
This is a very red package! The woman is jubilant with her golden ladle! Her name is Dee Hsu – a popular entertainer from Taiwan. Spicy sounds good – let’s check it out!
Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002

This is a very red package! The woman is jubilant with her golden ladle! Her name is Dee Hsu – a popular entertainer from Taiwan. Spicy sounds good – let’s check it out!

This is a real treat – you might be wondering what’s so special. Well, look at the picture – egg! Yep – this one comes with a n egg. Not dehydrated or in an egg block and scrambled, but a stewed egg! Let’s dig in!

Here’s another one that was sent to me by James B. from The Netherlands – thanks! So this one is made in Thailand but definitely for the Dutch market. It’s an interesting one for sure – seen them online for a few years but never been able to get my hands on any – until now! I like how it says ‘decent noodles’ next to where it says iMee – as opposed to indecent noodles! Let’s check ’em out!

Here’s what I believe to be the very last I received from a nice readerfrom Sweden – thank you very much! Braised beef is always a nice flavor. Usually a little hint of heat and a nice slow cooked taste. Curious about this one! Let’s check it out!

Here’s another one that was sent to me from Thailand by the Thai President Foods folks. This is made in the EU for the German market! I thought maybe I’d make my son some beef flavored instant noodles today – let’s have a look!

Today’s the last day of my son’s two week vacation here. I usually have him every other weekend, and a special breakfast, I made him some noodles. He recently has found he likes beef a lot – usually he’s been a chicken fan, so that’s kind of interesting. He also likes fishcakes – kamaboko, narutop, fishball – something that’s not really popular in American kids his age. That could be though that they’ve never tried them… Anyways, here’s a bowl of noodles for Andy!

Here’s the second of two Salam Mie products I got at the Econsave we visited in Butterworth, Malaysia during our special trip to visit the makers of MyKuali last October. I’ve seen a lot of people commenting on the other variety lately, so I thought I’d give this one a try. Abon is a powdered meat – usually pork or beef (in this case beef) seasoned with spices. Sounds good – from what I see, it’s used as a topping like fish floss is used on Chinese porridge. Anyways, let’s check out this Salam Mie Mi Goreng Abon!

Today we wind up the Wugudaochang Meet The Manufacturer. It’s really been great to try these new flavors and varieties from China in the last few days! I think I have learned a little more about the flavor profiles that are popular in Chinese cooking these days; usually the varieties I get that are from China are for export of course, while these have been varieties only sold and available within China. The flavors have been strong, vibrant and really quite good. I should also say that the quality of these products has been top-notch. A lot has been said of the quality of food coming from China and question of it’s quality. I would say this: China is a big country with many producers – sometimes, things will happen that bring negative attention. They certainly happen here in the United States from time to time don’t they? I don’t think it a reason to stay away from Chinese products – I certainly won’t! Let’s have a fond farewell look at this bamboo shoot and hot pot flavor bowl!

When I first saw this one, I knew it sounded interesting. Beef brisket and tomato? Sign me up! Then the purple sweet potato – I’ve been a fan of those since back when people called them Space Potatoes! This looks like a nice premium one – let’s give it a look as we start to wind down this great Meet The Manufacturer series.

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!

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!

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!

So yesterday we went to the new Asian Food Center on 130th and Aurora southwest of here. Was hoping to find a lot of new varieties I hadn’t tried yet and found a couple – and this is one of them. I haven’t had much luck at all with Baijia products in the past – I think it’s just a taste that doesn’t translate well for me. However, I never met an instant noodle I hadn’t tried before that I didn’t want to. So with that, let’s have a look at this Sichuan Baijia variety.

I’ve reviewed two of these previously and haven’t been a big fan, giving one a 1.75 out of 5.0 stars and the other a 0.0 out of 5.0. I’m hoping this one will ‘break the mold’ as it were; I really like their canned soups! Let’s see if this cup has a little mmm mmm good in it!

Last year, my son Andy noticed a ton of these A-One cups at a local Asian grocery. “Do you have these, Papa?” he asked me – and no, I didn’t! So that was a great score thanks to my boy! Let’s check out this Vietnamese variety from A-One.

Here’s one I got a couple weeks ago on my birthday trip to Canada! I’ve had a few varieties by Vedan before but this one sounds really good. Hot beef is always a good bet. I think I’ll try it with some Chinese sausages in the mix! Let’s check out this Vedan Wei Wei A Hot Beef flavor!

