Noodle Journey Episode 180: Paldo Hwa Ramyun

I’m trying Paldo Hwa Ramyun today, another shin-style Korean soup that’s been sitting in my pantry for a while. Every so often I hear people on Reddit mention this as an alternative to Shin, but I never got around to cooking it until now. I don’t know exactly what “Hwa” translates to in Korean, and I’m not totally confident I’m pronouncing it correctly, but I was interested to see how this stacks up against other Korean red chili soups in Paldo’s lineup. I can’t say what really differentiates this from something like Namja or Flamed Beef just by looking at it, but it definitely fits into that same family of deep-red spicy Korean noodle soups.

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As with most Paldo products exported to the US, you can buy this on online sites like Yamibuy either as a bowl or in multipacks, and you can usually find it at your local Asian grocery store as well. It’s also available on Amazon, though like many Korean noodle products on that platform, the prices tend to be higher due to third-party sellers.

Sodium is 1880mg, or 81% of your daily allowance. Inside is Paldo’s square block of noodles, a powdered soup base, and a vegetable flake packet. The soup powder contains soy, MSG, chili, garlic, ginger, and kimchi powder. The flakes include carrot, green onion, bok choy, mushroom, red pepper, and soy protein as a textured meat substitute. The ingredients appear to contain no animal products, but always check if that matters to you. Someone on Amazon mentioned fish cake in a review, but there is no fish cake here.

Once prepared, the broth color doesn’t match the packaging. The pack shows a red pepper-heavy broth, but what I ended up with looked more like a brownish artificial beef-style soup. The aroma, however, is exactly what I expect from a shin-style product, leaning into soy and mushroom notes. Because of some technical difficulties, a little of the broth was absorbed into the noodles, giving it a slightly thicker appearance, but not enough to affect the overall eating experience.

Noodles:
Paldo’s noodles are consistently awesome. They’re thick, chewy, and plump up nicely when cooked. These are my favorite fried noodles among the four major Korean manufacturers.
• 9/10

Spiciness:
The spice level is very medium. The packaging makes it look extremely spicy, but what you actually get is something comparable to Shin Black. It has heat, but nothing intense or overwhelming.
• 5/10

Overall:
This is a pretty good soup even if it’s fairly basic. The broth leans heavily into soy and mushroom, and I didn’t get as much vegetable presence as I expected despite the kimchi powder. I was hoping for a bit more fermented brightness, but the flavor stays centered on a clean salty umami broth. It tastes about as good as Nongshim Shin, but it doesn’t reach the bold, garlic depth of Paldo Namja. What elevates it slightly is the flake packet, which is excellent. The mushrooms, textured soy protein, and green onions give it more body and interest than you typically get from a standard spicy Korean soup. It’s still largely a copycat of other products in flavor, but the flakes push the experience up just enough to make it stand out a little. I’d recommend this slightly more than Shin for that reason alone.
• 7.5/10