Simple, accessible and tasty. To Koreans, instant ramyeon is food suitable for almost any occasion. It even features in hit drama series. Choose your favorite among these examples:

“Reply 1988”

(tvN)

The drama is set in Seoul, Korea in the late 1980s. Ramyeon was common then and even eaten in group settings. There are several episodes of the drama in which Deok-sun (Lee Hye-ri) eats it while hanging out with friends in Ssangmun-dong.

“Oh Hae-young Again”

(tvN)

Oh Hae-young (Seo Hyun-jin) ate uncooked instant ramyeon as if it were a large cracker made of noodles. In the show’s final episode, Oh cooked ramyeon and enjoyed it with heartthrob Park Do-kyung while on a date in his house.

“Descendants of the Sun”

(KBS 2TV)

In the 10th episode of the popular war-themed series, Yoo Shi-jin (Song Joong-ki) asked Kang Mo-yeon (Song Hye-kyo) to eat ramyeon for dinner to express gratitude for saving his life. But just as they were digging into their meal, the lights went out. They wound up eating with the help of infrared night vision cameras mounted on helmets that they wore. In the scene, Kang said, “Such irregular things happen because I’m dating a special forces officer.”

“W”

(MBC)

In Wednesday’s episode, Oh Yeon-joo (Han Hyo-joo) was trapped in the world of a webtoon again. She had to try to find shelter and food, and ended up intruding into someone’s house, where she was nabbed by Kang Chul (Lee Jong-suk). Although they had previously been in a relationship, Kang could not remember Oh as his memories of her had disappeared. He tried to call the police, but Oh implored him to have some of the ramyeon she was making.



By Son Ji-hyoung (json@heraldcorp.com)