of a soup with ramen added in.
The flavor is tasty and the flavor of the doenjang is surprisingly accurate. However, I don’t think any artificial flavoring was used in this cup of instant noodles (I could see bits of soybeans), so this makes perfect sense. The block of freeze-dried honggae doenjang provided 90% of the flavor, while the other 10% or so came from the sliced red chili peppers for a touch of heat and plus a few other ingredients. Some of the other more prominent flavors were: the laver (miyeok), dried shrimp, and the flavor of the instant noodles themselves.
Overall, I enjoyed the flavor of this ramen very much. I could see myself reaching for these when I’m craving something traditional, yet different. However, there are other problems that keep me from recommending this cup of noodles, so keep on reading and you’ll learn why!
Aroma:
The aroma of Doenjang Ramen smells almost perfectly like our delicious soy bean paste or soy bean paste stew. There’s also a secondary dominant smell from the honggae (red crab). I can’t smell the spiciness or the quickly identifiable smell of Samyang noodles either. Normally, I could pick out the smell of their noodles in an instant noodle lineup no problem, but the doenjang and honggae cover most of the aroma of the other ingredients.
Spiciness:
These noodles from Samyang are unsurprisingly a bit spicy. However, it’s more for flavor enhancement than for a kick with these noodles. Don’t worry! This isn’t Buldalk Bokkeum Myeon, so people that are familiar with spiciness will have no problem eating these instant noodles. I quite enjoyed the added touch of heat, that is just enough to tingle your taste buds.
Noodles:
If you followed the instructions on the package exactly as they were mentioned, you’ll likely find out that these noodles will become disgustingly soft. I gave several warnings about this yesterday in my “how-to” article, because I really don’t want you to end up with the sloppy mess that I had this time around. It’s much better to skip the microwave step and just use hot water, even if they end up slightly undercooked.
I cooked these noodles once before, prior to this review, as a snack. I just winged the preparation method, because I was hungry and in a hurry, so I didn’t place the noodles in the microwave. They turned out way… better! They cook was more al dente in the beginning, but by the final bite, they were more than tender enough. Without a doubt, this is the way to cook these instant noodles.
So, allow me to describe to you, the noodles that I had this round of preparation. The texture was like snot and if I closed my eyes, I could almost taste the boogers in my mind’s eye. They turned into slime upon being nuked… The noodles are your typical sweet and buttery Samyang instant noodles. They have a unique and easily identifiable taste to them, which all Samyang ramen share. The noodles are fairly average, but might be a little more on the thicker side compared to other noodles. Sliminess aside, these noodles are your typical size, thickness, and texture from Samyang.
Verdict:
I wanted to recommend these noodles for their flavor, but after preparing them, these noodles need to be sent straight back to Samyang for readjustment. They are seriously flawed to the point I have yet to see from a cup of instant noodles. The slimy noodles that you get from the cooking method make these noodles a hard no and I’m not going to recommend them. Nobody wants to eat a 1958 horror film inspired, disgusting blob of noodles. Maybe if I blow my nose into a jar and save it for a few months, I too can have a similar fermented flavored bowl of goo. In their current state, I highly recommend that you don’t buy these or at the very least skip the microwave step to save your precious noodles!
Have you watched in horror as your ramen noodles came to life in the bowl after overcooking them? What do you think of classic film, The Blob? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re interested in hearing more about Korean snack nuts or instant ramen, check out my on-going series, Noodle Story: An Exploration of Korean Instant Noodles and my other series, I Think I’m Going Nuts: An Eyeful of South Korea’s Little Snack Nuts, here on Medium.
