I made 'ramdon' or jjapaguri the way it's made in Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite', and the biggest mistake I made was not having lots of money

Irene JiangApr 11, 2020, 21:38 IST

The ram-don scene in "Parasite."Neon/CJ Entertainment

Ramdon, or jjapaguri, is a Korean comfort food made famous by a scene in Bong Joon Ho's movie "Parasite".
I decided to try making ramdon the way it's made in Parasite: with really fancy beef.
But due to grocery shortages, all I could get was a random pack of Costco steak.
Here's how my first attempt at making ram-don/jjapaguri went.
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Have you ever felt trapped at home — maybe in a home that didn't belong to you?

If so, it's time to make jjapaguri — otherwise known as "ramdon" — the frugal-chic, instant noodle dish made famous by Bong Joon Ho's class comedy/horror spectacular, "Parasite".

Few non-Korean viewers may have understood the significance of mixing Hanwoo beef with a poor man's comfort food. But Hanwoo beef sells for about as much as Japanese wagyu, around $30 for 100 grams, or around $140 for one pound. Chapagetti and Neoguri, the ingredients for jjapaguri, sell for about $1 each.

Usually, jjapaguri/ramdon is made without Hanwoo beef, obviously. Putting the two together is like putting caviar on Cheez-Its. But hey, there's no better cuisine for a long period of lockdown without a foreseeable end than something slurpy and indulgent.

Let's make ramdon.

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I still finished the whole bowl, then felt sick and bloated for the rest of the day. If tragicomic class warfare shenanigans don't kill me one day, the sodium in this dish just might.

My more-is-more spicing attitude bit me in the butt this time. And the sad, chewy beef chunks mocked me for thinking any old steak would do.

The flavor combo of the Chapagetti sauce and the Neoguri powder was absolutely delicious. But unfortunately, I'd nuked these poor noodles with sodium.

But my first bite made two things abundantly clear: one, I added too much Neoguri powder, and two, cheap beef isn't the same as fancy beef.

This is what I look forward to the most during every taste test, my reason for being: the moment food meets mouth.

When the noodles were all covered in a sticky brown glaze, I transferred a portion to the fanciest bowl I could find.

I stirred in the Chapagetti oil, dumped in my reserved noodle juice, and gave my nascent noodles a thorough stir.

Then, I drained my noodles and transferred them to a pan with the beef. The recipe said to use all of the Chapagetti powder and 3/5 of the Neoguri powder. I accidentally added almost all of the Neoguri packet.

Then, I drained my noodles and transferred them to a pan with the beef. The recipe said to use all of the Chapagetti powder and 3/5 of the Neoguri powder. I accidentally added almost all of the Neoguri packet.

I ladled some extra noodle juice for later.

The noodle disks dissipated at a poke of the ladle. That's when I knew my noodly boys were done.

Then, I waited for three minutes.

I added both disks and their accompanying dried vegetable packets to the boiling water.

But hey, both fried noodle disks looked dense and hearty.

Neoguri, on the other hand, is an instant spicy seafood udon. It's meant to be soupy, and udon noodles are, well, different.

After all, Chapagetti is an instant version of jjajang myeon, a Korean take on a Northern Chinese noodle dish with a dark, meaty sauce.

Finally, when my water boiled, it was time to add my ramen. I was surprised to find that both packs contained the exact same kind of noodles.

But the steak cooked faster than I thought it would. Oops.

The recipe said to cook the cubes until they're about halfway done.

I heated up a pan, drizzled in some oil, and added my meat cubes.

The recipe I used told me to boil some water at this point. So I did.

I cut the steak into thick cubes and doused it with salt and pepper.

Remember that scene where Chung-sook (the mom and housekeeper) cuts the steak and it yields like butter? Yeah, nope.

Chapagetti and Neoguri were also really, really hard to find, because of posers like me who wanted to try the Parasite noodle dish.

Hanwoo steak is supposed to be beautifully marbled with fat. Instead, I got this lean, lopsided lump. Nice.

I'm no Park, so I just got some sirloin from Costco. But Costco was out of that, so they replaced it with some random other cut of steak. Now I have five pounds of random beef I didn't want in my freezer.

I'm no Park, so I just got some sirloin from Costco. But Costco was out of that, so they replaced it with some random other cut of steak. Now I have five pounds of random beef I didn't want in my freezer.

This dish only requires three ingredients to be true-to-film: chapagetti, neoguri, and Hanwoo beef.

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I made 'ramdon' or jjapaguri the way it's made in Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite', and the biggest mistake I made was not having lots of money

I still finished the whole bowl, then felt sick and bloated for the rest of the day. If tragicomic class warfare shenanigans don't kill me one day, the sodium in this dish just might.

My more-is-more spicing attitude bit me in the butt this time. And the sad, chewy beef chunks mocked me for thinking any old steak would do.

The flavor combo of the Chapagetti sauce and the Neoguri powder was absolutely delicious. But unfortunately, I'd nuked these poor noodles with sodium.

But my first bite made two things abundantly clear: one, I added too much Neoguri powder, and two, cheap beef isn't the same as fancy beef.

This is what I look forward to the most during every taste test, my reason for being: the moment food meets mouth.

When the noodles were all covered in a sticky brown glaze, I transferred a portion to the fanciest bowl I could find.

I stirred in the Chapagetti oil, dumped in my reserved noodle juice, and gave my nascent noodles a thorough stir.

Then, I drained my noodles and transferred them to a pan with the beef. The recipe said to use all of the Chapagetti powder and 3/5 of the Neoguri powder. I accidentally added almost all of the Neoguri packet.

I ladled some extra noodle juice for later.

The noodle disks dissipated at a poke of the ladle. That's when I knew my noodly boys were done.

Then, I waited for three minutes.

I added both disks and their accompanying dried vegetable packets to the boiling water.

But hey, both fried noodle disks looked dense and hearty.

Neoguri, on the other hand, is an instant spicy seafood udon. It's meant to be soupy, and udon noodles are, well, different.

After all, Chapagetti is an instant version of jjajang myeon, a Korean take on a Northern Chinese noodle dish with a dark, meaty sauce.

Finally, when my water boiled, it was time to add my ramen. I was surprised to find that both packs contained the exact same kind of noodles.

But the steak cooked faster than I thought it would. Oops.

The recipe said to cook the cubes until they're about halfway done.

I heated up a pan, drizzled in some oil, and added my meat cubes.

The recipe I used told me to boil some water at this point. So I did.

I cut the steak into thick cubes and doused it with salt and pepper.

Remember that scene where Chung-sook (the mom and housekeeper) cuts the steak and it yields like butter? Yeah, nope.

Chapagetti and Neoguri were also really, really hard to find, because of posers like me who wanted to try the Parasite noodle dish.

Hanwoo steak is supposed to be beautifully marbled with fat. Instead, I got this lean, lopsided lump. Nice.

I'm no Park, so I just got some sirloin from Costco. But Costco was out of that, so they replaced it with some random other cut of steak. Now I have five pounds of random beef I didn't want in my freezer.

This dish only requires three ingredients to be true-to-film: chapagetti, neoguri, and Hanwoo beef.