- banchan반찬banchan/pan.tɕʰan/
- The small side dishes served with every Korean meal — kimchi, namul, pickled vegetables. Standard with most noodle meals.
- bokkeum-myeon볶음면bokkeum-myeon/pok̚.k͈ɯm.mjʌn/
- Korean stir-fried noodle — drained-not-soup format, sauce-coated. The category Samyang Buldak made viral globally. Contrasts with ramyeon's soup format.
- chapagetti짜파게티chapagetti/t͈ɕa.pʰa.ɡe.tʰi/
- Nongshim instant noodle launched March 1984 — Korea's instant adaptation of *jjajangmyeon* (black-bean noodle). Half of the *chapaguri* combination the 2019 film *Parasite* made globally famous.
- chapaguri짜파구리chapaguri/t͈ɕa.pʰa.ɡu.ɾi/
- The Chapagetti-plus-Neoguri combination noodle dish (subtitled *ram-don* in the English release of *Parasite*, 2019). One packet of each combined, topped with cubed beef. Predates the film by decades; Nongshim's US sales tripled after the 2020 Oscar wins.
- chunjang춘장chunjang/tɕʰun.dʑaŋ/
- Korean fermented black bean paste, caramel-sweetened and dark brown-black. The defining ingredient of jjajangmyeon sauce. Descended from Chinese tianmianjiang but distinctly sweeter.
- dangmyeon당면dangmyeon/taŋ.mjʌn/
- Korean sweet potato starch glass noodles — translucent gray when dry, glossy and bouncy when cooked. The noodle used in japchae.
- doenjang된장doenjang/twen.dʑaŋ/
- Korean fermented soybean paste — funkier and more pungent than Japanese miso. Made as a byproduct of Korean soy sauce (ganjang) production. The earthy backbone of doenjang jjigae and several rustic noodle broths.
- ganjang간장ganjang/kan.dʑaŋ/
- Korean soy sauce. Traditional Korean ganjang is brewed from soybeans alone (no wheat), making it deeper and saltier than Japanese shoyu. Standard table seasoning across Korean noodle dishes.
- gim김gim/kim/
- Korean roasted seaweed — sold in thin pressed sheets, sometimes seasoned with sesame oil and salt. Crumbled over noodle dishes like janchi guksu and bibim guksu for texture and umami. The Korean equivalent of Japanese nori.
- gochugaru고춧가루gochugaru/ko.tɕʰut̚.k͈a.ɾu/
- Korean coarse red chili flakes, sun-dried and machine-ground. The signature heat of Korean cooking and most ramyeon seasoning packets. Not interchangeable with Mexican chili powder, which is sweeter and cumin-laced.
- gochujang고추장gochujang/ko.tɕʰu.dʑaŋ/
- Korean fermented red chili paste — gochugaru, glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder, and salt aged for months. The backbone of bibim guksu sauce and many ramyeon hacks.
- guksu국수guksu/kuk̚.s͈u/
- The Korean word for noodles — used most often for fresh, hand-cut, or cold varieties. Compound dish names use the suffix -guksu (kalguksu, kongguksu, bibim guksu) for these styles.
- kimchi김치kimchi/kim.tɕʰi/
- Korean fermented vegetables, most commonly napa cabbage with gochugaru, garlic, ginger, and salted shrimp. The ubiquitous banchan; also a common topping or stir-in for ramyeon, kalguksu, and bibim guksu.
- kkaennip깻잎kkaennip/k͈ɛn.nip̚/
- Perilla leaves — a Korean herb in the mint family, large flat green leaves with a distinctive minty-anise flavor. Used fresh as a garnish or wrap, pickled as a banchan, and sometimes added to spicy cold noodle dishes. Not the same as Japanese shiso, despite the family resemblance.
- myeolchi-yuksu멸치육수myeolchi yuksu/mjʌl.tɕʰi juk̚.s͈u/
- Korean anchovy-and-kelp stock — the universal broth base, built from dried anchovies (myeolchi) and dried kelp (dashima) simmered with aromatics. The foundation of kalguksu, sundubu guksu, and most homestyle Korean noodle soups. Korea's equivalent of Japanese dashi, but cleaner and more mineral.
- neoguri너구리neoguri/nʌ.ɡu.ɾi/
- Nongshim spicy seafood instant noodle launched 1982. The word literally means *raccoon* (the brand mascot). Distinctive cube-shape udon-cut noodle, includes a dried kelp piece in every packet.
- tteok떡tteok/t͈ʌk̚/
- Korean rice cake — chewy, made from pounded short-grain rice. Sliced cylinders (tteokguk-tteok) and oblong rods (tteokbokki-tteok) often appear alongside noodles in ramyeon hacks and one-pot dishes. Sometimes spelled dduk in older romanizations.
- ttukbaegi뚝배기ttukbaegi/t͈uk̚.p͈ɛ.ɡi/
- Korean stoneware pot — thick-walled, dark brown, used for bubbling-hot stews and noodle soups like sundubu guksu. It holds heat so well the broth keeps cooking at the table. The single-portion size is the standard.
- yangban-naembi양은냄비yangeun naembi/jaŋ.ɯn.nɛm.bi/
- The iconic thin yellow aluminum pot used to cook (and serve) ramyeon — a Korean kitchen icon. Heats instantly and stays hot at the table. Often called yangban naembi colloquially; the formal name is yangeun naembi.