Korea Epilogue: Instant Teumsae Ramyeon

One of the most memorable meals from last week was at Teumsae Ramyeon; so much that after unsuccessfully trying to buy the instant version on our own, I was able to get my local colleague to find some at a convenience store called GS25 . But when we brought it home to make it ourselves, we were let down, as it was nothing like the blazingly hot concoction that we had up in Myeong-dong.

Just by chance though, I walked into the new Lotte Korean Mart here in Singapore (67 Tanjong Pagar Road, 6222-1646), and what did I find? Packs of Teumsae Rameyon, but made by a company called Paldo rather than the GS25 convenience store that made the other pack we bought in Korea (apparently Teumsae licenses its brand out to multiple manufacturers). Fortunately, these were much spicier and closer to the original. And amusingly, the shop had a little sign that said that this "very spicy noodle" was "good food for hang over" and "suits [sic] for only adults."

Still, something was missing. It was spicy, but not so spicy that it would make one break out in a sweat. Based upon what I saw back at the shop in Seoul, I suspected that the thing that was missing was black pepper, so I bought a random tin while I was at Lotte Korean Mart as well. Yes, that added more heat, and probably was the missing ingredient. But in the end, it still wasn't exactly the same as the shops themselves. I guess that's why they've been able to expand to such a huge chain up there.