Noodle Journey Episode 141: The Han Kitchen Pocha Ramyun

The Han Kitchen Pocha Ramyun is the second of three products from The Han Kitchen I’m reviewing. Han Kitchen is an Australian brand owned by ByAsia, with its noodles manufactured in South Korea and now starting to show up more often in the U.S. I found a four-pack at Yamibuy for $5.99, and they’re also available in H Mart and other Asian markets. This is my first time seeing “pocha” used on a noodle product, and after some digging I learned it’s short for “pojangmacha,” which means a tent or stall that sells street food in South Korea. The name doesn’t describe the flavor directly – no tents were ground into powder to make this broth – but according to Han Kitchen, this is their take on a spicy red ramyun soup in the same vein as Nongshim Shin or Ottogi Jin.

Sodium clocks in at 2,000 mg, about 87% of your daily intake. Inside are thick noodles made from wheat and potato with garlic and onion seasoning, a powdered soup base with MSG, red pepper, black pepper, and shiitake mushroom powder alongside soy sauce and other extracts, and a flake packet with shiitake mushrooms, green onion, bok choy, soybeans, carrots, and red pepper. Based on the ingredients list, this one appears to be vegan, though it’s always best to double-check the label.

When prepared, the broth looked dark and rich, and the aroma was strikingly similar to Shin or Jin ramyun. Big chunks of mushroom and lots of green onion floated to the top, and even some textured soy protein looked convincingly beef-like.

Noodles:
The same thick, chewy noodles as the Gomtang variety. I cooked them at four minutes instead of the recommended four and a half, and they came out firmer with a bouncier chew that I preferred.
• 8/10

Spiciness:
Medium spice level, very comparable to Shin or Jin ramyun. It carries the same peppery burn I associate with those products, landing right in that familiar middle ground.
• 6/10

Overall:
At first glance, this looks like a Shin clone, but it distinguishes itself in a few key ways. The artificial beefiness that dominates Shin takes a backseat here to vegetables, especially mushroom and pepper. The mushroom flavor is more pronounced than in other competitors, and the pepper kick is stronger and nicely integrated. The flake packet is excellent, with chunky mushrooms that rehydrate well and flavorful bok choy stems that stand out, though the amount of flakes isn’t quite as generous as in Nongshim’s offerings. The textured soy protein has a beef-like bite that works surprisingly well in the broth. What really elevates this above Shin for me is the inclusion of MSG. Nongshim follows a no-MSG policy with Shin in the USA, but here it’s used to full effect, giving the broth more umami depth. That broth also has a thicker, slightly oilier consistency than Nongshim. The result is a flavor profile that’s a little richer, a little more interesting, and ultimately more satisfying for me than Shin nowadays, even if just by a hair. It’s not perfect – in particular I’d like more garlic, and a bigger flake packet would help – but the combination of pepper, mushroom, and MSG makes this stand out well enough. While it’s not so different that you should rush out if Shin or Jin are already easy to find where you live, this is absolutely worth trying at least once if you enjoy this style of ramyun.
• 7.5/10