Ramen Isn't a Drink, My Friend: Cooking Ramen at a Korean Convenience Store

I've been taking my foreign friends to the same place whenever they visit Korea.

The Han River.

We usually walk around Han River Park, enjoy the view, and eventually end up at a Korean convenience store for some ramen. They always seem to love it.

Today's story is about my friend Timmy.

He loves food and can handle spicy food just fine. But for some reason, he's terrible at cooking. Especially ramen.

Whenever Timmy tried to make ramen, he somehow managed to mess it up. Too much water, not enough water. It was never quite right.

The first time I took Timmy to the Han River

A few years ago, I took him there for the first time.

Back then, you could rent electric stand-up scooters, kind of like Segways, and ride them around the park. We rode along the river for a long time, passing underneath the huge bridges with the wind coming off the water.

Eventually we got hungry. There was a convenience store nearby, so we stopped there.

"Want some ramen?"

Timmy obviously said yes.

Then Timmy picked a cup of ramen

We got to the ramen section, and Timmy looked around for a bit before picking up a cup of ramen.

I stopped him immediately.

"Timmy, put that down."

He looked at me, confused.

"Why?"

"We're getting the packaged ramen."

He looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about.

Honestly, picking cup ramen wasn't a bad choice for him.

He probably knew his own limits.

But we were at the Han River. Eating cup ramen felt like a waste.

"Just trust me and follow me."

I grabbed two packs of ramen, paid for them, and walked over to the ramen machine inside the convenience store.

Timmy immediately noticed the machine.

"What's that?"

"It's a machine that cooks the ramen for you."

That got his attention.

The machine that does everything for you

I put the noodles and seasoning into the container and placed it on the machine.

Then I pressed the button.

Water started coming out automatically.

Timmy stood next to me, watching.

"It does that automatically?"

"Yeah."

"The water comes out by itself?"

"Yeah."

"And it knows how long to cook it?"

"Yep."

He was seriously interested in the machine.

I found it pretty funny.

This was the same guy who could barely figure out how much water to put in a pot of ramen. Here, all it took was one button.

The water came out, the ramen started cooking, and a little while later, the machine finished.

I picked up the finished ramen.

"Done."

Timmy looked at the ramen, then looked back at the machine one more time.

Eating ramen by the Han River

We took the ramen outside and found a spot where we could see the river.

We sat down and picked up our chopsticks.

Timmy took his first bite.

He chewed for a second.

"This is good."

Then he picked up his chopsticks again.

After that, he was basically inhaling the ramen. His chopsticks barely stopped moving.

"Ramen isn't a drink, my friend."

He didn't put his chopsticks down until he'd almost finished the whole bowl.

Then he looked at me.

"This is so much easier."

I laughed.

"That's why I told you to put the cup ramen down."

Timmy laughed too.

We ended up sitting there by the river for quite a while.