Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
This is an interesting one. It appears this is a variety made just for the United States by Taiwanese company A-Sha, however it is produced in Vietnam. What’s more interesting is that it’s a Hello Kitty licensed product and it’s spicy – better do a mukbang! How spicy could it be with the cutesy factor? We’ll find out.
Why are they called Meteor Noodles? I’m not sure, but they sound fascinating – let’s take a look at this new variety from A-Sha Foods!
Hey look at this – Hello Kitty noodle cups you can now get easily in the United States! They come in chicken and spicy! Get ’em here – here’s the unboxing!
It’s been a really interesting week for me! Foremost, I hit my 4000th review. Then, while I sort of expected the Top Ten Taiwan list to make the news over there, what happened is that the Taiwanese media has gone crazy with my annual global top ten list – which came out in April! Well, two Taiwanese varieties made that list and this is one of them – ultra premium tasty stuff! Let’s check it out!
I have to say – I like boxed varieties. They always seem to house more premium stuff, and this is continuing that observation. Beef and tendon, dry noodle, and a huge retort pouch.
Here’s one A-Sha sent – thanks! It’s from one of their boxes you can get at Costco. Neat to see noodles where I know the sellers in a place like that. So these are super thick and chewy with a non-spicy sauce. Let’s give them a try!
This one is from A-Sha and it’s going to be available at Costco for a limited period just in time for Chinese New Year! Like is says on the box, there’s aren’t any sachets in here; it’s literally just blocks of noodles in individual packages. I’ve got an idea for something to do with these, and I thought I’d get this review out in a timely fashio. So let’s check ’em out and give ’em a try!
The nice folks at A-Sha Dry Noodle sent these over – they weren’t sure if they should since it doesn’t have any sachets, but I figured hey – this would be fun!
This one appeared in the July 2020 Exotic Noods box. Want one? USe coupon code RAMENRATER15 to get one of the current boxes and a great discount!
Here’s yet another box from Taiwan – they’re getting more popular these days for companies who want to roll out a premium variety. I like boxes; they look fancy and usually mean meats will be at play. Here’s a little about Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup from Wikipedia –
Here’s one I was sent by the nice folks over at A-Sha USA – thank you! You’ can find these at Costco! Nice boxes of spicy noodles are always groovy the way I look at it. Here’s a little below about how I came to know the nice folks at A-Sha –
I’ve got to give it to Taiwan. They’ve really done well with the pandemic, that’s for sure. Just another reason why I love that place; I’ve visited twice and hope I get to again soon. People there are nice, Lots of interesting things going on, and of course… the food! This list is born out of controversy – in 2013 when Taiwan wasn’t on my annual top ten, their media took notice and they got mad. So, I decided to try some ‘noodle diplomacy’ and asked companies to send some samples and they did – and they have been for years now. All sorts of neat innovations, unique styles, and more. If you have a company or a favorite variety you’d like me to review, contact me. Also, I invite everyone to join the Instant Noodles – The Ramen Rater group on Facebook – a large community of people who enjoy noodles and share their thoughts on them. Let’s check out this years shortlist of my favorites from this beautiful and fascinating place.
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Despite all the tumultuous and unnerving events of our current age,, I am happy to announce that I’ve got a new list for our year, 2020. In the past fe hundred reviews I’ve done this past year there have been some real standouts and of course many have remained. These are my absolute favorites of reviews 1 through 3487. It’s hard – I feel like I should be doing a top 20, or even a top 50 at this point, but the sheer amount of time that would take with being a stay at home father of two while trying to get in a few hours of exercise every day just isn’t in the cards. I’m hoping in the coming months to come out with the regular top tens and maybe some new ones, but it’s a tough juggle these days.
Check this out! Multi-colored noodles! This is an interesting set. What is coloring these? Well, you have Matcha noodle (green) with original sauce, Red Yeast Noodle (red) with onion sauce, Purple Yam Noodle (purple with sesame paste sauce, Danzai Noodle (yellow) with spicy BBQ sauce, and finally Blue-Green Algae Noodle (blue-green) with chili sauce. Pretty neat! I want to try making a bowl of multi-colored noodles I think. This could be interesting! Let’s check it out!
Here’s one the folks at A-Sha sent over – thanks again! I like spicy and I like scallions a lot. Scallions (spring onion/green onion) are one of the things I always have to have on hand. Period. Let’s check these out!
This is the seventh year of the Top Ten Taiwan Instant Noodles list! Every year, I’m truly amazed at the innovation and unique varieties coming from the beautiful island of Taiwan. If you haven’t had the experience of visiting, you really should – the food, the culture – it truly has been a life changing experience for me. Growing up, all I knew of Taiwan was labels on products that simply said ‘made in Taiwan’ – but it so much more. One aspect is the noodle, and they’re really unique and delicious. This is a list of my favorite out of the reviews I’ve done up to number 3,284. Many images you will see have garnish, however only the base product before any is added is what’s reviewed, as in all of my reviews. I hope you enjoy this year’s list and consider trying some of these great varieties if you’ve not tried before – they’re really great! With that, here’s the Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2020 Edition.
Like colorful things? Looks no further! These are a trip to be sure – and there are some tasty treats other than noodles in here as well! Let’s check em out!
