We had to see how realistic the movie was in terms of cooking, but did we pass the test?

Parasite, the Korean film that recently took home multiple awards, including Best Picture, at the Oscars last week, is absolutely booming in popularity. The world has their eyes on the unique apartments featured in the film, the actors and actresses, and even the food. It was so captivating that our Japanese-language writer Shawn went to see it in Japanese theaters twice.

(WARNING: This article will likely contain spoilers from this point onward!)

There’s a particular cooking scene in the movie that caught Shawn’s attention; one of the main characters is instructed to make a mysterious recipe called “ja ja ramen.” As the official Parasite Japan Twitter has officially revealed, the dish has just three ingredients: Nongshim’s Chapagetti instant noodles, Noguri instant noodles, and beef (the higher the quality, the better).

▼ Official Parasite Japan’s ja ja ramen post

https://twitter.com/Parasite_JP/status/1224555784308047872

The steps are

1. Boil the noodles with their respective dried toppings for 5 minutes.
2. Cube the beef.
3. Drain the noodles when they’re finished and add both sauces.
4. Add the included oil, toss it with the beef, and you’re done!

But in addition to showing how to make the dish, the tweet is also challenging people to make it in only 8 minutes, just like in the movie. “This will be super easy!” Shawn thought,deciding to take on the challenge, so he set off on his journey to Shin-Okubo, popularly known as Tokyo’s Korean Town. He thought he’d have the best chance of finding both types of Nonshim instant noodles there.

He chose to look inside the shop Seoul Market to find the goods, and quickly found the Chapagetti for 145 yen (US$1.32).

Shawn was excited that Chapagetti was included in the recipe since his long-time Korean friend told him about the product over 15 years ago. Some don’t like its smoky flavor, but Shawn thinks it’s rich and mashisoyo (Korean for “delicious”).

He also found the Noguri instant noodles (134 yen) without a problem. Noguri comes in both a sweet version and a spicy version, but the Parasite recipe calls specifically for the spicy one.

He grabbed some beef from a supermarket on his way back home, and voila! His ingredient quest was complete. Now it was time for the actual cooking part. Remember, the goal is eight minutes! Ready…gooo!

First off, he needed to fill the pot with water. Faster, water, faster!

While the water was heating up, he sprang into action and began chopping up the beef like he was on Iron Chef.

One minute down and the beef is all chopped. “I’ve totally got this!” Shawn thought.

Since he cubed the beef so small, it only took one or two minutes for it to be done. Then he just had to wait for the water to boil…

Three minutes, no bubbles.

Four minutes – still nothing. “Hurry, the Parks will be home soon!!!” Shawn thought frantically.

Finally! It took a full four minutes and 17 seconds for the water to reach its boiling point.

He shoved the noodles and dried toppings into the water and settled back to wait five minutes…

But wait – four minutes have already passed, and He has to wait five more minutes for the noodles to finish? We’re not math experts, but we’re pretty sure that means he doesn’t have enough time.

Oh well! That doesn’t mean he can’t savor his efforts (in his stomach). Shawn was a little bummed out at not being able to complete the challenge, but he blames it on his stove’s heat capacity. Apparently that house in the movie had a lot of heating power.

Shawn slowed down for the rest of the ride, adding the beef and drizzling the oil included in the instant ramen package.

He mixed it all together over low heat…

And it’s complete! It took him a total of 12 minutes and 47 seconds. If he were in the movie, the Parks would have already been home, but we’re sure they’d forgive him. Time to eat up!

It was absolutely delectable! The seafood accents of the Chapagetti paired well with Noguri’s spice, and the thick and chewy noodles were divine. But since the recipe calls for two whole packets of ramen, it might be too much for just one person to eat (but hey, we’re not judging).

By the way, Shawn notes that while the beef was a nice touch, he doesn’t think it’s absolutely necessary to complete the flavor. It’ll be much truer to the movie if you do, though! If you’re a fan of Parasite, we recommend giving the eight-minute challenge a whirl. Or, if you’ve got extra time in you cooking schedule, you could try out some rice made with tapioca bubble tea.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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