Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Here’s a different one – a box with 5 different varieties! Check it out –
I’ve been really curious about this one, a brothless variety. This is made in the same way as mi goreng, however is more along the lines of what would be called a stir noodle or dry noodle. The looks from the package is interesting – I see peanuts! Peppers! Let’s crack it open and have a look!
Not a lot of instant noodles come in a box – sometimes tray varieties. This looks to be a very premium variety from Wugudaochang – very fancy! They include one of their Chef’s Grain varieties – there are five of them. Let’s check this one out – looks fascinating!
I’ve had beef hot pot before and really liked it quite a bit. Hot pot a lot of the time consists of a pot and a little gas burner. In the pot is broth and vegetables – you add meat or fish that cooks in the pot quickly and lends the fat to the broth, making it a bit more hearty. Very curious how this translates in this instant variety. Let’s check out another variety by Wugudaochang!
If you’re unsure of what sea tangle is, maybe you’ve heard of kelp. It’s like thick seaweed. When I was a kid, I’d go down to the shoreline and when the tide was out, you’d see these long whip like greenish things every once in a while – big bulbs on the end and long flat leafy looking things. We used to step on the bulbs at the end which were hollow and they’d pop! It was good fun – never thought part of these things would be something I’d look forward to in a noodle dish! Let’s check out this one from Wugudaochang to start off their Meet The Manufacturer!
A couple of weeks ago, I got a pair of enormous boxes from Wugudaocheng! Let’s see what’s inside!
Interview With Wugudaochang * Product Samples From Wugudaochang * Wugudaochang Sea Tangle And Spareribs Flavor Noodles * Wugudaochang Sour Bamboo Shoot & Beef In Hot Pot Flavor Noodles * Wugudaochang Sichuan Pepper & Chicken Flavor Noodles * Wugudaochang Chef’s Grains Pea Noodle * Wugudaochang Chef’s Grains Buckwheat Noodle * Wugudaochang Chef’s Grains Millet Noodle * Wugudaochang Sea Tangle & Spareribs Flavor Noodles * Wugudaochang Tomato Beef Brisket Flavor Purple Sweet Potato Noodles * Wugudaochang Sour Bamboo Shoot & Beef In Hot Pot Flavor Noodles
At one point during my trip to Thailand earlier this month, there was a big seminar for all the European distributors of MAMA noodles. They had a table with all sorts of varieties I’d never seen, made in places I’d never reviewed varieties from. I asked if there was any chance I could get some of these samples, and they were happy to oblige – only problem was that my luggage was just stuffed! So they kindly offered to ship them to me and they arrived yesterday evening! I’m going to be doing a travelogue of my trip soon, and I think I’ll be reviewing some of these during that special series! Let’s have a look.
Got this neat little box the other day – but what’s inside?
A postcard…
Got an email from my Maruchan contact asking if I’d like to try a new Instant Lunch variety they’ve come up with!
Got this one on my birthday trip to Canada! I wasn’t sure if I’d find any new white curry up there but lo and behold, there it was. One thing that’s interesting is that they also make a stir fry white curry as well which I got – I’ll be reviewing that one at some point in the neat future. Anyways, let’s check out this Aroi white curry!
Here’s one I got from the folks at Exotic Noods. It’s one big bowl, that’s for sure – and heavy, too! Let’s see what’s inside.
It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed Nongshim Shin Black – and it’s gotten a packaging facelift. This is made here in the USA in Rancho Cucamonga, California! This is the ‘flagship’ of their new line of ‘Black Class Noodle Soup’ varieties. This one’s got neww clothes – but is it still the same underneath? Let’s have a look at this dressed up pack of Nongshim Shin Black noodles!
A couple years back, I did a Meet Ther Manufacturer with Paldo, a South Korean company. I was stoked to get a pack of this Rabokki back then and asked if it would ever be in the United States. It sounded like there weren’t any plans to bring it this way and I was bummed – really bummed. Well, bummed no more, I can happily announce that it’s gracing store shelves in the USA now! Rabokki is a fusion of ramyun and topokki Topokki is what you see there on top of the noodles on the package – finger length rice cakes that are chewy – about the consistency of string cheese, served most popularly in a thick sweet and spicy sauce. I will say it’s probably one of my favorite foods of all time – especially the way I’ve tried it lately at a local place called Chi-Mc n Hot Pot, with cream cheese – egad it’s really good. Let’s check out this ramyun-topokki fusion from Paldo!