I reviewed the red boxed version previously – and it blew my mind. This one has ultra fancy Australian Wagyu beef in the mix! Yeah! One thing you should note though, you’re going to pay for it. This is super premium stuff and goes for 499$NTD (that’s $15USD). On top of that, this is only out during the holiday season, so Lunar New Year. Maybe Mid Autumn Festival too? I’ll say one thing, if it’s that much better than the other version, it’s going to be existential. Let’s check it out!
This is my list of my all time favorites (compiled up to review #3132). These are the best and most memorable varieties – some you’ll be able to find easily, some you won’t. In the images you see, you’ll see garnished bowls of noodles. Note – reviewing is done BEFORE products have anything externally added by myself, and I follow directions on the package – for better or for worse. I should also note that going forward, the official last day for companies to submit varieties to be considered for the annual top ten will be January 31st. That’s enough – let’s have a look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2019 Edition!
This is my list of my all time favorites (compiled up to review #3132). These are the best and most memorable varieties – some you’ll be able to find easily, some you won’t. In the images you see, you’ll see garnished bowls of noodles. Note – reviewing is done BEFORE products have anything externally added by myself, and I follow directions on the package – for better or for worse. I should also note that going forward, the official last day for companies to submit varieties to be considered for the annual top ten will be January 31st. That’s enough – let’s have a look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2019 Edition!
This is the second of two A-Sha varieties I got a little while back. I’ve been cranking out three reviews a day lately and chugging through a lot of new stuff. Now that a lot of the varieties are churned through, I can focus on some things in the hamper. See, my hampers are very full. When I get new stuff, they go into the area next to the kitchen. Instead of tripping over boxes, I try to run through them quickly! So here we have a wide noodle from Taiwan. Let’s get started.
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This is the last of the quartet of varieties from A-Sha that they sent to me a little while back. With this, I think I’ve cleared out all the odds and ends of noodle varieties that have been sitting in the kitchen – boo yah! Next will be the boxes next to counter in the kitchen lol – should be able to whittle those down quite a bit this week as well.
Here’s the third of the A-Sha Gourmet varieties I’m trying today. There’s one more left. So translation isn’t my strong suit and I often turn to friends and colleagues as to what different varieties are called and translate them. At this exact moment, I’m dumbfounded. Google’s not very helpful; one says hemp. I could be mistaken, but I think hemp isn’t going to be in the name of this one. I’ve had varieties say they’re dolphin bone as well, which most certain isn’t the case! I’ll find out shortly though!
Here’s yet another box from Taiwan – they’re getting more popular these days for companies who want to roll out a premium variety. I like boxes; they look fancy and usually mean meats will be at play. Here’s a little about Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup from Wikipedia –
So this is some epic looking stuff. A-Sha USA was kind enough to send one of the fanciest products A-Sha Taiwan makes – their Gourmet Wagyu Beef Noodle Soup. So first things first – you want to get some? Well, it’s only available during the holidays i.e. Lunar New Year – so you might have a year to wait for it. But here I can show you what it looks like and tell you some about it – including the fact that this goes for $15.
Time for dry noodle! This is the second from a set of four new A-Sha varieties. Soybean paste noodles impart a kind of meaty hit to them usually. Let’s give ’em a try!
Got a box this time from A-sha of Taiwan. They have a lot of different products, but this one is very different. The company is known as a maker of dry noodle products, hence usually no broth. But this looks to have broth – let’s give it a close look.
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!
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 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.
Since 2013, A-Sha Foods USA has been sending samples of their products. A-Sha Dry Noodle is located in Taiwan, and they make all sorts of products. Let’s crack open this really big box and have a look at what is inside!
five years ago, there was a big kerfuffle involving myself and the entire island of Taiwan. They weren’t on the Top Ten 2013 Edition and they were angry – to put it mildly. I decided that a little noodle diplomacy was the ticket here and so put out a call for Taiwanese companies to contact me, send me samples and see how it goes. A-Sha was the first company to come calling and since then they’ve kept me updated on their new offerings – let’s have a look at their new Guanmiao noodle!
Mid-Autumn Festival will be upon us very soon. October 3rd! A-Sha Dry Noodle, a company whose products have been in the Taiwanese Top Ten and once in the annual Top Ten list also makes quite a few different items.
Here’s the third of the A-Sha microwavable tray varieties – let’s give it a looksie!
Here’s another one of the newer A-Sha tray designs. This one’s original flavor, which is kind of a soy sauce flavor I believe. Let’s check it out!
The next edition of The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time will be coming out in about a month, and so I’ll be cramming in as many late ones to arrive as possible. Today, one of a trifecta by A-Sha Dry Noodles – microwavable trays! Definitely something I’ve not seem out of Taiwan before that I can think of. Anyways, let’s give it a whirl in the ol’ microwave!
The Top Ten Taiwan list is coming late September and a few Taiwanese companies are sending me their latest products ! Let’s see what A-Sha Dry Noodle has to offer!
Here’s something from Taiwan today. A-Sha makes quite a few different sauces and styles of noodles and this is one I don’t see very often. They’re very thin as you’ll see, and they come with the original sauce which has a nice soy sauce component. Let’s check it out!
A-Sha’s noodle come in a few different gauges, this one being the thickest, Hakka style. They’re wide, flat and chewy. I looked in the hamper and immediately thought this sounded good today. Let’s check it out!
Here’s one the folks at A-Sha sent recently. Hakka noodles from Taiwan are on the broad side and use very few ingredients. This one should pack some heat! Let’s check it out!
