Kimchi Sabalmyeon 김치 사발면

김치 사발면... Kimchi Sabalmyeon. Tried to copy the photo on its cover..but FAIL. haha. Note: 김치 사발면 Kimchi Sabalmyeon DOESN'T come with the actual kimchi. You gotta buy it in a grocery or resto. ^^;;

김치 사발면 Kimchi Sabalmyeon tastes better with actual Kimchi  김치 ...~

Still can't copy the bowl noodle's appearance on the cover - no matter what the angle.

Product Name: Kimchi Sabalmyeon 김치 사발면...  I think it translates to Kimchi Bowl Noodle (사발면).

Hole in the Pocket: Costs around PhP 40-45 in groceries.

First Impression: Given the orange-themed cover, I was expecting it to be very spicy.

Taste Buds Say: Delish! Wasn't spicy enough for me to not be able to sip some soup. It's spiciness level was just right and it's great to keep one warm in a rainy day. I recommend putting in some slices of kimchi 김치 for added flavor, texture, and crunch. It really has that kimchi taste and the noodles stay firm even after being soaked in soup for a while. If there's no kimchi 김치, you can pair it with seaweed laver or gim (김). ^^b

K-rating: 5/5... tasty and just the right "hot".

Cheese Bokki 치즈 볶이

Large Cups of Cheese Bokki 치즈 볶이. 

A smaller version (cup) of Cheese Bokki 치즈 볶이 for a quick chow.

Oodles of Cheesy Noodles. Cooks in 4 minutes after adding hot water. REMEMBER! Put the cheese powder after draining the water.

So cheeezy... made me think of Mac & Cheese. *Nomnomnom*

Product Name: Cheese Bokki 치즈 볶이...Cheese (치즈 ) and Bokki (볶이). I don't know what "bokki" means and neither does Google translate (and my Korean dictionary is out of battery). I bet it's related to the Korean dish tteokbokki (떡볶이).

Hole in the Pocket: Special thanks to ♥.

First Impression: Can't think wrong about its flavor since cheese slices are on the cup. When I read the "콬콬! 콬", I read it like it's a "choking" sound...*kok kok kok*. But then I read somewhere that it's the sound made when you punch a hole in the lid. In fact, you can see the 콬!콬!콬!콬!  on the four designated areas where you need to punch a hole.

Taste Buds Say: Cheese and noodles...? I didn't think it would be that bad. But it turned out to be quite good. I recommend that you don't strain all the water, maybe leave a teaspoon, so that it'll be a little saucy and not too dry when you mix in the cheese powder. It has specks of green onion and lots and lots of cheese. If you have low tolerance for saltiness and concentrated cheezy goodness, cheese bokki 치즈 볶이 is probably not for you. 

K-rating: 4/5... I like cheese, I love noodles!

Bungeo Samanco Gold Label 붕어 싸만코 골드 라벨

Bungeo Samanco Gold Label 붕어 싸만코 골드 라벨's mainly red package.
Notice the label stamped on the upper right "자일로스 설탕" (Xylose Sugar).

Back of the Pack... Gold Label (Premium Style).

The wafer design and size still looks the same.

Every food judgment starts with a bite.

After taking a bite and savoring it, the difference between Bungeo Samanco Gold Label  붕어 싸만코 골드 라벨 and regular Bungeo Samanco 싸만코  became apparent. See the pic below for the visual difference.

As you can see, the bean paste 팥 in Samanco Gold Label (left) is more refined and pasty. However, plain Samanco's bean paste 팥 is syrupy and contains soft whole beans. 

Before anything else, for the sake of comparison, I already made a review of the plain Bungeo Samanco 붕어 싸만코 here.


Product Name: Bungeo Samanco Gold Label 붕어 싸만코 골드 라벨... just with an additional 골드 라벨 (Gold Label) Premium Style making it sound more superior.


