Pulmuone Spicy Noodle (Jam Pong)

Product Name: Pulmuone Spicy Noodle (Jam Pong), 390g

Store Purchased: Galleria Supermarket

Price: $4.99CDN

Ingredients: Noodles - wheat flour, starch, gluten, salt; Spicy noodle sauce - spicy paste, millet jelly, tuna broth; Spicy noodle flakes - green onion, onion, cuttlefish, carrot, shrimp, red pepper, mushroom, hot pepper

Used for: side dish, noodle soup

Review: Welcome to the world of quick korean noodle soup! I was wandering the aisles of Galleria when I saw a young Korean couple bypass all the other refrigerated noodles and head staight for this pack. I figured, "hey, maybe they know something!" I picked up a bag and added it to my basket. The packet contains 6 smaller packets within. 2 servings each of noodle, vegetables/"seafood", and soup base. The noodles are fresh and printed with an expiration date. "No preservatives/MSG/artificial colour" It looked promising. In my picture below, I added the fried tofu and shredded carrot. I was a bit disappointed with this product. I was expecting more, "Oomph!". It was not spicy at all. The seafood flavour is rather tame. The broth has a very heavy mushroom flavour. The noodles are a decent texture and the vegetables are a nice touch. All in all, there was nothing spectacular about Pulmuone's jam pong, but it was not bad either. It tasted as good as dried ramen noodle, but with significantly better noodles and vegetables. I would much rather fork out the few extra dollars and eat at Oh Geul Boh Guel (5320 Yonge St, North York, ON M2N5P9 (416) 733-3385). Their Jam Pong is 7.99, comes with seafood, a bowl big enough to feed two, and a NICE spread of 6-9 banchan. I guess following strangers in the grocery store has once again led me astray.

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Dongsuh Barley Tea

Product Name: Dongsuh Barley Tea 30x10g

Store Purchased: Galleria Supermarket

Price: Cannot find the receipt ($2-4)

Ingredients: Roasted Barley

Used For: Tea, Beverage

Review: It is what it is. It tastes like Korean roasted barley tea. Each one of the individually packed bags, makes a large 2L pot of tea. This is the typical tea you are served in Korean restaurants. It is naturally sweet, and nothing like the Japanese roasted rice tea (genmaicha). In Japanese it is called "Mugicha", and in Korean it is called "Boricha". This tea, or rather tisane, also tastes great iced. I do not know if it should be a concern, but it actually has higher calories than traditional tea made of tea leaves, due to the carbohydrate factor. On the plus side, it is caffeine free. I have had freshly roasted barley tea before, and this does not possibly compare, but what does not taste better fresh? This particular brand produces a nice rich liquor, with no filler (some use corn as filler and flavouring), conveniently packaged in teapot sized bags.


Odd fact associated with mugicha: Neomugicha incident (excerpted from wikipedia.org)
The Neomugicha incident put the Japanese bulletin board 2channel (2ch for short) in the front of national news. An hour after posting a cryptic threat in a thread on 2ch with the name "Neomugicha" ("Neo-Barley Tea"; ネオむぎ茶), a 17-year-old boy hijacked a bus in Fukuoka, Japan, stabbing one passenger to death.

The hijacker was believed to be lying by other 2ch posters, so the incident came as a shock. In any case, the controversy led to 2ch becoming more popular.

Later, a poster named "Neouuroncha" ("Neo-Oolong Tea") attempted to imitate Neomugicha by plotting to blow up the Odakyu railway in Japan on 2ch, but after the Neomugicha incident, the Japanese police were keeping a close eye on 2ch, so he was identified and arrested before his plan could be carried out.

The Special Assault Team was involved in storming the hijacked bus and capturing the boy alive.

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