Image Credit: Ashley W
Have you ever watched K-dramas? There is a similarity to almost every one of them. Kimchi Cheese Ramen is a common dish that appears as a midnight snack or a high-schoolers’ quick meal at the convenience store. It is a dish made for all!
Some Ramyeon History
Ramen or rather, ramyeon (라면) means “pull-noodles.” This is because in the olden days, noodles were made of flour and pulled to thin slices. Ramen originated from China and around a century ago, it came to Japan in the era of Emperor Meiji.
In the 1960s, the dish made its way to Korea, and the rest is history. Unlike Japanese or Chinese noodles, ramyeon is always instant in Korea, which makes it unique.
The love of all: KIMCHI
Kimchi, the crunchy pickled vegetable with a splurge of spicy and sour flavours! When the K-wave started, not only did people want to learn about the language, music and even makeup, dishes were also part of the package. Kimchi is the South Korean national dish.
Kimchi is always found in every Korean home and food stores. Traditionally, kimchi is made of different vegetables, mostly the napa cabbage with brining salt, gochugaru (chilli powder), scallions, garlic, ginger and in some places, jeotgal (salted seafood).
Kimchi is made in large earthenware and left to be fermented for months in the heyday. This large earthenware keeps kimchi from being frozen in the winter and summer, keeping it fresh for a slow fermentation process.
Since the dish is loved in all Korean households, kimchi recipes are usually passed down from generation to generation. As you can see, kimchi is essential!
Kimchi-guk
When winter settles in Korea, fresh vegetables are hard to come by and available vegetables are costly. Kimchi is made to store and last throughout winter. People would take some kimchi from the large earthenware and whipped up limitless kimchi dishes from it! One of the most simple ones would be kimchi-guk or in English, kimchi soup.
Kimchi-guk is not like the kimchi jiggae you have at a Korean restaurant. It is much lighter in terms of taste and takes less time to make. It is usually made with kimchi, tofu, pork belly (or any other meat such as chicken slices or beef), green onions, red pepper paste, sugar and water.
Today’s Special: Big Cheese Ramen Kimchi Soup
As mentioned previously, one can turn kimchi into wonderful dishes that are savoury and flavourful! If you add instat ramen to kimchi-guk, it would be a perfect dish for yourself or your family.
Simple as it may seem, cooking ramen takes skill and effort. The cooking time and amount of heat is essential to cooking an excellent ramen dish.
Along with the cheesy craze all over Asia, where cheese is not commonly found as compared to Western countries, cheese is added to almost every meal.
Cheesy fried chicken, cheesy fries, cheese rice and even cheese tea! It is not a surprise to add a slice of melted cheese to a pot of kimchi soup ramen. The cheese provides a depth of flavour to the soup and an extra saltiness to the ramen. You can even say that it’s a match made in heaven!
Where to find it?
Try the cheesy kimchi ramen today! Find them at these restaurants: Oiso Korean Restaurant, Good Box, Kimchitiam Korea Food and Kimchi Queen. Top-up some cheese on your Kimchi Ramen for a hearty meal! Log on to foodpanda to order more of your favourite Korean dishes.