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Here’s another one from T&T Supermarket up in Canada! To be honest, I was absolutely stoked to find this one; I’ve seen pics of the Campbell’s varieties in the past, but they’re not available in the United States as far as I know. Let’s check out this little chicken cup.
In the last day, lots of people have been coming to The Ramen Rater from Indonesia! One person who commented via the facebook page said”you should try this one fried noddle, it has black pepper flavour. will not disappoint you :)” (for those wondering, this is friend black pepper chicken flavor noodles). I looked through the box of varieties my friend in Jakarta sent me and lo and behold, I had it in there! Thank you very much! Let’s check this one out!
7/31/2013 – UPDATE – I’ve been getting quite a few comments about wax in noodles again, so I thought it would be a good idea to repost this. Recently, an article outlining reasons not to eat instant noodles came out which perpetuates these rumors and false claims.
I noticed lots of visitors to the website tonight from Indonesia – it looks like they’re happy that thje Indomie cup was the #1 on the Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2013 Edition! Well, I’ve been asked if I’ve reviewed more Indomie varieties, and so here is a link to an interview I did with Indomie CBP and lots of links to local varieties – enjoy!
Here’s another I got up at T&T Supermarket in Canada! Shio is one of four main categories of ramen in Japan (Tonkotsu, Shoyu and Miso being the others). Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Shio:
Here’s one from South Korea. This is a seafood variety, but with no broth. If you look closely, you’ll see three triahles on the lid. These are perforated holes that you poke through and use to drain the noodles. Let’s check this one out!
Here’s another one I was given by the nice folks at T&T Supermarket up in Canada – thanks again! I thought some fresh noodles would be nice for dinner tonight and I’ve wanted to try these for quite some time. Let’s check ’em out!
This one was sent by Mr. Yamato of Yakantei in Japan! Thank you! First off – if someone has a better translation of what this particular instant noodle is called, please let me know? The original text is 長尾製麺 ラーメン仮面・タソガレトンコツ. This is quite unique in that the outer packaging is paper. Yes – paper! Let’s have a look at this artsy ramen!
Let me say that the past couple of days have been probably a couple of the most crazy, fascinating and rewarding of my run so far as The Ramen Rater. I did am interview with Quartz (part of The Atlantic) and it went viral; Huffington Post picked it up, Grub Street, Digg,… Did an interview with South Korea’s Cultwo Veranda Show and appeared, and have two interviews with radio and television lined up in the next couple of days. A couple of interesting opportunities I can’t talk about yet have popped up and I’m very excited about them and will share as soon as I can. Thursday I went up to Canada and met with some folks at a big Asian grocery called T&T Supermarket. They were really nice people and even sent me home with some great new varieties to review and share! Thank you so much! This is one of them. Oat noodles? This sounds different – see the little circle on the lower right? It says ‘health is important. Let’s check it out!
Hey folks – so we’ve re-tooled our rates for August! We now have monthly pricing and 30% off for August! Check out this PDF to find out more. Thank you!
Another Indonesia variety sent by a kind person in Jakarta! Thanks! This is called ‘gulai’ – something I’ve never heard of. I consulted Wikipedia and found this:
Here we go with the 30th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News! I scour the Internet for articles about ramen and instant noodles and bring them to you! Here are some recent stories you might find interesting!
Here’s one sent to me by Xavier over at Ko-Lee in the UK – thanks! These are made in Thailand for the UK market. Has directions for dry noodles as well as with soup – I’m going to prepare the latter. Let’s check this out!
Here’s another one we found in Richmond, BC during my birthday trip! Thanks yet again to my wife Kit! By the way today is out 3 years and 7 months first meeting anniversary! I’m curious about this one since it’s a Canadian product and it’s a South Korean theme. My hopes are high! Kind of an interesting one to pick as well as I got an email today from MBC , a South Korean TV network, and I’m going to do an interview with them tonight for the Cul-Two TV show! When it’s out, I’ll share a link. As for this noodle bowl, let’s check it out!
My wife mentioned she saw this brand at her work and I was curious, so she brought a couple varieties home! Thanks, Kit! I’ve never heard of this brand before. It’s an interesting one as it’s made in Thailand but set up for sale in the United States. Let’s check it out!
Went to Uwajimaya in Seattle yesterday and saw these – little four pack of mini noodles! Let’s check ’em out.
