Ottogi Sesame Flavor Ramen

Made By:  Ottogi Ramyun Co. Ltd. [Korea]
Preparation:  Saucepan & Range
490 calories per package

Available online via Amazon

For dinner tonight, we had the last selection of the instant noodles from the June Ramen Box!  My sweetie recently told me (while we were having the Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen that included the sesame seed topping) that she enjoys the flavor of sesame, so I am hoping this will be a hit with the entire Ramen Butterfly household.  The back of the package promises that the included Egg Block will also deliver "the rich flavor of roasted sesame," so that sounds promising.

The noodle block is a brighter yellow color than usual, and there are three included seasoning packets:  There is the dry soup base packet, the aforementioned "Egg Block", and a small packet of bright orange sesame oil.  We bring 500cc of water to a boil, then we add the soup base, egg block, and noodles and cook for four minutes.  After transferring to a bowl, we add the small amount of sesame oil and stir.  We also notice that the square Egg Block seems to have completely disappeared, so apparently instead of being a Block, it was supposed to disperse and become part of the broth.  In any case, the noodles are ready to serve!

I have to say, I am starting to get bored with the oppressive spice level of most Korean ramyuns.  It's not that I can't handle spicy food, either; I mean 'oppressive' in the sense that all the other flavors which are supposed to be present get oppressed by the large amount of chili heat.

This ramen is unfortunately a prime example:  The package doesn't even mention anything about being spicy, and it promises "rich flavor of roasted sesame."  The Ramen Box pamphlet does mention the "spicy level" is Medium, but also reassures us that this "offers a balanced taste of nuttiness and spiciness" and that the "addition of the egg block adds a savory taste to the broth."  What do we have instead?  Yet another slight variation of Shin Ramyun.  It's a shame, because the tiny hints of the subflavors that I can pick up seem like they could have been interesting, if they weren't too busy being oppressed.
My wife was even less impressed by the level of oppression, and added some American cheese to tone down the heat.  Unfortunately this didn't do anything to liberate the alleged sesame and egg undertones, and instead just turned it into some mediocre nacho cheese soup.

For the record, the noodles have a firm and slightly slippery texture, and remind me of the 'udon' style noodles from Neoguri et al.  However, I'm just adding that to the list of ways this could have been interesting but chose not to be.  I don't imagine I'll be buying this one. :\