Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Original Flavor

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Pancit Canton is a Filipino favorite whose roots began in China. It is also very much like Mi Goreng, an Indonesian dish. Basically, noodles and cooked, drained, and then combined with a dry powder and oil and sauce combination to create a tasty broth-free dish. These Lucky Me! Pancit Canton come in a variety of flavors, this being their original flavor. I’ll be reviewing more of these during Meet The Manufacturer as well, since it’s such a prominent product of theirs. Let’s check out Lucky Me! original Pancit Canton. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Chicken Na Chicken Instant Noodles

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Chicken instant noodles are known the world over. In fact the first instant noodles ever sold were chicken flavored! Seems like chicken is a very accessible flavor for people. I reviewed this one over 3 years ago the first time – let’s see how Chicken na Chicken by Lucky Me! fares this time around! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1527: Lucky Me! Special Baked Mac Style Instant Macaroni

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Macaroni is used in a lot of Filipino cuisine. One I’ve tried in instant form is Sopas, a soup with macaroni in it. The weather here is really quite cold (at least for Washington). It’s gotten down to as low as 26 degrees Fahrenheit the last few nights. This looks like a nice warm stick-to-your-ribsy kind of thing. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Chili & Citrus

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It’s been a while since I had any Lucky Me! Pancit Canton. This is a re-review of the 40th instant I ever reviewed! That puts it around 2002 or 2003 being the last time I tried this one. Not only that, it’s been about 1,000 reviews since I had any Pancit Canton. So what’s Pencit? Wikipedia has this to say: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Interview With Monde Nissin – Lucky Me!

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Interview With Monde Nissin * Product Samples From Monde Nissin (1) * Product Samples From Monde Nissin (2) * Lucky Me!  Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Chili & Citrus * Lucky Me! La Paz Batchoy Instant Noodle Soup * Lucky Me! Special Baked Mac Style Instant Macaroni * Lucky Me! Chicken Na Chicken Instant Noodles * Friday Video: Food Journey Philippines * Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Original Flavor * Lucky Me! Supreme Pinoy Chicken Instant Noodles * Lucky Me! Special Instant Curly Spaghetti With Yummy Red Sauce * Lucky Me! Spicy Beef Mami Instant Noodle Soup * Lucky Me! Special Instant Sopas Chicken Flavor * Lucky Me! Special Instant Noodles Jjamppong Flavor * Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef Instant Noodles * Friday Video: How to Cook Cebu Lechon * Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Sweet & Spicy Flavor * Lucky Me! Supreme Bulalo Artificial Bone Marrow Flavor Instant Noodles * Lucky Me! Special Instant Pancit Bihon With Kalamansi * Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Extra Hot Chili Flavor ...see full post

#1525: Pama Instant Kua Teow Tom Yam

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Yet another one got in Malaysia during our trip! Thank you, Thomas! A popular dish in Penang is Char Kuay Teow, fried rice noodles. It’s kind of like the mee goreng of rice noodles. Kua Teow is rice noodles – and this is rice noodles with tom yam broth. From what I found online, it’s more a popular Thai dish. Either way, this sounds really good! Let’s dig in to some spicy stuff from Malaysia! ...see full post

#1523: Paldo Jjamppong Seafood Noodle King Bowl

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Here’s a new Jjamppong King Bowl from Paldo. The king bowl is yet another instant noodle form factor. There are cups, king cups, bowls and king bowls. I think the main different between cups and bowls are really the portability factor. I think a king cup and a king bowl hold the same amount of liquid though; I’ll have to compare them some day. But I digress. This is Jjamppong – here’s a little from Wikipedia about Jjamppong who are unclear about what it is: ...see full post

#1522: Vifon Instant Porridge Seafood Flavour

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The first thing you’re going to say is ‘porridge isn’t ramen.’ Well aware of that, dude. Then again, these often show up on the instant noodle aisle of an Asian grocery and as such, I thought it could use some attention. This is a Vietnamese seafood porridge, much like what they call congee in China. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Vietnamese rice porridge: ...see full post

#1521: Maruchan Gotsumori Sauce Yakisoba

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Okay, I’m familiar with yakisoba, but what’s Gotsumori sauce all about? After some scouring of the Internet, I didn’t find a whole lot. I found on the manufacturer’s site that the sauce is spicy and also has a sachet of Kewpie karashimayonnaise (kind of a mayo-mustard thing). Anyways, yeah I’m definitely coming up short on this one! Let’s have a look. ...see full post

#1520: Yum Yum Oriental Style Instant Noodles Wasabi Flavour

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Another one sent by a kind reader from Sweden – thank you! I’ve had Yum Yum noodles in the past, but I’ve never seen any instant noodle that was wasabi flavor. I did have a Zaru Soba once that had dipping sauce that had a strong wasabi flavor, but none where wasabi was the only flavor! Yum Yum is a popular brand in northern Europe – I heard recently that people refer to many brands of instant noodles there simply as ‘Yum Yum.’ Wasabi eh? Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#1518: Mamee Chef Gold Recipe Bihun Kari Seribu Rasa

