The Ramen regime: A seven day diet in North Korea

North Korea Documentary 2016

Every week we ask a North Korean your questions, giving you the chance to learn more about the country we know so little about.

This weeks question is:I heard ramen is a rare food item in North Korea. Is it true? What kind of ramen do you eat in North Korea?

In my hometown, you could obtain almost anything if youhad enough money. Itwas simply a questionof cash, rather than the matter of what you wanted to obtain. As such, ramen (freeze dried noodles) werent really much of a rarity in my hometown. With money,you could eat ramen anytime.

So, whats the North Korean view of this dish?

Actually, in the DPRK we call the dishkoburang noodles, buthere in the South people obviously use the nameramen.Because of this, South Koreans dontunderstand it if a North Korean tries to orderkoburang noodles, meaning we all change our vocab pretty quickly upon arriving in Seoul.

When I lived in the NorthI recall seeingramenbeing boiled in a pot of some kind, never thecup ramens which are so popular in the South. I assume that thisis because vendors were hesitant to bring cup ramens into the country as they were bigger in size, actually having a rather awkward shape. And because of their shape, itdbe difficult for the traders to import a big bulk of cup ramen into the country, whichwould naturally leadto less profit.

ButI should point out that ramen is a food item which is not exactly welcomed by the North Korean regime, meaning vendors have to keep them out of the eyes of the authorities. As a result, ramen are actually pretty costly in North Korea. I remember many kids lovedramen,but not all of them could afford to eat them as often as theyd like. When a bag of rice weighing 1kg enough to feed a family for two days cost 3000 won, one singleramen cost 800 won.

It was usuallyChinese ramenthat we bought and atein North Korea, althoughI dont really recall the brand names of them. However,I do remember I mostly atebeef and kimchi flavored ones. And withthe increased popularity and preference for South Korean products, Chinese factories and companies began to deliberately put Hangul on their products in order to make them look as if they were from South Korea.

Inmy hometown people even used to thinkthat the smell of ramenwould helpyou lose weight

But you know whats funny? Ramenwas actually seen as a diet food by people in my region of North Korea, even though asyou probably know it is far from nutritious!And inmy hometown people even used to thinkthat the smell of ramenwould helpyou lose weight.

It is really funny thinking about it now, but Ionce lived on aramen-onlydietfor a week in order to lose weight. Of course, I never succeeded, but I really believed that eating onlyramenfor a week wouldhelp me lose weight!

In the case of my family, we also often ate ramen when we lost our appetite. But I soon learned to game the system. Everytime I wanted to eat ramen, I acted to my mom as if I had lost my appetite and I didnt feel like eating anything. Then, my mom would buy and cook ramen for me. Oh, it was so delicious every time I ate ramen like that!

I think the South Korean dramas also contributed to the increased popularity of ramen. You could frequently see a scene withpeople eating ramen in most dramas and North Koreans would suddenly go hungry every time they watched such scenes. Also, whenpeople go on a picnic or trip, they often brought ramen with them. On avalley or mountainside it can bedifficult to cook rice oranentire Korean meal, but it was very convenient to cook ramen in those places.

In North Korea, military drills areheld in mid-August or late August every year. Thats when everyone has to go tothe mountain for one night and twodays. And thatswhen the highest number of ramen is sold during an year, because its very quick and easy to make ramen on amountainside. So whileit might have been expensive and annoying for grown-ups to buy them, I remember that children relished the military drillsas they could eat ramen onthe mountainside. It was like going on a camp!

In conclusion, in North Korea people caneat ramen as often as they like, if they have cash.Ramen is therefore not a rarity, unlike Chocopies, which can be tricky to find even if you have the money. Thats because Chocopies come from South Korea, not China. I remember I once was unable to eat Chocopiefor over a month because they were out of stock in my hometown. In fact, Chocopie was the only food item that would be out of stock from time to time in my hometown of North Korea.

Main picture: NK News

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNE2Ylw7Y5XPaDWTsQQduLPsCwe9TQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=qrScV_CTCY3K3QHyqInADA&url=https://www.nknews.org/2016/07/the-ramen-regime-a-seven-day-diet-in-north-korea/