Chapaguri (Ram-don): Chapagetti + Neoguri in One Pot
Chapaguri cooks two Nongshim packs together: the black bean sauce of Chapagetti and the spicy seafood kick of Neoguri. Korean families were making it at home long before the 2019 film Parasite made it famous abroad as "ram-don." It takes two packs, one pot and about 10 minutes.
You'll need
- Water: about 3½ cups (27 oz/800 mL) for boiling
- Optional, for Parasite-style: 4 oz (about 110 g) sirloin or ribeye steak, cut into bite-size cubes
- Optional: salt and black pepper for the steak
Method
- 1
Bring about 3½ cups (27 oz/800 mL) of water to a boil in a medium pot. Two noodle blocks need more water than the single-pack instructions call for.
- 2
Add both noodle blocks and both vegetable flake packets. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the noodles are just tender.
- 3
Turn off the heat and pour off most of the water, leaving about 8 tablespoons (½ cup) in the pot. That little bit of water is what turns the powder into a glossy sauce, so don’t drain it all.
- 4
Add all of the Chapagetti seasoning powder, about half of the Neoguri soup powder, and the Chapagetti seasoning oil. The Neoguri powder is salty and spicy — start with half and add more to taste.
- 5
Put the pot back over medium-high heat and stir-fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the sauce coats every strand. Serve right away, before the noodles soak up the sauce.
- 6
Parasite-style (optional): season the steak cubes with salt and pepper, sear them in a very hot pan for 1 to 2 minutes until browned, then toss them into the finished noodles.
Salt: two seasoning packets in one pot get salty fast. Half of the Neoguri powder is the usual amount — if you add all of it, keep a little more water in step 3.
Sauce too thick? Before draining, scoop a few spoonfuls of the cooking water into a cup. Stir some back in if the sauce tightens while you eat.
Milder version: use Neoguri Mild instead of the spicy seafood pack.
Photo credits: cover photo "Chapaguri 2" and step 5 photo "Chapaguri 1" by Debbie Tingzon; step 6 photo "Ram-don" by Jens Ohlig. All via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), resized. Step 2 photo: the package photos shown on the NoodleIndex product pages for these two ramen.