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A week or so ago, I reviewed Mamee Chef Gold Recipe Mi Kari Seribu Rasa. This however is Mamee Chef Gold Recipe Bihun Kari Seribu Rasa. What’s the difference? Well, ‘mi’ means noodles – as in instant wheat flour noodles. Bihun is the Malaysian term for rice vermicelli. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about bihun: ...see full post

#1517: Katoz Instant Noodles Spicy Chili

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Here’s another one sent to me by a reader in Sweden – thank you! This is a Swedish brand – Katoz and is manufactured by MAT Kompaniet. Swedish instant noodles are a new thing to me; this is the second review I’ve ever done involving instant noodles from Sweden. One unique thing about Swedish instant noodles – they are really into the metric system. Usually on the instruction for preparation, the amount of water is called for by cups (more Western) or cc (cubic centimeter) or mL (milliliter). Well, in Sweden the go with decaliter, which is 100cc. This one requireds 4 dl of water, or 400cc/400ml. I’ve NEVER seen decaliters used before, and the only reason I knew what was going on was from elementary school. Yes kids, I know it seems ridiculous at the time, but you will use this information later in life – especially when making Swedish instant noodles! But I digress. Let’s check out these Katoz Spicy Chili noodles from Sweden! ...see full post

#1515: Nongshim Neoguri Udon Seafood & Mild

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It’s a really cold day today and I think a big bowl of seafood noodles sound good. This is a Nongshim Neoguri I got up in Canada. It’s made in South Korea and it’s the milder version of Neoguri. Raccoons I say raccoons! Why do I say raccoons? Well, check out the video at the end of the post – it’ll all become clear I think. Let’s dig in to some Nongshim Neoguri! ...see full post

#1514: Maggi Royale Penang Seafood Curry

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One thing I didn’t expect to see during our stay in Malaysia – in the lobby of the hotel we stayed at, there was a Halloween display! A pretty good sized one, too! It seems that Halloween is somewhat popular over there! Well, last night was Halloween and we got a huge bowl of candy (yes, I tossed in some instant noodles for the trick or treaters as well). Well, nobody came. Not one kid. So, we have a ton of candy. Those kids really missed out – we’re generous when it comes to candy! ...see full post

Friday Video: The Instagram Instant Noodle Research Study

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Today is Halloween and I thought I’d post something a little different. I spend a lot of time posting on instagram and perusing other people’s instant noodle related posts on there as well. I thought I would pick a standard instant noodle related hashtag and see what interesting things would pop up, then I would share my conclusions. The hashtag is #topramen. ...see full post

#1513: MAMA Instant Noodles Tom Yum Pork Flavour

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Last night was my son’s teacher conference. I remember when I was a kid – I always dreaded these, knowing I’d probably get a lecture or something. Well, I am proud to say my son is doing absolutely wonderful in school this year. He’s had some problems in the past, but they look to have really gone by the wayside and I couldn’t be prouder of him. We love you, Andy – keep up the good work! You rock! ...see full post

#1512: Chewy Japanese Fried Ramen Noodles Kyoto Barbecue Sauce Flavour

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I figured since I have some cabbage I need to use before it goes bad, yakisoba would be a good call for today. This is one of those interesting ones. The product is from a Hong Kong company called Chewy, made in South Korea, and a Japanese flavor. Yakisoba is great stuff – vegetables and meats fried with noodles and oil and some flavoring. Time to have some breakfast – let’s check out this one from Chewy. ...see full post

#1511: Long Jun Hang Tainan Yi Mien With Sesame Oil Sauce

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We tried this new grocery store (new to me at least) in Bellevue called Asian Food Center. Thought we’d give it a peek and found they had quite a few neat things. This is one of the noodles I found. I want to send a really big thank you to Bobby Y. up in Canada for help translating this one – mystery solved, thank to you!  Now here’s a note on contention between me and the entire country of Taiwan. If you look in the lower right corner, you’ll see a little warning. It reads: This product is not the instant noodles. Please boil the noodles before eating. They can’t be steeped; okay, we got that. What is kind of ridiculous is the fact that they only take 3 minutes to cook. That’s the same amount of time as noodles that can be steeped. Logically, the amount of time needed to cooking something should be relevant to whether it is deemed instant as well, don’t you think? I would call these instant noodles – that require a different cooking method than other instant noodles. But I digress – I don’t think Taiwan is going to get on board with this, and that’s alright with me. I’m thinking next year I might to a split Taiwanese Top Ten list – half the ones that can be steeped and half the ones that can’t, basically a pair of Top Five lists. It seems to really matter to them, and far be it for me to poo-poo any country with such a fervent passion for noodles. Let’s proceed! ...see full post

#1510: Knorr Quick Serve Macaroni Wonton Broth

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Next Friday is Halloween and we’ve got some plans with Andy this weekend! Thought he might like this one for breakfast today! He’s been curious about expanding his palate a little bit lately since our trip to Malaysia – something I really like. It took me a while to get to the age that I wanted to be more adventurous with food, and it’s great to see him starting to explore. ...see full post