Cups were the second instant noodle innovation that really took the world by storm. Nissin founder Momofuku Ando of Japan decided that a cup would be a really handy way to have instant noodles on the go. His creation came to the market in 1971. Forty-two years later, the instant noodle landscape is filled with many different cup designs and contents – some all inclusive only needing hot water,m and some requiring a little more with packets – and some even with forks! Of all the varieties I’ve tried to date, here are my favorite ten.
Here’s another one sent by Scott over at Nissin USA – thanks! Some may be wondering what sukiyaki is – here’s what Wikipedia had to say:
Here’s another from my Indonesian friend – thanks! Another new brand! Let’s check it out.
Today, it’s a South Korean classic cup. These guys were the very first to introduce ramyun in South Korea back in 1963! I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Samyang Foods- here’s what they have to say about cups:
Another one that was donated by a friend in Indonesia – thank you! So this is something very different – kua chap. It looks like from the package, these are like large tube noodles, although it does not seem that way from the way this package feels. It’s thin and flat – hmmm… Let’s have a look!
Another one we got on our trip to Canada – thank you to my beautiful wife Kit! So I recently got this comment on my Top Ten Strangest & Weirdest list:
This was sent to me by Kristina W. of Arizona – thank you! Jjajangmyun is basically a noodle that is coated in a black bean sauce. Let’s check it out!
A couple days ago, I was interviewed via Skype on NTD TV about the recent uproar over The Bottom Ten List as well as what I do. It was a lot of fun and I would like to thank NTD TV for this great opportunity! Thank you! Here’s a direct link to their site.
You’re probably wondering what the deal is here. Well, I’ll tell you! These were sent along with a slew of other Indonesian (yep – it’s from Indonesia!) instant noodles. These are made by Indofood, the same company that makes Indomie! They only take 4 minutes to make, and I think they’re unique enough that I’d review them. Thank you to my friend from Indonesia for sending me noodles I could never lay my hands on here! Let’s check ’em out!
Earlier today, I did an interview with NTDTV about the Bottom Ten list! Should be a link coming soon! Woo-hoo!!! In the meantime, here’s a Chinese rice noodle variety from Chencun. We got it during my birthday trip up to Canada! Thank you, Kit!
Another one from my birthday trip to Canada – thanks, Kit! I’ve seen plenty of Demae Ramen varieties, but not until I visited Canada did I find bowls! Let’s check it out.
Here’s another one from Scott over at Nissin! Thank again, man! This one has two – count ’em two – slices of pork! Let’s check it out!
So after sampling so many varieties of instant noodles over the years, of course there have been some that I didn’t like. There also were some that are so memorable for how awful they were. After people asked what my least favorites were a few times, I thought I should just make a list of them. I should point out that these are on the list because I couldn’t stand them. I’m pretty sure they are all still in production, and the only reason they would be is that people somewhere find them enjoyable. So who knows – you might have a completely different opinion on these than me, but I found them to be absolutely the worst of the worst. With that, here’s The Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time, 2013 Edition.
Here’s one that I’ve waiting to review for a while. This is a variety specifically marketed for the summer months – cold South Korean noodles! Thought I’d consult Wikipedia to give some more information on South Korean cold noodle dishes:
Here’s yet another one picked up in Canada on my birthday! My wife took me up there (I’m legally blind so driving’s not the greatest idea for me). Thanks, Kitten! My son is a huge fan of chicken flavored noodle anything, so I figure he’ll like these.
Hey – a box!
Ooh – Indomie!!!
A rad bowl! Indomie just had their 40th anniversary!
So I got this package and had no idea why – until I opened it!
A nice letter about who they are and what they do (click image to enlarge). Really interested in seeing what the ten varieties they picked were!
So today’s noodles were sent to me by Ichiro Yamato, proprietor of Yakantei over in Japan! He specializes in interesting and hard to find instant noodles – thank you very much. Today is a special day around here for a couple of reasons.
Here’s one my friend Martin in Devon, England sent me a little while back. Though it was a good day for something fusion – British and Mexican? Sure, why not.
Here’s another one a fan shipped me from Indonesia. Never tried this variety before – very few Indonesian cups that I’ve tried. Let’s check it out!
Here’s the other variety I received from Baltix – chicken! Sounds good to me!
The back of the package (click image to enlarge). Appears to be free of meat.
Estonian noodles – until very recently, I didn’t know there were any instant noodles produced there. What I’m finding though is that it sure looks like almost every country has somebody making one or another variety! Let’s check these out.
I was in the apartment office putting laundry money on the laundry card when they said there was a package arrived for me.
