Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
It kind of confuses me on this one – I mean, yeah, it says ‘the original’ and doesn’t really say that there’s been a recipe change. But there has – now there’s no MSG and no artificial flavors., plus a reduction in sodium. These aren’t bad things at all of course, but I’m just kind of left wondering – so shouldn’t it say new and improved instead of ‘the original?’ Anyways, let’s see what’s in this, one of the Vegetarian varieties in the Top Ramen range.
So another month, another great box from Zenpop.jp, purveyors of Japanese neat things. They have ramen boxes, they have candy boxes, they have ramen and candy boxes, they have stationery boxes too! Lots of neat stuff to check out over there. Check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Let’s crack this box open and see what’s inside!
Let’s get crabby! Uncle Sun contacted me a while back about sending some product samples! After a little snag, things fell in line and here they are! Let’s crack open this box and see what lies within!
Was really looking forward to this one – product samples from Mom’s Dry Noodle. A couple new ones in here – a meat one from Xiao Ban Mian and a new flavor from the Mom’s Dry Noodle line! Let’s get to it and take a look!
Got an email from Blount Fine Foods the other day about a new product they’ve got – Beef Pho! It was packed on ice and sent overnight – so I had to open it as quickly as possible. Let’s check it out!
Another year gone by – hard to believe. As usual, many, many Taiwanese varieties have crossed my desk. This list comes as I’m about to hit 3,000 reviews as well. Pretty crazy. These are my favorite Taiwanese varieties out of all my reviews up to #2,943. As always, if you want me to try something I’ve not – drop me a line. With that, let’s check out The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition!
#2949:
This one was sent by the Butlers of Illinois – thanks again! This one was made in Germany but they found it in Italy. This is yet another brand I’ve never heard of which I’m really happy about – love noodles I’m thoroughly unfamiliar with. Alrighty then – let’s give it a go!
Here’s one from the surprise package from Taiwan I got a couple months ago. It’s got a bit of history – the box that is. If you look at the end credits in the 2018 Top Ten Bowls video, you can see my kids hanging out in it!
Alright – to start off, wow. This is huge. This box screams fancy, that’s for sure. I’ve had a few of Kiki’s dry noodle varieties, but recently this and a Mapo Tofu variety came out as well (which of course I’ll be reviewing soon). Beef Noodle Soup is exceedingly popular in Taiwan – here’s a little about it from Wikipedia –
Alright – this is the last of the reviews for the Uni student in Taiwan – thanks again for sending these – it’s been fun and quite truly an honor that someone going for their Master’s degree is asking me for help!
Alright here’s one of the ones sent by the University student working on her Master’s thesis paper. It’s getting closer to her deadline at the time of writing this, so I am busting out the last three. So – three cup chicken – here’s some info from Wikipedia –
I thought it would be cool since I got a set of those Egglettes things to make soft boiled eggs and I also have chashu and all my veg to make something from the cold case. I’ve been eyeballing these Myojo refrigerated varieties for quite some time now and thought hey – let’s get one and cook it up! So, that’s what I’m doing and here we go!
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.
On August 25th, 1958, Momofuku Ando’s mission of creating the instant noodle was complete. Today we mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of its invention.
One of my favorite varieties has been Paldo’s Cheese Noodle – that’s a really tasty one. Well, Teumsae is one of their spiciest varieties and they mashed it up with cheese. I really want to get samples of the new ultra spicy Teumsae variety, but I can’t find it anywhere from nobody… At this point, I’m wondering if it even was produced! But it had to be… Come on. It’s hanging out somewhere! Anyways, cheese is good. It’s time to do a mukbang, so check out the video at the bottom of this review.. Let’s give this one a try!
A-Sha’s US distributor messaged me a little while ago about these new varieties about to hit the US market that are very popular in Taiwan right now. Guanmiao noodles hail from southern Taiwan in the agricultural heartland. Hotter weather and lot of noodles! Let’s crack it open and have a look!
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
Hey look at this! A Tapatio instant noodle! I’ve seen people douse their instant noodles in this stuff for years on Instagram. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia –
Alrighty so these were sent by the Butlers of Illinois – thank you dso much! Looking at all the references to Maggi on this package, I’m guessing this is going to be about the same as Maggi Curry – a variety popular around the world. Oddly and to the surprise of many, these really isn’t a Maggi Curry you can get in the store here in the USA in regular stores – in fact you really don’t see many Maggi branded products here in the states. Let’s give this one a try!
