Samyang Foods - U-Dong Flavor Noodle

Samyang make an Udon flavored instant noodle called Pojangmacha. The packaging of these noodles closely resembles the Pojangmacha packaging and these appear to be a rebranded version of those noodles. I suspect that the Pojangmacha brand is sold within Korea where the customers would be familiar with the term meaning a street vendor. Outside of Korea, most people would be unfamiliar with the term and it would simply be sold as U-Dong Flavor Noodle.

I was very relieved to find that the stiff piece of seaweed in Pojangmacha has been eliminated in this package. The noodles are Samyang's typical product: thick, chewy, and flavorful. The broth is quite mild but has tastes of onion, salt, and fish. There are tons of scallions to provide bursts of flavor.


I quite enjoyed these noodles despite the mild broth. It bears little resemblance to the Japanese style udon that most of us are familiar with, but still provides a satisfying experience if one is looking for a simple and hearty broth. Typically I avoid this kind of noodles due to their plainness, but it's nice to have one or two in the cupboard for those days when our tastebuds need a break.

Samyang Foods - U-Dong Flavor Noodle - 6.0/10

Nong Shim - Japanese Style Udon Noodle Soup

Udon noodle soup is one of my favorite fresh dishes, but instant versions of udon have usually sorely disappointed me. I understand the difficulty in manufacturing a noodle that can have 12 months of shelf life, yet reconstitute into the billowy soft noodle that udon requires. I was very interested to see how well Nong Shim could do, since their other offerings are mostly top-notch.

The noodles came in a vacuum-sealed package and seemed to be partially dehydrated. They were certainly not dry and rock hard like the typical ramen package, but they were still much stiffer and drier than udon noodles should be. The thickness of each noodle seemed right, unlike Samyang's halfhearted attempt at udon where they just used their regular instant noodle.


Upon tasting the broth and noodles, I almost had to throw this one in the garbage. The noodles are not soft at all and remain stiff with a strong wheat flavor. The texture on each one is grainy like a ramen noodle, not silky smooth like udon should be. In addition, the broth tasted like soy sauce rather than the delicious umami-loaded seaweed broth that udon should have.

I really don't think it is possible with today's technology to make an instant udon noodle soup with a long shelf life. The udon noodles are just too delicate to stand up to the partial or full dehydrating that long shelf life requires. I would recommend going with a fresh udon package instead. Another option is to buy fresh udon noodles from your local Asian grocer and then making your own broth from scratch or buying a udon broth base. I have tried both of those options and they have both come out vastly superior to the Nong Shim Udon noodles.

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Nong Shim - Japanese Style Udon Noodle Soup - 0.0/10

Nissin - Sukiyaki Japanese Style Udon

These Nissin noodles are Sukiyaki flavored. Sukiyaki is a Japanese meal similar to the Chinese style hot pot. Raw meats and vegetables are cooked in broth on a pot on the table and then each diner can grab from the pot and serve himself or herself. According to Wikipedia, the Sukiyaki broth is made primarily of soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine. This pack is also notable for its use of Udon style noodles which is very uncommon for Nissin. Nissin typically relies on their mainstay ramen style noodles which I consider to be one of the best in the business.


I was very surprised to see the shape of the noodles upon making this ramen. Udon noodles are supposed to be very thick, round, chewy, and slippery. These noodles were flat and were most definitely not udon noodles. With that said, they were at least chewy and rather tasty, but I was disappointed not to get true udon style noodles. In the future, I should keep it in mind that true udon style noodles cannot be dried or they will completely lose their shape and consistency. Instant udon noodles are possible, but only in a vacuum sealed fresh configuration like in Ai Men Tsu's Udon noodles.

The broth for these noodles was too sweet for me. It tasted like a typical Japanese udon broth except much sweeter. Perhaps this is what Sukiyaki usually tastes like, but it was still far too sugary for my taste. I prefer my instant noodles to be savory. The noodles themselves were interesting and quite tasty despite the fact that they are definitely not udon style noodles. Maybe if you love Sukiyaki, you could give these noodles a try, but I certainly wouldn't recommend them.

Nissin - Sukiyaki Japanese Style Udon - 3.5/10

Pojangmacha - U-Dong

Ever wonder what happens when you take the spiciness out of instant Korean noodles? That's what I set out to discover when I tried these noodles.

Upon opening the package, I was mildly displeased that the noodles didn't resemble Udon noodles at all and were instead the normal noodles that you find in Korean instant noodle packages. Udon noodles are supposed to be much thicker and chewier, but these were the same noodles you might find in Shin Ramyun. I was also shocked to discover what looked like a piece of burnt and melted plastic. I soon realized that it was just a dried piece of seaweed, though. I've never seen that before in instant noodles and was mildly intrigued by it.

Well, this turned out to be a rather bland and uninteresting ramen. There's little flavor to the broth besides salt and MSG. The seaweed turned out to be overly chewy and bad-tasting. Overall, it was an unremarkable experience which was saved only by the fact that I added chicken to liven things up a bit. I think the Korean instant noodle soup manufacturers should stick to what they know best: spicy spicy spicy!

Pojangmacha - U-Dong - 5.0/10

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Ai Men Tsu Noodle - Udon Chilli Beef Flavor

These noodles are the first instant noodles that I have ever had that aren't dried. They can be found in the refrigerated section of Asian grocery stores. This specific brand is imported from Taiwan.


Don't panic! That cloudy stuff on the top of the soup is from the egg that I added. Following the instructions, I added 500cc of water, which turned out to be way too much. So much so that it diluted the taste of the soup. Perhaps they were expecting more water to boil off, especially since the microwave instructions only call for 350cc of water.

Well, it was hard to figure out what this was supposed to taste like since everything was too dilute. The noodles were nicely thick and chewy, but didn't have much flavor since there wasn't much to absorb from the soup. Interestingly, the scallions were extremely potent, unlike the tasteless filler that they usually put in instant noodles.

Next time, I'll be sure to add only about 350cc of water when making this on the stove!

Ai Men Tsu Noodle - Udon Chilli Beef Flavor - 6.0/10

Paldo Korean Noodle - U-Dong Flavor

Paldo Korean Noodle is a 120 gram ramen suitable for the hungry ramen lover. I was hoping that, like Shin Ramyun, the noodles would come in a round shape perfect for microwaving in my bowl. But alas, it was the standard slightly rectangular shape.



The U-Dong flavor comes with two packets. One is a veggie packet that continues a variety of dried veggies, including nori (seaweed), carrot, scallion, and onion flakes. The other is a deceptively red-orange powder that forms the soup base. It looks like it would be incredibly spicy, but in fact it is not spicy at all.



The noodles need to soak for longer than usual, but result in a chewy texture and flavorful taste. I was pleasantly surprised that the U-Dong flavor is pretty realistic to fresh udon soup. I could definitely recognize and identify the flavor. The noodles, of course, are nothing like udon noodles, but are still pretty high-quality for instant ramen. Although the picture doesn't show it, there are actually a significant number of veggies and I was particularly impressed at how the nori flakes completely rehydrated and expanded. This is an excellent ramen that actually tastes like the flavor it's supposed to be!