How first timers experience the flavor of Kimchi

Your geographical happenstance determines what food you eat and the flavors that go with it. It’s kind of sad because food and taste are as diverse as the people that populate the world.

If you grew up in rural America, for example, there were so few options when it came to food. The restaurant options were limited too. Your taste buds would have been impoverished and underdeveloped.

It’s important to try food and flavors from around the world not only because they make you feel more “worldly” and sophisticated but because they raise your appreciation for the people who live in places different than yourself.

For example, Italy likes pizza, Japan likes ramen, the United States likes burgers, India like poulet tikka massala, Thailand like tom kha gai, and Korea likes kimchi.

What is kimchi?

Kimchi is a traditional Korean food made from fermented vegetables and a variety of different seasonings. Cabbage is the most commonly used vegetable but pickled radish or cucumber can be used too.

Additional vegetables are usually added and can include spring onions, radishes, scallions, ginger, and carrots. But like most recipes, you can add whatever ingredients you like.

The seasonings can vary widely and have resulted in hundreds of different recipes over the years; Korean red pepper flakes, dried chiles, dried kelp, miso paste, fish sauce, non-iodized salt, garlic, sugar, vegetable powders, and so on.

Kimchi has a range of flavors; sweet, sour, savory, and spicy. It’s normally added to other rice and noodle dishes to enhance the main course or eaten by itself as a side dish.

Originally, kimchi was created as a way to preserve vegetables during the winter months in Korea.

The nutritional values of Kimchi Noodle Soup by Nongshim

Kimchi can be a little expensive when purchase in a store but it’s actually very cheap to make yourself as the ingredients are mostly vegetables and are easily sourced.

Is kimchi healthy?

Some people like to search for food that can improve their health. They wish to find some “superfood” that acts as a shield in the prevention of disease and illness.

When they come across kimchi, they immediately want to know, “Is kimchi healthy?” And it’s like, well, kimchi is basically just vegetables so, yes, kimchi is healthy.

Nutritionists like to look the world of food with a magnifying glass, point to things like how kimchi can help in maintaining a healthy digestive system, boosting your immune system, lowering cholesterol, improving heart health, reducing inflammation, and blah, blah, blah.

But having to ask if kimchi is healthy is like asking if vegetables are healthy.

Vegetables are the most nutrient dense foods we can eat. And all the studies that praise kimchi are really just suggesting that eating vegetables is healthy. It’s like, yea, no duh!

Kimchi Noodle Soup noodles and seasoning packets

There is one safety concern to watch out for. Food poisoning. But this is only a concern if the Kimchi wasn’t made or stored properly.

There is also the salt level to consider. Kimchi can be somewhat salty. You may want to avoid kimchi if you’re limiting your salt intake.

But like everything else in life, you should enjoy kimchi in moderation.

Kimchi Noodle Soup with additional vegetables

Kimchi Noodle Soup

Kimchi Noodle Soup is sold by Nongshim, a South Korean food and beverage company. The noodles come flash-fried in a circular disc, which is great because it fits in our small pots perfectly!

The noodle package contains a seasoning packet and a second packet of dried kimchi. It’s a very small serving of Kimchi. When you look at the picture on the cover of the noodle package you might feel gypped.

The kimchi flavor in the noodles is a little tangy and pungent, like what you taste in sauerkraut. It’s not spicy, and there are very faint hints of garlic and ginger.

Kimchi Noodle Soup

Nongshim have created kimchi instant noodles to offer quick and easy way for noodle lovers to experience the taste of authentic kimchi stew.

Buy on Amazon

Overall, the noodles have a good flavor. It might not win any food competitions but it’s a splendid option for those looking to try the Kimchi flavor seen in k-dramas.

Final Thoughts

Kimchi Noodle Soup is marketed as having a spicy flavor. But this particular version sold by Nongshim wasn’t spicy at all. Or, it was so mild that it just didn’t register on our taste buds.

When it comes to pre-packaged noodles, there should be a standard method for declaring how spicy the noodles are. Noodle makers should just print the Scoville heat units (SHU) right on the package.

Wouldn’t that make the consumer’s life so much better? We think so.