Ramyeon라면

Instant noodles were first developed in Japan, where production began in the late 1950s. One account traces them to Chinese dried noodles; another story says the idea came from watching a cook fry tempura. Steaming the noodles, frying them in oil and packing a powdered soup on the side meant they kept for a long time and made a meal in minutes.

Korea's first ramyeon (라면) rolled off the line in 1963. It spread fast: by the mid-1970s annual domestic production topped one billion packs, and by around 2000 it reached two billion. In the 1980s, alongside the classic three-minute boil, cup noodles that need only hot water arrived and took center stage among instant foods. Exports began in the late 1970s.

Today ramyeon is the face of Korean food exports. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, ramyeon exports reached 1.25 billion US dollars in 2024, up 31.1 percent from the year before, keeping their place as Korea's top agri-food export. Frequent appearances in Korean dramas and films, along with viral noodle-eating challenges, are credited with the boom.