Even after its historic Best Picture win, Parasite got audiences raving about its story, its cast and crew, and its pop culture tidbits, which already resonated to the online community. We already got the Jessica jingle song humming in our heads in the beginning of the film. And on a tense-filled sequence, one of the main characters hurriedly prepares a noodle meal called jjapaguri or translated as ramdon for the English subtitles.
Did you know that jjapaghetti is a brand of instant savory Korean noodles, and neoguri is another Korean noodle brand with a variant of soup? Both noodles are served in the meal, while the jjapaghetti provides the dry, savory texture for the noodles. Similarly, ramdon is a combination of ramen and udon. And as a finishing touch, add some beef sirloin to the mix.
Just like some elements in this critically-acclaimed film, the jjapaguri is layered with symbolic interpretations and intended foreshadowing for some events of the film. But more than that, it got us craving some ramdon, like any mukbang video.
So, here are simple ways how to prepare jjapaguri, just like in Parasite:
For the noodles:
Ingredients:
• 1 pack of jjapaghetti or udon noodles
• 1 pack of neoguri or ramen noodles
• 30 grams of beef sirloin steak
• 2 tbsp. of neutral oil (for searing)
• 1 soup sachet from instant noodle package
• 1 tbsp. of oyster sauce
1.) Boil 4 cups of water in a pot on medium heat.
2.) Soon as the water boils, add both noodles and the dried vegetable flakes from the packets to the pot.
3.) Mix the noodles as the noodles are cooked for 2 to 3 minutes.
4.) Drain the water but leave quarters of it in the pot. Add the soup mix from both noodles, the oils as well, and oyster sauce. 5.) Mix the noodles well with the seasonings.
6.) Serve.
As for the sirloin, prepare it before the noodles:
Ingredients for the sirloin marinade:
• 1 tbsp. of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. of sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. of rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. of brown sugar
• 1 green onion (chopped)
1.) Trim the sirloin steak into cubes. Marinade the steak with soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, brown sugar and green onions.
2.) Refrigerate marinated steak to let the savory taste coat on the steak.
3.) Heat up a pan with neutral oil (or vegetable oil) before adding the cubes of beef. Ensure that each cube is turned once to get that pink medium-rare texture.
4.) Once cooked, take them off the pan and add them to the noodles.
The only thing left is to cook it in a rushed pace before the Park family arrives.
