November 20, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3341: LMF Hong Kong Chow Mein Garlic Minced Pork Flavor – China

#3341: LMF Hong Kong Chow Mein Garlic Minced Pork Flavor - China

Yet again, that awesome little store called Smart’N’Save up in Richmond, BC at the Lansdowne Centre Mall never fails to impress. They had an array of these varieties and they certainly piqued my interest.

This one is a little difficult to locate. While it’s definitely made in Shanghai, I’m unsure whether this is a product for China or for Hong Kong, or just for export. To be on the safe side, I’m just going to go with China. Don’t want to offend anyone – I know there’s a lot going on in Hong Kong recently and in the past, calling a product from China instead of correctly from Hong Kong has caused some dismay. So that being said, if I’m not getting it right, please let me know and I’ll change it. Let’s check it out!

LMF Hong Kong Chow Mein Garlic Minced Pork Flavor – China

Detail of the import/distributor’s sticker (click to enlarge).

#3341: LMF Hong Kong Chow Mein Garlic Minced Pork Flavor - China

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to b meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles for 2~3 minutes and drain. Add 2 teaspoons oil into a skillet and heat, then add noodles. Cook for 1~2 minutes and then add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

That’s a wide noodle block! I expected 4 smaller blocks in the package.

Along with two long noodle blocks are two wet sachets.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added egg, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, minced pork with chopped garlic and basil, spring onion, sesame seeds, and chili flake. The noodles are very thin and carried the flavor well. Garlic and minced pork flavor was decent – not salty and carried well. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 6933963802135.

The Taste of Old Hong Kong: Recipes and Memories From 30 Years on the China Coast

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November 19, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3340: Three Meters Soybean Flavor Belt Noodles – Taiwan

These are the second of the belt noodle varieties from Three Meters. Really enjoyed the pepper sesame ones recently, and curious how these will be. Let’s find out!

Three Meters Soybean Flavor Belt Noodles – Taiwan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles for 5 minutes in 1000ml water, stirring gently. Midway through add 100ml cold water. Drain. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

One of the three individual packages.

Very wide noodles!

A wet sachet – looks like oil.

A second wet sachet, presumably the soybean flavor.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added a tea egg, Chinese sausage, sesame seeds, Sichuan pepper powder, and scallions. Noodles are perfect – really wide and a nice chew but not too chewy. The flavor is a salty soybean hit which was excellent. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4713361500138.

THREE METERS NOODLES Sesame Sauce Noodles (480g/4pcs) Best Taiwanese Gift – THREE METERS – Fresh Stock-Taiwan food – Noodle – Vegetarian

November 18, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3339: Samyang Foods Jjajang Buldak Ramen Topokki – South Korea

I thought today would be a fun day to include Miles in on an episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time (see below). I figured hey – he’ll leave the stove alone… Well, he did which was good and it was nice having a co-host! Job well done, Miles!

Today’s review is a spicy one from the famous Fire Noodle range of Buldak products manufactured by Samyang Foods. Not only does it contain noodles, but topokki as well which is a nice touch. If you haven’t tried topokki, you’re really missing out! Let’s give it a try!

Samyang Foods Jjajang Buldak Ramen Topokki – South Korea

Detail of the back of the package (click to enlarge).

Here are the included instructions they made for me (click to enlarge).

Included is a package with a noodle block.

Here’s the topokki – make sure you remove the dessicant sachet.

Two wet sachets of jjajang sauce.

The vegetable sachet.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, fish cake, and baked chicken, Noodles come out with a nice chew to them and the topokki is with a nice chew as well. The instructions said 5~6 minutes and I did 5 1/2, so 6 would probably yield more tender topokki. The sauce is thick and luxuriant, with a strong Buldak kind of flavor as well as the black bean component. It’s definitely spicy as well. A good combo – tasty and great. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073310964.

Samyang Original Ra-bokki Buldak Chicken Flavored Rice Cake Ramem Noodles 2019 New

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November 16, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3338: Nissin Pasta U.F.O. Camaron Fuego Salsa Habanero Picante – Mexico

#3338: Nissin Pasta U.F.O. Camaron Fuego Salsa Habanero Picante - Mexico

Here’s another one of the Nissin Mexico varieties I received recently – thanks again! Spicy? Let’s find out! It mentions that it’s got kick from habanero which is most definitely spicy.

Nissin Pasta U.F.O. Camaron Fuego Salsa Habanero Picante – Mexico

#3338: Nissin Pasta U.F.O. Camaron Fuego Salsa Habanero Picante - Mexico

Detail of the bottom of the outer wraps (click to enlarge). Contains shrimp. To prepare, take out sachet and add in 2 cups boiling water. Cover for 5 minutes. Peel off drain spout cover and drain. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

The noodle block.

A wet sachet of sauce.

Loose bits from the bowl.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added fried egg, shrimp, spring onion, mild cheddar, red pepper flake, and Bufalo Clasica sauce. The noodles have a nice kind of whole wheat bump to them which was quite nice. Te flavor was a kind of lemony and spicy affair with notes of shrimp. Spiciness was there but balanced and mellow. Included vegetables were great. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 070662248140.

