Sorry I’ve been AWOL from recipe posting lately – I’ve put my pantry cleanse on hold (or actually have restocked it even fuller in recent weeks), and have been making nothing terribly new or inspiring. Tasty things from staples, but not exactly balanced Internet-friendly dishes.

When it was in theaters, DH and I saw Parasite – which was fantastic – and were just as curious as to what the mixed ramen noodle dish with steak was. We heard it was delicious, and were having friends over for game night – so we decided to make a whole Korean-themed meal.

For sides, we had 4 banchan (vegetable side dishes): spicy cucumbers, sauteed spinach, lightly blanched and seasoned bean sprouts and kimchi. This dish was our main, and the recipe is only slightly augmented from the official recipe(s) listed here. When I made this a second time for just the two of us, I couldn’t help but add a little seasoning to the steak and some green veg.

Ram-don (Chapaguri)

1 package Chapaghetti

1 package Neoguri (combo pack for the two on Amazon)

200g good steak

2 tsp. neutral oil

2 tsp. butter

1/2c. frozen spinach

2 green onions

Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Boil a large pot of water.

While the water is working, add the neutral oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Add the steak bits, hit with salt, pepper & garlic powder and sautee until your desired doneness is reached.

While the steak and water are working, thinly slice your green onions.

About halfway through cooking, add the sliced green onions and hit a second time with seasoning.

Add the butter and toss until melted. Set aside.

Add the noodles and dehydrated veggies from both packages to the boiling water.

Boil 4:30, adding the frozen spinach in the last minute or so.

Strain, keeping enough water so the mixture is nice and wet still – not swimming, but not dry. The directions say to keep 150ml, but my American non-metric self had no idea what this looked like with noodles so I guessed.

Turn off the heat and add the strained noodles back to the pot. Add the seasoning packet from the green package (the green packet that looks like beef bouillon). Add the oil from the green package and half the spicy looking seasoning (all if you like spicy) from the red package. Stir to combine.

Divide between 2 bowls (can easily stretch to 3 or even 4 if you serve with banchan), and top with steak.

Serves 2 – 3