It's not that BKK doesn't have those, instead they have them everywhere. The only difference is that you have to go to a dedicated store for Korean products and it's not something you can get easily in 7/11 as it has only a few selections and unlike Indonesian convenience store where they have a section for Korean 라면 with quite varied choices and even instant Jjajangmyeon.
In BKK, there are places all around the city called K-mart where you can get Korean products. And in Indonesia, though something like K-mart exists, Korean products can also be found in convenience stores and supermarkets easily. So, it's why when I got back, I was just thrilled I can see Korean noodles again much easier as I love occasional late night 라면 (Ramyeon).
What I find really funny yet informative at the same time is that even instant noodles have an association. They are called WINA (World Instant Noodle Association) which provides a space to exchange information among manufacturers so noodle lovers can enjoy it with safety and trust. And much like any other organization, they're also organizing social contributions through it. At the same time, they also provide a ranking system such as the country with highest instant noodle demand. From the list, China & HK comes on the first and Indonesia the 2nd, and Vietnam on the third For the full list of the country, you can simply click on the links attached above. Although from that list, I am pretty surprised that South Korea made it on the lower half in terms of demands. Maybe after all, they just like to produce instead of consuming.
At the same time, South Korea culturally has a few things related to 라면 and in modern times, if you've watched enough K-drama and movies, you'll know this phrase, "Do you want to eat ramyeon at my home?” or in Korean, 라면 먹고 갈래? (Ramyeon meokgo gallae?) )which though sounds like a delicious invitation, it's quite a way of saying, Do you want to sleep with me? if in many parts of the world, it's called Netflix and Chill, in South Korea, it's Ramyeon and.... maybe chill. There's just too many things to talk about it but anyhow, back to Ramyeon!
The characteristics of Korean Ramyeon is that they are spicy and brothy. They also don't often make fried ones as the most popular one is the soupy Ramyeon. Their Ramyeon is also known for its cheese flavors. It was something that was quite challenging to find in a regular convenience store back in BKK. But here, you can see different types of Ramyeon easily although the picture I displayed above was only showing half of the shelves.
Other than Ramyeon, there's an emerging flavor from Korea called " Rose sauce" which is made from tomato and cream. I know this flavor from a Korean eating show and apparently, it's pretty famous until well, they make rose pasta flavored things including those toppoki snacks. I am not really a fan of it when it comes to the snack as it was too salty and acidic. But I love it as a pasta flavor.
Here, Korean noodles are almost 4x the price of Indonesian noodles such as Indomie and Mie Seedap. So, I always associate Korean noodles as a treat and something I would have once every a couple of weeks instead way too often. Perhaps for health reasons, they're also better too as excessive instant noodles aren't good either. And it's always a good day when I get to stack my pantry with K-noodles again 😁
𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |