He’s reviewed over 2,300 varieties of instant noodles. Meet South Korea’s ‘ramyeon critic’
Pioneering South Korean critic Ji Young-jun reveals why he loves instant noodles and his aim to turn them into a lasting cultural legacy
For many, instant noodles are a quick, cheap meal designed for convenience. But for Ji Young-jun, Korea’s pioneering “ramyeon critic”, they represent a lifetime of history, complex food science and a rapidly growing cultural phenomenon.
Ji’s unconventional journey into the world of noodles began during a period of personal frustration. After enduring consecutive failures on Korea’s gruelling college entrance exam, he enlisted in the military. It was while wandering the aisles of the military commissary that he found an unexpected spark of inspiration.
“Before finishing my service, I set a humble goal for myself: ‘Let’s taste every single instant noodle available here,’” Ji says.
“Astonishingly, that simple objective completely revitalised my military life and filled it with excitement. I wanted to carry this amazing energy into the civilian world, so in 2013, I began sharing my detailed reviews on social media.”
For a decade, Ji balanced his passion for instant noodles with a stable career as a primary school teacher. However, as global interest in Korean culture surged – driven in part by K-pop and a craze for Buldak Ramen – Ji noticed a glaring void.
While American reviewer Hans Lienesch had achieved global fame as “The Ramen Rater”, Korea lacked an independent, professional critic dedicated to the craft.