Nongshim, "Farmer's heart" is a South Korean beverage and food company headquartered in Seoul. Their logo is a seed; a red horizontal oval containing a smaller white vertical oval inside the red oval at top center, somewhat like a cartoon eye.
Founded in 1965 by the end of 2015 Nongshim had 2.57 trillion in assets and 2.81 trillion in sales, running 11 factories worldwide and operating in 100 countries. It is the largest ramyun (ramen) company in South Korea. They invested heavily in equipment and they sell a lot of snacks.
Ramen Ruler gives an interesting review. He notes the higher price than the original red version while insisting it's worth it.
Amazon reviews are quite good. 1,000+ reviews averaging 4.5 stars. The one-star reviewers complain about the usual things, MSG, same as super cheap brands, smells like chemicals, contains HFC, seaweed is overpowering, smells like dead fish, coworkers all hate the smell, too expensive, palm oil, what a bunch of losers.
The noodles are thick and the amount is hearty. There is a packet of scant vegetables and two packets of soup flavoring. One of the packets is beef broth the other packet is soup seasoning.
It's very good. I could live off these things.
Hey wait. I have been living off these things. They're impressive. And they hit the spot of avoiding starvation while missing the mark of true greatness. If I were designing these things I'd triple or quadruple the vegetable packets. I'd design one with kombu powder and bonito flake powder to imitate Japanese dashi. I'd include dehydrated tofu and larger chunks of dehydrated protein. I'd fortify them considerably, and I'd use broth reduced from real sources. I suppose my versions would be a lot more expensive. Maybe that's why they hint at possibilities of greatness while leaving the fulfillment of greatness to users.
Nothing is stopping us from buying the noodles and the various forms of broth and various proteins and vegetables separately and constructing our own versions at home. But then there we are cooking, and these things are offered in avoidance of that. And they're worth it. Except when I have to clean up a bowl. What a drag.
I'm exceedingly lazy right now. And these things are perfect. These are for lazy people with zero cooking skills. So to read the reviews as if the products are intended for connoisseurs is actually a bit funny. For what they are, they are actually quite good. I'm interested in discovering the national varieties. Other countries have their own unique visions; combinations we wouldn't think of.
The noodles are not black and neither is the soup. The label is black to distinguish it from the original red.
Amazon shin ramyum red $17.34 for 20. Clearly the much better deal.
Nongshim shrimp crackers $20.50 for 12. They look like crinkle French fries.
Amazon Nongshim, see their various products. They're tripping me out.
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