The Ramen Rater For Apple iPhone

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I am very proud and happy to introduce the release of The Ramen Rater mobile app for the Apple iPhone! The app is the culmination of many months of work by myself and app developer Calvin Tam of Malaysia (you can see some of his other work here). You may have noticed a while back I posted an ad on the right side asking for folks who might be interested in developing an app with me for mobile users. Well, Calvin answered that call and devoted a great deal of time making this happen! I want to personally thank him for the time and effort expended on this app. Without further adieu, let me introduce you to The Ramen Rater for iPhone! ...see full post

#1508: Mamee Chef Gold Recipe Mi Kari Seribu Rasa

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Today we have a new one from Mamee Chef. Mamee Chef’s products made not only the Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2014 list, but also topped the Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2014 list. Really exceptional stuff! They have come out with two varieties in this flavor: one with their ‘mi tarik’ noodles (noodles made in a way to emulate hand-pulled noodles) and a version that comes with bihun (pronounced bee-hoon, it’s a very thin rice noodle). Today I’m reviewing the wheat noodle variety. ...see full post

#1507: Nissin Chu Qian Yi Ding Prawn Flavour Instant Noodles With Soup Base

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Here’s another one the nice folks at MyKuali got me on our trip to visit them in Malaysia! Thanks again! Wow – I must say I really miss Malaysia! Was such a vibrant place – and the food! These noodles are made made in Singapore. Singapore is at the far southern border of Malaysia, so it makes sense they’d sell them in Malaysia too. Anyways, yeah – this is one of the special packs I brought back so I’m excited to eat it! Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#1506: Nissin Cup Noodles Mug Noodles Spicy Vegetable

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Yesterday my wife and I headed over to Bellevue to check oput some new spots for Asian foodstuffs. We came across and Indian supermarket and lo and behold, they had instant noodles! What’s awesome is that they had quite a few Nissin varieties – which I’ve been searching for for quite a while. There are a lot of different way instant noodles are transmitted to the end user: a pack that has contents cooked in a bowl or pot on the stove, cups that are steeped, trays, bowls etc. A few however are made to be steeped in a mug, and here is one of those. This is a relatively small sized package, and hails from India! Let’s have a look. ...see full post

#1505: Shan Shoop Instant Noodles BBQ Flavour

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This is one I got when by friend Matt B. was kind enough to take us on a trip to a place called Imran’s Market up the road a ways from here. It’s kind of interesting; this will be the third Pakistani instant noodle I’ve reviewed and they were all got within about 5 miles from eachother! I think it does make me want to Shoop, although I’m not exactly sure how to shoop… Regardless, let’s have a look – today we’re going to a new Asian grocery in Bellevue, so I might have a new post about that place tomorrow. Stay tuned, and enjoy the Shoop BBQ! ...see full post

#1504: Master Kong Stewed Beef Flavor Cooking Noodle

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Here’s another one sent by a kind reader in Sweden – thanks again! Also want to thank Bobby Y. of Canada for his great help with translating! He’s always been a great help and I truly appreciate it! With all the recent Chinese readers, I thought I’d review a Chinese instant noodle today. These Master Kong varieties are usually quite good. This one’s really big – calls for 700ml water! That’s definitely on the higher end of broth. The noodle block is also quite large with a different gauge than other I’ve tried – looks to be thicker. It also mentions that it’s a ‘cooking’ noodle as opposed to an instant. Cooking noodles require time spent on the stove while instants can either be cooked on the stove or simply put in a bowl and boiling water added, covered and let sit for 3 minutes or so to be done. Let’s have a look at this one from Master Kong – really hoping Master Kong contacts me soon – wouyld love to do a Meet The Manufacturer with them! ...see full post

#1503: Nongshim Bowl Noodle Soup Shrimp Habanero Lime Flavor

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It’s been so long since I’ve reviewed a new Bowl Noodle! I remeber a few years ago I was hunting high and low for certain varieties, many long gone. I remember the beef anfd ginger flavor was pretty good! Then they switched over to these microwaveable versions instead of the foam bowls – and I like them better! Curious how this one will be. ...see full post

#1502: JinMaiLang Artificial Pork Flavor Noodles

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JinMaiLang is an interesting brand. I’ve found their logo on a lot of seasoning sachets that are in different branded packaging – Golden Wheat comes to mind first. This is known as ‘private labeling’.’ Basically, say I wanted to have a The Ramen Rater brand instant noodles, but I didn’t want to have a factory. I could call on a company and say ‘hey – I like this variety you make – can you make it but use these graphics for the outer packaging?’ Boom – private labeling. Usually if you see something like ‘made for [company] by [company]’ that’s a clear indicator. Anyways, these look interesting. There are certain colors that seem to be designated for different flavors where Chinese noodles are concerned. Chicken is yellow, beef is red, seafood is blue and pork is green. Also, purple seems to be the color of sauerkraut! Anyways – let’s check this one by JinMaiLang out! ...see full post