Owiekdmf Men’s Nissin Food Sweatshirt Hoodie XL Light Grey

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November 15, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3337: Nongshim Fururu Cold Noodles – Japan

Today, we have one that was part of Japan Crate’s Umai Crate. So Japan Crate is a subscription service which has all sorts of different options for you. pretty neat stuff from Japan! There’s a coupon code for you too – just use THERAMENRATER to get a special discount at check out.

So here’s what the folks at Japan Crate had to say about this variety -“Korean bibim noodles (think bibimbap, but switch out the rice with noodles) is popular in Japan on sunny days. These cold bibim noodles are flavored with sweet, sour, and spicy gochujang sauce. A relaxing and cold meal with a kick!”

Alright – it’s a sunny day! Let’s give ti a try!

Nongshim Fururu Cold Noodles – Japan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Unsure whether it contains meat – check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold wate. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

A large noodle block.

A wet sauce sachet.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added egg, cucumber, carrot, ham, sesame seeds, pepper flake, and spring onion. Noodles are thin with an interesting chew to them. The sauce imparts a sweet and bitter taste with a nice spicy level to them. Has a definite premium kind of flavor and experience. Refreshing and tasty! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4582214630229.

159gX10 pieces Nongshim Flour cold noodle survivin cold noodles

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November 14, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3336: Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor Bowl – United States

#3336: Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor Bowl - United States

This one came in a special ‘First Taste Club’ box from Nissin Foods USA – pretty snazzy. So, what’s the big deal? Well, it’s Top Ramen, in a bowl. It also comes with vegetables. It also comes with… teriyaki sauce? I’m very curious about this one – let’s cook it up and ruminate on this…

Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor Bowl – United States

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains chicken. To prepare, add powder and vegetable sachets into the bowl along with room temperature water to the fill line. Microwave uncovered for 3 minutes at 1000W. Let sit in the microwave an additional minute. Add in wet sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

#3336: Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor Bowl - United States

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

#3336: Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor Bowl - United States

The noodle block.

A dry soup base sachet.

A dry sachet of vegetables.

A wet sachet of teriyaki sauce.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added baked chicken, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, carrot, sesame seeds, and shichimi togarashi. Noodles worked well and had a nice character to them. The broth smelled very much like homemade chicken broth – until the teriyaky liquid went in. It eradicated all taste of chicken in there. Vegetables were prevalent. I’m not saying it’s bad – in fact it was quite good – just when I see chicken I expect a chicken flavor. 3.5 out of 6.0 stars. UPC bar code 070662026038.

Nissin Cup Ramen Noodle Soup, Curry, 2.82 Ounce (Pack of 6)

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November 13, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3335: Samyang Foods Bibimmyun – South Korea

It’s summer right now (I wrote and reviewed this on the last day of July) and one thing that happens during the summer months is that South Korean brands put out their cold noodles. This one is a play on bibimbap – instead of rice, it’s noodles. Here’s a little about bibimbap from Wikipedia –

Bibimbap^[2] (/ˈbiːbɪmbæp/ BEE-bim-bap,^[3] from Korean 비빔밥 [pi.bim.p͈ap̚], literally “mixed rice”), sometimes romanized as bi bim bap or bi bim bop, is a Korean rice dish. The term “bibim” means mixing various ingredients, while the “bap” noun refers to rice. Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) or kimchi (traditional fermented vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), soy sauce, or doenjang (a fermented soybean paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The hot dish is stirred together thoroughly just before eating.^[4]

The noodle version is served cold while the rice version is hot – and my favorite is served in a stone pot. The rice at the bottom is kind of crunchy and you pour a little tea in and it makes it’s own little rice soup which is nice. Let’s check out this, the noodle version called bibimmyun.

Samyang Foods Bibimmyun – South Korea

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, cook noodles 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

The oodle block.

A wet sauce sachet.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added sliced egg, spring onion, carrot, cucumber, ham, and Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts. The noodles worked well with the sauce – thick and chewy. The sauce was spicy and sweet – very good and a nice accompaniment to hotter weather. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073101449.

Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking: Authentic Dishes for the Home Cook

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November 12, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3334: Nona Lim Dan Dan Noodle Bowl – United States

Here’s the second of the three refrigerated bowl sent by Nona Lim – thanks again! This one contains ‘Beyond Meat,’ a meat substitute that sounds interesting. I know I liked Dan Dan Noodle so let’s see how this measures up!

Nona Lim Dan Dan Noodle Bowl – United States

Detail of the cardboard outer sleeve (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, cut a slit in the noodle pouch and microwave for 1 minutes. Add into bowl along with sauce. Microwave 30 seconds. Finally, stir and enjoy!

The noodle pouch.

The broth.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion, cucumber, and carrot. I should note I didn’t realize the instructions on this one differed from the previous bowl, but I think everything came out as it should. The noodles were very good – nice chew to them and a rustic kind of texture. The flavor was nice; a little hint of spice, a lot of the Beyond Meat – it kind of came together like a nice microwavable Hamburger Helper though – didn’t make me think of Dan Dan Noodle so much. That’s not to say that it wasn’t delicious – I really wanted to eat this whole bowl! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 859792002194.