Here’s another one that was sent by a University student working on her master’s thesis. She asked me to review a set of six instant noodle varieties by Vedan. Sure! I’ve tried this before in an export version and really didn’t like it. Let’s give this local variety a try.
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
This is one I found at RT-Mart in Taipei, Taiwan. That place was so amazing – I mean, that was the biggest instant noodle aisle I’ve seen in my life – it was epic and beautiful. If I could, I’d go there right now a do a strange dance. Anyways, let’s crack this one open and have a look inside!
Samyang Foods just came out with three varieties of these large bowls. Seafood, chicken and lobster. They definitely look to be export varieties – the nutrition panels are in English and French, which might mean they’re more tailored for Canada. Anyways, I’m curious about these – let’s have a look!
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
Here’s another one I found up at Foodyworld in Richmond, BC. I’ve seen these as cups before but never bowls. Now, borscht sounds like an odd flavor from Asia – let’s ask wiki a little about it –
Yesterday, I needed a new pair of pants. I’m not into ultra fashionable stuff – like paying $100 for jeans, so we went to Walmart. Walmart is an interesting place – you’ll see some interesting people there – especially at the one in Lynnwood, Washington. When we got out of the car, there was the sound of some guy at the other side of the parking lot screaming obscenities at someone or some thing – unsure. But that was entertaining. In the store, we g ot to see a lady with a very small dog barking at everyone and every thing ( apparently, if you have an ’emotional support’ dog you can bring it with you, but this dog needed emotional support and was definitely not providing it for anyone). I did get some new pants, and they were extremely cheap. $16 for pants. It’s been a while since we’ve been to Walmart so I thought a trip down the domestic instant noodle aisle might be in order. Surprisingly, they had a very small amount of them, however they did have this pack. Creamy Chicken has been one of my absolute favorites for a very, very long time. I am curious to see whether or not they’ve changed the recipe as that seems to be a popular thing to do in the US instant noodle market right now. Let’s crack open this new package design and give it a try!
Here’s another one I received from a University student in Taiwan – thanks again! She’s working on her Master’s thesis and wanted info from me on a few products and what I thought of them – an honor! Let’s check out this variety with a Korean influence.
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.
Here’s the second variety from Nissin Hong Kong’s new Light Cup Noodles line. Spicy is good – let’s give it a try!
Here’s one of the six varieties sent by a Taiwanese university student. She asked if I could review a specific set of varieties as special research for her master’s thesis and I said absolutely. I’m not sure about this variety – insofar what Dynasty Beef is. I did some looking, but it seems that the word dynasty kind of takes precedent in search results and so that’s not very helpful. Anyways, let’s have a look at this fancy one from Taiwan.
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
Here’s a new one from Taiwan by A-Sha Foods. This is Dan Zai flavor – one of their new range of more high end products. Some differences are instead of a 75g block it’s 90g. Lots of sauce/paste too.
Spicy is definitely something that Samyang Foods is known for what with their ubiquitous Buldak Bokkeummyun spicy stir noodle line. This however, should also get some due attention. This is the spicy version of their first-ever product, and indeed the first ramyun to be produced in South Korea. What has come as bit of a surprise lately is that this is not a beef variety – it’s ham. Wait, what?! Ham? Yep. I thought beef was the focal point of this one, but from a TV spot Samyang Foods did, it’s pretty evident that it isn’t. Learn something new all the time. Well, let’s give it a try!
This is the one product for this Meet The Manufacturer. Look – green noodles on the package! They mentioned that they’re green as they’re infused with spinach – plus they’re baked noodles as well. This sounds really interesting – I’ve been a huge fan of mie goreng – I might have started my interest in instant noodles with a Japanese variety, but the second one I was really enamored with was a mie goreng. Let’s crack the pack open and see how it is!
I was immediately taken aback when this box arrived – so many stickers! Thought it was pretty cool – this little box certainly got a lot of attention! Let’s open it up!
I think we found this one up in Canada but honestly don’t remmebr. It sounds good – I mean udon is alright but bulgogi – now you’re talking. Here’s a little about bulgogi from Wikipedia –
Here’s one I’ve not tried before – the wholegrain prawn. I’ve tried the regular prawn, but not the wholegrain. This version married the thick and hearty wholegrain la mian with their prawn soup base. Let’s take a look and see how it is!
I’ve been a tom yum fan for a while now, however in my very early days of reviews I wasn’t so much. It was either too spicy or too this, too that… But now I love the stuff. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia –
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.