So our trip to Thailand was absolutely amazing – met some really great people, checked out two noodle factories, tried some great food, saw wonderful sights! All this said, it’s good to be back home. I’m recovering from jet lag and will be posting a day-by-day travelogue in a week or so as a new Meet The Manufacturer will be starting very shortly. Until then, let me just say that Thailand was so different from expectations; I thought since it was so close to Penang and Langkawi (about a 2 hour flight) that it would be much the same, but boy was I wrong! It’s completely different! Can’t wait to share it with everyone!
Here’s one I got at the Econsave in Butterworth, Penang on my Malaysia trip last year! I looked up Emperor Herb Chicken on Google and found a recipe that lists the ‘Emperor Herbs’ – quite a list!
Sauerkraut! Chanced are that if you walk down the instant noodle aisle, you’ll see some kind of purple packaged variant. It seems that there are certain colors for certain flavors; red for beef, yellow for chicken, green for pork, blue for seafood – and yellow for sauerkraut. Pickled cabbage is a very common flavor of instant noodles, especially in China and Taiwan. Let’s check these out!
I remember the first time I saw this one – it looks so exotic! So fascinating! So ‘what is it?’ The tiny crabs shown on the package were enticing. They reminded me of the ones I’d find as a kid on the beach in Anacortes – you’d flip over a rock and watch them scurry all over the place. I reviewed this one way back – before #500. Let’s give it another look as it’s been calling to me in the noodle aisle for another try.
This was sent to me by Anders E. from South Korea – thank you very much! For some time new, eMart’s Dare You! Habanero Ramen has topped The Ramen Rater’s Spiciest Instant Noodle Of All Time lists. There’s a really good reason for this too – it’s violently hot. Heat is measure in SHU – Scoville Heat Units. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about the Scoville test:
Some days are tougher than others. This is one of them. This has been the focus of my ire for the past hour or so. I have been trying to figure out what it’s called exactly, and hoping to find an ‘official’ website for it. No dice. I asked some people on facebook and got a little help, though. The brand is 力山食品工廠. From what I gather, you steep these, but with how much water I am unsure. It’s also got some other interesting things inside, aside from the swastika on the package and twin dragons. The swastika isn’t a reference to Nazi Germany, however to Buddhists who are vegetarian, as well as not allowed to eat ‘fetid’ vegetables like garlic or shallots. Anyways, let’s look inside this unique Taiwanese variant!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Justin M. from Winfield, BC up north of here in Canada! I haven’t been a big fan of these Canadian instants thus far, but I keep trying them in hopes one will be really good. Chilli Seafood definitely has a nice ring to it – let’s see if it lives up to its name. Let’s go!
A while back, Ah Lai sent me samples of their regular white curry noodle. Today, It’s their rice vermicelli version! Here’s a little about rice vermicelli from wikipedia:
So I get this email asking me my thoughts on a particular instant noodle from Indonesia from this guy named Seth. I’ve tried another variety, but not this one. There’s a little dispute at his house whether it’s good or not and he wanted me to review it and get my opinion on it. So he sent me some, all the way from Indonesia. The package had some bumps along the way (mainly because I made a typo in my address) but it did get here, and so here I am, about to review this variety for the health conscious. It’s an interesting concept – low fat noodles and all. Grilled chicken does sound good as well – but let’s let the noodles speak for themselves. Let’s check out Tropicana Slim Grilled Chicken!
Another one from the bottom of the hamper! A very plain looking label – but how’s it taste? Let’s check out this variety from Vietnam.
Tonight, I begin a long journey to Thailand to visit Thai President Foods and President Rice Products. They’re best known for their MAMA line of instant noodle products! My wife Kit will be posting reviews I’ve already done ahead of time until my return. If you want to see what I’m up to on my trip, check out my instagram – follow theramenrater – or look at it here. I will be accompanied by my sister Sue as my wife is too far along in pregnancy to do the trip. When I get back, I’ll do a detailed travelogue as I did with last year’s Malaysia trip to visit MyKuali.
I’ve often wondered about this one. I’ve seen chand clear soup as well and not exactly able to find anything online about it. I did see what to add to it, but if anyone has any info of the origin of clear soup, please let me know. This is made in Thailand by President Rice Products, one of the factories I’ll be visiting on my upcoming Thailand trip!Let’s have a look at this one.
Camelia oil – this is a new thing to me. I was curious – why camelia oil? Wikipedia had this to say:
Once in a blue moon I find an instant noodle in my hamper of which I have absolutely NO CLUE WHERE IT CAME FROM. I mean, yeah – I know it’s made in Vietnam and that it’s a chicken curry variant, but I have no idea how it got into my hamper. Where did I get it? Hmmm… Well, it needs to be reviewed so here I am. Let’s check it out!
