Hello! Today, I am introducing two new instant food menu items from 7-Eleven, released as part of the Chef Park Eun-young series, featuring Chinese cuisine. They are Yusanseul Tangmyeon and Mara Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl. With Chef Park Eun-young, who is as famous as Chef Jung Ji-sun, a female Chinese chef who appeared on ‘Black and White Chef’, as the model for these menu items, I can’t help but have high expectations. It’s exciting to see Yusanseul Tangmyeon and Mara-flavored Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl, which are hard to find in convenience stores. Let’s find out what these menu items are all about!
Price and Features of Chef Park Eun-young’s Yusanseul Tangmyeon
For reference, this menu was released in March 2025! Since I mainly review lunch boxes or fresh food, I sometimes miss out on these instant food menus… However, if it’s noticeable enough to catch my eye while passing by, it seems to be a menu that 7-Eleven is promoting quite a bit! The menu itself is unique, so I’m very curious about the taste!
First, let’s take a look at the Yusanseul Tangmyeon. The concept is ‘spicy and umami-rich Yusanseul Tangmyeon’. It’s a menu that makes you really curious about how they combined the Yusanseul menu, which is not easily found even in Chinese restaurants, with tangmyeon. The price is 3,600 won!
Looking at the nutrition information, the total weight is 227g, with 435Kcal, and the sodium content is 108% of the daily recommended intake. It seems inevitable that the sodium content increases when properly cooking these Chinese instant foods!
Put the noodles, sauce, and garnish soup in the container, pour hot water, and cook in the microwave for 3 minutes at 1000W! Fortunately, there are no other cooking methods, so the process itself doesn’t seem too cumbersome.
The menu consists of three simple components: Chinese noodles, garnish soup, and sauce. Since the price is not that high, it may not contain as much garnish as actual Yusanseul, but it’s basically a cup noodle.
Price and Features of Chef Park Eun-young’s Mara Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl
Next is the Mara Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl, which has the concept of ‘a rice bowl that you can enjoy with mild tofu and savory minced pork in a numbing and spicy mara sauce’. The price is 5,700 won! It’s a bit on the expensive side, but considering it’s a convenience store instant food, it’s understandable.
The cooking method is to slightly tear the top of the rice and sauce, cook them separately, and then pour them together into the container to eat. The cooking method is also very simple! The total weight is 380g, with 555Kcal, and the sodium content is 65% of the daily recommended intake. Since it’s a rice bowl menu, the calorie content seems sufficient for a simple meal! I thought the combination of mara and mapo tofu would result in high sodium, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Haha
The composition, as you might have roughly seen from the cooking method, includes CJ’s Crates instant rice for supply, a sauce pouch, and a spoon. Since you can heat these two separately and then pour them to eat, it seems good for a simple meal.
Tasting Chef Park Eun-young’s Yusanseul Tangmyeon
First, I cooked the Yusanseul Tangmyeon right away. The cooking process was so simple that there was no need for a separate explanation! Haha As you can see, there is a slightly red broth with Chinese noodles and a bit of garnish, which reminds me more of warm noodles than Yusanseul! Haha
When I took a bite, I definitely felt, ‘Ah, it tastes like Yusanseul!’ The taste of seafood is noticeable, and instead of the commonly known jjambbong taste, the unique sauce taste of Yusanseul, the flavor of seafood, and a bit of spiciness are added to the broth that comes with the noodles!
The spiciness is not excessively strong and is moderately spicy, so some people might find it good for a hangover instead of jjambbong. Also, unlike regular cup noodles, the taste of enjoying it with fresh Chinese noodles is special! Haha
Personally, I found the broth very delicious! I think it will be a menu that those who like the unique sauce taste of Yusanseul and those who prefer seafood Chinese cuisine will enjoy. It’s not too stimulating, so you can enjoy it as a hangover cure or a meal!
Chef Park Eun-young’s Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl Mara Taste
Next, I cooked and tasted the Mara Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl right away! First, I placed the rice and poured the Mapo Tofu sauce on top. The amount of tofu and sauce is quite substantial compared to the size of the pouch, right!?
If you take a bite with the sauce, tofu, and rice together, you’ll feel a stronger spiciness than the Mapo Tofu you’ve had at convenience stores before! It seems that the spiciness is a bit stronger than the existing Mapo Tofu lineup, probably because of the Mara flavor. Haha
However, the Mara aroma itself was not as strong as the existing Mara processed foods. The unique processed Mara oil aroma that you feel when eating Mara ramen or Mara-related menus still existed here!
Even considering those points, it was a menu that was a bit spicier and had a Mara aroma added compared to the existing cup rice style Mapo Tofu menu, making it enjoyable to eat. Haha The cost-effectiveness should be considered in the context of convenience store instant food! Personally, I found it quite tasty. It should be fine as a meal.
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