Nongshim Shin Ramyun Toomba

Tagged: Nongshim, Toomba flavour, Bean sprouts, Prawns

It's another standard fare post! I haven't had this one before, so there'll be very little in the way of experimentation this time. Bear with me.

I was worried the "stir fry" prominently displayed on the front of the package would mean that the instructions involved bringing out kitchen implements more involved than a kettle. Thankfully, it must mean either an optional step, or some indication of the noodle quality they claim, because the instructions on the back were straightforward as they come. Per the packaging, I let the noodles cook for a few minutes, then drained the water before adding the rest of the flavouring.

The flavouring packets were rather generously sized, compared to others.

The flavour in this one is split into powder and sauce (which is more like a thin oil rather than a paste, as other noodle brands might call "sauce" or "soup base"), and the instructions say to add both of them at the same time once the noodles are drained. The oily sauce helps coat the noodles very well, once everything was mixed in they donned a faint shade of orange.

I didn't know what "Toomba" meant when I picked this one up, and, well, to quote a Reddit comment:

An italian pasta dish, named after an Australian town, and made famous in an American owned Australian themed restaurant, located in South Korea.

Apparently it's meant to be vaguely cheesy and spicy, what a coincidence with last week's entry. At least that gives me a fairly clear point of comparison. Indeed, having a few forkfuls of the noodles by themselves the flavour was rather cheesy, but I would say this is another case of something that claims to be spicy on the packaging massively overselling itself. This is definitely less spicy than Tom Yum for starters, but I liked the flavour better than the sauce in the Korean rice cakes. Preparing the noodles drained also makes it quite creamy, so if you're looking for that sort of texture I would definitely keep these in mind.

My additions this time are pre-cooked king prawns and some canned bean sprouts. The sprouts contribute with a little bit of a crunch to contrast the chewiness of the noodles, which I really like, but the prawns ended up getting a bit lost in the flavour. The end result turned out a bit more sweet than I expected, if I were to have these again I think they could definitely benefit from a stronger savoury flavour. Maybe some meatballs or mushrooms as the protein choice. Maybe this could be a better candidate for certain accursed experiments.

Meal Components

The Scientific Method

• Appreciate for a moment how perfectly round the noodle brick is out of the package.
• Then, without remorse, break it to fit into your noodle bowl.
• Pour boiling water and wait 3 minutes until noodles are cooked.
• Drain the water and add a small mountain of flavouring powder and oil.
• Mix well until noodles are coated.
• Perform scientific measurements before making additions to the specimen.
• Enjoy!

Overall this was a rather good lunch, but I think if I had to summarise the noodles in one word, it would be "inoffensive". Definitely something for the middle of the ranks.