So, what's with all those different types of 라면? 🍜

여러분 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Happy new year everyone!

Like many people celebrating the new year, we made a feast. Only our feast was actually a scraped-together 라면 and Italian ravioli to make 만두국 (dumpling soup) as close as we could. It was delicious, albeit we missed having 전 (fried egg-battered vegetables) and 떡국 (rice cake soup), a Korean new year’s staple.

But on the plus-side, it gave us the idea for today’s newsletter!

We’re gonna be looking at all (okay, maybe not all) the different 라면 out there because they actually have a lot to learn from!

Let’s dive in with probably the most popular of all 라면 at the moment: 신라면!

So, what does 신 mean here in 신라면? It is actually Sino-Korean meaning “spicy”. So, 신라면 is literally “spicy ramyeon” — makes sense.

There is a fun story about a new (relatively?) flavor of 신라면: 신라면 툼바! This flavor came about because Outback Steakhouse created a pasta named after a city in Australia (because of course they did) called "Toowoomba Pasta". Outback pasta is hugely popular in Korea (coming from the US, this blew my mind. I never went to Outback for pasta — but alas, different cultures).

Someone loved that pasta so much, they took 신라면 and recreated it at home, by adding a creamy milk sauce and cheese, essentially making fettuccine Alfredo from 신라면. Nongshim saw that this at-home recipe was so incredibly popular, they released an official flavor, going on to sell over 60 million units!

But make sure not to confuse 신라면 with 진라면, a very different (but can also come in a spicy form) ramyeon.

진 is another Sino-Korean word meaning “real” or “genuine”. So, the marketing here by 오뚜기 is that all other 라면 is fake — but this is the real ramyeon. And that is the same 진 that is in the word “진짜” as in “진짜 맛있어” = “really delicious”.

Another poppin’ ramyeon these days for the spice fans among you is the 불닭볶음면 (Buldak ramyeon) — the super spicy ramyeon. Here, the name is really fitting:

불닭볶음면 = 불 (fire) + 닭 (chicken) + 볶음 (fried) + 면 (noodles)

So, the name is literally “fire chicken fried noodles”.

I can already feel my tastebuds burning

The next brand is one that, in English, might not appear super appetizing: Raccoon Ramyeon. Or, in Korean: 너구리. But it is really just named after the cute mascot that is on the packaging. 너구리 is characterized by its thick, chewy udon-style noodles and a deep, savory seafood broth enhanced by a signature piece of dried kelp (다시마) inside the pack.

Next up is a Korean staple: 짜장면, or as it is in package form: 짜파게티.

So, first question: what is 짜장면? It is a Korean-Chinese food. Just as in the US we have things like orange chicken or General Tsao’s chicken as a staple of American-Chinese food, Korea has its own go-tos and 짜장면 or “black bean sauce noodles” is one of them. If you’ve never seen 짜장면, it looks like this:

So, somewhere along the way, people wanted to make it at home and 짜파게티 (짜장면 + 스파게티 (spaghetti)) was born!

But there is another player in the at-home 짜장면 space: 짜왕. This one has the same starter (짜), but the ending is 왕, which means “king”! So, this brand is declaring they are the king of 짜장면 (at-home, at least!) I think next time we are at the store, we will get both to do a side-by-side comparison!

And, here comes another once-super-popular, home-style hack, which even made it to the Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite: 짜파구리. A mix of 너구리 and 짜파게티, which, when the movie came out, made the sales of both skyrocket.

It combines sweet, earthy flavors from 짜파게티 sauce with spicy, taste-of-the-sea from the 너구리 broth, giving this savory, sweet, salty — you just gotta try it. Words don’t do it justice. Also, if you have prime grade cuts of meat, by all means toss those in!

Last one!

안성탕면 is named after 안성 (Anseong), a city in Korea famous for the expression 안성맞춤 ("perfect fit/tailor-made"). This expression comes from the Joseon Dynasty because of the high-quality, custom-made brassware of 안성, which was so precisely crafted to meet the buyers' needs that it became a synonym for anything that fits perfectly.

And 탕면 means "soup noodles." So this brand is implying that they are "perfectly made soup noodles.

Actually, one last one, our summer favorite, 비빔면!

Unlike typical 라면, 비빔면 is designed to be eaten cold in hot summer days. These thin, chewy wheat noodles are rinsed in cold water and tossed in a bright red sauce made from gochujang, vinegar, and sweet fruit puree, creating a perfect “sweet-sour-spicy” taste profile. It tastes perfect topped with crunchy cucumbers and a boiled egg to balance the heat. Or, because of its tangy kick, it is also the perfect pair for fatty meats like 삼겹살.

That’s all the 라면 we have for today! Which one is your favorite? Have you tried them all?