Review: Something's fishy with Kiss-myun Spicy Chicken Ramyeon

I  admit I eat 라면 ramyeon (ramen) once in a while. I’ve even made a ramyeon dessert once, but I’ve never reviewed ramyeon before.

When I saw packages of Ottogi Kiss-myun aka Kiss noodles at my local Korean grocery store, I was drawn more by the name than the contents. I asked the grocer if the name were some kind of double-entendre or play on 뽀뽀 bbo-bbo (kiss)?

He assured me that Ottogi is not promising one will become a better kisser after eating this ramyeon. He said it’s a Chinese-style ramyeon with milder spiciness, not Korean heat.

Hans from The Ramen Rater reviewed this ramyeon in April and gave it 3.75 out of 5 stars:

The broth is pretty good stuff — has a nice, spicy jalapeno heat to it and had a good chicken flavor.

The label said it was “Spicy Chicken Flavor.” The yellow-tinged broth and the yellow package color seemed to reinforce the chicken flavor meme, so I brought a five-pack home.

Then I read the small print and was quite surprised to discover the packet of “powder soup” — it makes the broth — had powdered extracts of oyster, mussel and cuttlefish listed before that of chicken. The powder also had extracts of bonito and kelp.

The packet of dehydrated vegetables even had freeze-dried cuttlefish in the ingredients. Where’s the chicken?! There’s not even “chicken of the sea” in there.

Predictably, the broth tasted like slightly spicy seafood but not chicken.

If you’re in the mood for a pleasantly spicy, fish broth ramyeon, this Kiss-myun might work for you. Look elsewhere for chicken ramyeon.