I’ve been asked by quite a few people in the last few months to re-review this one. It sounds like a lot of you really enjoy this one! One thing to note is that I’ve also been asked repeatedly about instant varieties that are vegetarian. Most instant noodles made in the USA will contain meat and/or seafood. Why? Well, it’s pretty hard to import chicken and beef into the United States. Standards for agricultural products are pretty strict, so the logic here is that if a foreign company builds a plant here, they don’t have to deal with these restrictions since they’re in the country, using US meat products in what they produce. Knowing this, if you stroll down the aisle of an Asian grocery store, you’ll see quite a few chicken, beef and other flavors which usually are imported and do not contain any beef, chicken or pork. So just a little tip from me – look and see where it’s made on the pack – it might have fish, but should be meat free. These noodles are made in Garden Grove, California. Southern California is the spot where most instant noodle companies that open up plants congregate – easy access to big seaports and centralized distribution has a lot (if not everything) to do with this. Anyways, let’s check out this much requested re-review of Sapporo Ichiban chicken noodles!
Paldo Foods is a South Korean company, and it looks like they’ve expanded to Vietnam with Paldo Vina. Now mushroom isn’t generally my favorite flavor, but I’ve been surprised in the last year or so at how much I’ve liked many mushroom instants. Let’s see how this one pans out.
Picked this one up this year at the PriceSmart foods in Richmond, BC in Canada during my birthday trip! This is definitely an export version. How do you know? Well, look at the myriad of languages here – French, German, Arabic and English are all here on the front. A lot of companies make export versions and sometimes they’ll make a spicy version which for their local market is spicier than for the export market. There’s so much that goes into figuring out how to tune flavors and such for different places. Let’s check out these Mamee Prawn Flavour instant noodles!
Here’s one from Vietnam. Vietnamese instants usually tend to be pho flavors for the most part, but a lot of them are Thai or in this case, South Korean styled. Let’s see why this one’s leaning South Korean, other than the flavor.
This one’s interesting – a Thai take on a Japanese classic! Tonkotsu! Here’s what wikipedia says about tonkotsu:
Here’s one from low in the hamper that needs reviewing! I’m woindering if perhaps ‘senior’ isn’t the correct word in this one; the title as it is sounds like something for older folks. Perhaps they’re going for something more along the lines of ‘classic?’ I don’t know, but it’s time to review this one – let get to it!
I’ve reviewed a few of these Hong Kong instant rice noodles in the past, but never looked up the meaning of Ho Fan. I did some research and found this on wikipedia:
Here’s one of the ones sent by Marvin R. of Ft. Worth, TX – thanks again! So he originally asked me about identifying there. They look a lot like another Vietnamese brand, but the info on the back seems to show that it’s definitely not them. I’ve found in general that onion flavor is usually a good bet – but what about satay? Here’s what wikipedia has to say about satay:
Topokki time! Okay so you’re probably thinking ‘what? Yesterday he reviewed rice porrige and now it’s rice cake?!’ Well, this one has topokki (Korean rice cake) as well as noodles in it. One thing to note as well – see where it says to keep it refrigerated? I saw pallets of these where I got it that weren’t. To be honest, I think putting that on certain instant products that have these kind of fresh noodle packs inside is a way to give the illusory guise of something less shelf stable, making one think it’s higher quality. Honestly though, that kind of thing doesn’t really phase me. So! What is topokki? Wikipedia for ya –
I got an email from a guy names Seth from Indonesia recently asking if he could send me some noodles that he has been having a difference of opinion on at his house. He likes them and others aren’t so sure, and he wanted my opinion. You got it! So I gave him my address and he expedited a package out – only one problem – I mistyped my address! Luckily, the person who got it hadn’t eaten the noodles and when DHL came to recover the package and redeliver had no problem doing so. So, after a crazy journey, the noodles are here!
I *think* this is the last of the varieties of Shan Shoop out there – I’m sure it’s the last in my hamper. So Bombay Biryani. What’s biryani? Let’s see what wikipedia has to say…
I’ve been whiling my time looking up and down aisles of instant noodles for a very long time. When I find out about a new Asian market nearby, I am exceedingly enthused about perusing their noodle varieties. But sometimes I’ll find something a little different. This is a rice porridge. It’s not a wheat noodle, rice noodle or thread. I like to review these every once in a while because I’m sure many of you have seen them and not known exactly what they’re all about. Let’s have a look at this MAMA JokCup and see what’s inside!