Nona Lim Heat & Sip Cups, Sampler Variety Pack – Gluten Free (10 oz, 6 Count) – Packaging May Vary

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November 11, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3333: Shuang Ren Hsu Famous Chinese Noodles Sesame & Peanuts – Taiwan

Found this one at 99 Ranch Market recently and thought it would be neat to try. It just amazes me how many Taiwanese dry noodle varieties and brands there are out there. They just keep popping up and so many contact me and ask if I’ll review them – which I really enjoy – and there are still brands I’ve never seen left and right! Let’s give this one a try!

Shuang Ren Hsu Famous Chinese Noodles Sesame & Peanuts – Taiwan

Detail of the package liner (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles 4~5 minutes. Drain. Add sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

The noodle block.

A dry sachet of peanut powder.

A wet sachet of soy sauce.

A wet sachet of oil.

A dry sachet of vegetable flake.

A dry sachet of sesame seeds.

A dry sachet of crushed red chili.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft egg, Youku Sichuan pepper powder, spring onion, and sesame seeds. Noodles came out pretty well – kind of on the fluffy side for dry noodles. The flavor was interesting; peanut was light and soy did a good job. Oiliness made it very slippery. Flavors seemed slightly muted but all in all not bad. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4715409919094.

Southern Hokkien: An Introduction（3volumes+3CD）

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November 10, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3332: Kubota Men Onomichi Aji Hei Ramen – Japan

This one was in a Ramen Trunk subscription box.These boxes are full of extremely high end varieties that you’ll never find in the United States or anywhere outside Japan! Check out this link and use coupon code RAMENRATER20OFF for 20% off any single box or subscription!

Here’s what they have to say about this one – “

Onomichi is a small city of 136,000 in Hiroshima prefecture known for it’s ancient temples. It is a hilly city southwestern coast of Honshu island, the main island of Japan.

This Ajihei ramen is characterized by it’s soy sauce (shoyu) based broth cooked with fish to imbue a unique but light seafood flavor to round out the broth. Although noodles in the region typically are wide and flat, Ajihei ramen sticks with a more traditional thin-medium noodle thickness to not over power a lighter shoyu based broth.”

Let’s have a look at this fancy premium variety from Japan!

Kubota Men Onomichi Aji Hei Ramen – Japan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Contains fish (and almost certainly pork). To prepare, boil noodles on high heat for 30 seconds, then turn to medium heat and cook 1 minute. Combine soup base with 300ml boiling water. Drain noodles. Finally, add noodles and soup to bowl and enjoy!

Two servings of noodles.

Two servings of soup base.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft egg, narutomaki, chashu, spring onion, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, sesame seeds, nanami togarashi, and chili oil. The noodles are thin and quite nice – they’ve still got a backbone with a light kind of disposition at the same time which was nice. The broth is very rich and has a great oiliness to it. Impressive! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4972874209840.

ramen kitakata aizuwakamatsu koriyama iwaki Gourmet Information in Koriyama (Japanese

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November 8, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3331: Nona Lim Green Curry Noodle Bowl – United States

This is an interesting one and took a little research. Is a plant based diet same as a Vegan diet? Well this video explains that they’re two different things. This is a fresh bowl which requires refrigeration. I really like green curry – let’s give it a try!

Nona Lim Green Curry Noodle Bowl – United States

Detail of the cardboard outer packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add contents to the bowl and microwave for 2~3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!

What you see under the cardboard outer packaging.

Gluten free laksa rice noodles.

A container of broth.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, fried tofu, basil, and pepper flake. The noodles has some oomph to them no doubt which was nice. The broth was very hearty and the inclusion of the vegetables was appreciated. However, the flavor was muted and could have used some salt. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 859792002699.

Nona Lim Heat & Sip Cups, Sampler Variety Pack – Gluten Free (10 oz, 6 Count) – Packaging May Vary

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November 7, 2019 By Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3330: Three Meters Pepper Sesame Belt Noodles – Taiwan

This is blue! I really like the color of this package – very striking and vibrant. These are something new from Three Meters – Belt Noodles. They’re very wide – kind of like a belt! The flavor sounds quite nice as well. Let’s check these out!

Three Meters Pepper Sesame Belt Noodles – Taiwan

One of three individual servings.

The belt noodles.

A wet sachet of sesame paste.

A wet sachet – guessing soy sauce.

A third sachet – looks like oil.

A dry sachet of Sichuan pepper.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added chashu pork, tea egg, scallions, and sesame seeds. Noodles are very broad with a nice chew to them – not too chewy or too soft but just right. The flavor is a nice coat of sesame, saltiness from soy, and pepper. It worked incredibly well. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4713361500121.

THREE METERS NOODLES Sesame Sauce Noodles (480g/4pcs) Best Taiwanese Gift – THREE METERS – Fresh Stock-Taiwan food – Noodle – Vegetarian

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