Hole in the Pocket: PhP 50.00 in Mashitta (Korean Restaurant)


First Impression: Because I adore the regular Bungeo Samanco, I think another version in "gold label" would still be good. The only difference in the package is the color. Gold Label is red/red orange whereas regular Samanco is cream-colored/off-white.


Taste buds say:  It's still a delicious overload, but the new consistency of the bean paste somehow improves the eating experience because there'd be less bean skins/pulp getting caught in your teeth and less roughness, thereby making the whole eating experience smooth and richer in flavor. Bungeo Samanco Gold Label (붕어 싸만코 골드 라벨) also uses Xylose Sugar 자일로스 설탕 which is a healthier alternative to ordinary sugar because it's not readily absorbed by the body which means less carbohydrates stored as fat.


Reminds me of: Bungeo Samanco 붕어 싸만 before it became Gold Label 골드 라벨...;)


K-rating: 5/5 ... perfect made better.

Japagetti 짜파게티

Packs and packs of Japagetti 짜파게티

How I cook it: (1) Boil the noodles and dried veggies in 600ml of water for 5 minutes; (2) While boiling, take 6-8 spoons (depends on how concentrated you want to taste the 'jjajang' / sauce) of hot water and use it to dissolve the black powder; (3) After dissolving the powder (now, you have the black sauce), mix the olive oil in; (4) Strain the noodles and veggies; (5) Put the noodles and sauce together, mix well.

Instant Black Noodles

Product Name: Japagetti 짜파게티... I think it's a combination of 짜장 (black fried sauce) + 스파게티(spaghetti)...but I dunno, it's ramen..maybe 짜장라면 isn't catchy and 짜장면 is the original or actual dish being imitated by this instant noodle.

Hole in the Pocket: Php 45-50

First Impression: The pack says 올리브 짜파게티 (Olive Japagetti) because it uses olive oil in its sauce. Nothing cute about it, but it has the aura of "Korean style Chinese food". And no, the actual Japagetti doesn't have that much vegetable or meat.

Taste buds say: Delicious especially when eaten with 김치 (kimchi) or 계란  튀긴 (fried egg). Some complain that it's too bitter or has a "burnt" taste, but I think that's because they make the mistake of not diluting / dissolving the black powder in 6-8 spoons of water, which makes the fried black bean sauce flavor way too concentrated. I have also seen how others add shrimp to Japagetti 짜파게티, it looks good so maybe I'll give it a try soon.

Reminds me of: Any dish cooked with squid's black ink and soy sauce.

K-rating: 4/5 ... tastes like 짜장 but not exactly 짜장면.

Spaghetti Ramyeon 스파게티 라면

Spaghetti 스파게티 (Italian Type Spaghetti)

Here we've got (top-bottom): dehydrated veggies,  liquid soup (액체스프), and  the powder soup (분말스프).

How I cook it: (1) Boil the noodles and veggies for 6 minutes; (2) After 6 minutes, strain the noodles and place in bowl as seen below.

Strained noodles and veggies (yep, it has corn 옥수수!) Finally, add the liquid soup first, mix it a little bit, then  it's time for the powder soup. Mix them altogether and you have yourself a Spaghetti Ramen!

I know it doesn't even begin to resemble the spaghetti in the pack, but what did you expect? Kkk.

Product Name: Spaghetti 스파게티... it didn't say 스파게티면, but they do mention it's a Spaghetti Ramen. 

Hole in the Pocket: I'm not sure how much it's sold in groceries, but I'd estimate it between Php 45-60.


First Impression: Green, white and red... this is definitely Italian type Spaghetti! But I doubt the spaghetti in the picture was ramen... no curls?!


Taste buds say: A tad too sour and not at all sweet, but saucy enough. It's not spicy, so there's no need to prepare a pitcher of water. It has a lot of texture thanks to the dehydrated corn and carrot pieces, plus it included macaroni 마카로니! You don't only get spaghetti, but macaroni 마카로니 as well.


Reminds me of: Spaghetti with too much tomato sauce...!


K-rating: 3/5... just spaghetti, not spaghetti-licious.