Last month at the Chinese New Year celebration I went to hosted by the Seattle Singaporeans Meetup Group, I was talking to Clement, one of the event organizers. Og course, the topic of conversation was instant noodles (I will happily admit I rarely talk about anything else) and he had mentioned that there are these Chinese sausages that are good in beef instant noodles. I’d been wanting to give that a try, and today was the day! Let’s check it out!

This one came from Anders E., a reader in South Korea – thanks! He mentioned that this variety is often enjoyed on Korean New Year, and since that was a couple days ago, I thought I’d have it today. Here’s a little info about how it fits in with Lunar New Year celebrations from wikipedia:

Recently, I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Thai President Foods, makers of MAMA brand instant noodles. They’re located in Thailand and have a quite enjoyable range of products. Well, I’m happy to announce that I’ve been invited to visit their factory and visit ThaiFex, a big fhood expo in May! I’ll have more on that soon. Very exciting! I’ll have more info about the trip soon, but for now, let’s check out this cup from Thailand!

Before you go crazy and say ‘what you’ve never reviewed Shin Ramyun before,’ just listen for a second. So this is the new packaging they rolled out recently. I thought it was worth as whole new review as they’be had the old packaging on this one for eons and eons.

Another one sent to me by a nice reader in Sweden – thanks! I thought today would be great for some spicy beef noodles from China. It just sounded good for some reason. I’ve got a sore tooth which is driving me crazy… Dunno why but spicy beef noodles from China just sound nice. Anyways, let’s dig in!

Here’s one I got from Justin M. from Winfield, BC up north of here in Canada! Thanks! This one’s rather fascinating to me as the brand name is literally ‘no name.’ It’s made in China for Loblaw’s, a Canadian grocery store chain. I’m crossing my fingers here; Canadian instant noodles haven’t really been my favorites – but this is a new one so we’ll have to see. With an open mind, let’s delve into No Name Beef Flavour Oriental Noodles And Soup Mix!

After going through the big noodle hamper the other day and getting rid of some ancient ones that had expired, I noticed this one that I needed to get to quickly. There’s a urban myth that instant noodles last forever, will survive all forms of apocalypse and deliver great flavor for the next hundred years. While frying noodles extrudes moisture and makes them shelf stable without refrigeration for a much longer time than their fresh counterparts, they do go bad. I also take into account that as a reviewer, it’s only fair to review them if they’re all not expired, hence the culling of the old. Luckily, I have scads of non expired instants to go through! Anyways, let’s check out this rice vermicelli from Nissin – Demae Beef Flavour!

Here’s the last one sent by Charles, a serviceman in Afghanistan – thanks! It’s really strange to know that since my last KOKA review that I’ve been in Singapore; never did I expect to visit Asia in my lifetime and now I have. Albeit a short visit (out experience of Singapore consisted of running through Changi airport from travelator to travelator and transferring our luggage from carrier to carrier), it was a truly fascinating blur! Anyways, got some fresh beef yesterday and needed to package it up so though I’d do a beef noodle review. Let’s check it out!

I keep looking at this one in my noodle hamper and then curse at myself for not getting shallots… I mean, they’re cheap and taste really good – why didn’t I get shallots? Well, I kept forgetting to. But fear not shallot lovers! I now have shallots. Beef and shallot lovers, your day has arrived. Let’s delve into the insides of this Unif-100 Artificial Shallot Beef flavor pack from Unif of China!

Bulalo sounds interesting – a beefy soup. I think I need more info though – here’s what wikipedia had to say:

I think a lot of people will say that Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef is one that they’ve seen many times when visiting an Asian grocery in the USA. Beef, like chicken, is one of those flavors you see about every instant noodle manufacturer out there making. Everyone knows what beef and chicken flavors taste like (well, maybe not everyone – hi vegetarians!). The weather here is quite cold and rainy lately and nice beef flavored broth sounds really good. One thing though; the Philippines isn’t a place known for it’s chilly climate. Would a beef instant translate well for colder places that’s been made there? I think I’ll have to see! Let’s revisit Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef!

Lucky Me! Spicy Beef Mami is a newer product I’m pretty sure. A couple neat things about this one is tyhat they use Labuyo pepper. It’s also known as Bird’s Eye chilli as well a cili padi (chilli paddi) in Indonesia and Malaysia. What’s more, this is another instance of instant noodles being referred to as ‘mami.’ As far as I know, this in a purely Filipino thing; never seen instant noodles called mami anywhere else (although there is a Malaysian company called Mamee, (a play on mee and MAMA) and a Thai brand called MAMA (for the same reason). I thought I’d see what Wikipedia has to say about the various meanings of mami and got this list:

I’ve always thought La Paz Batchoy sounded interesting, but really never dug in to figure out what it’s all about. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:

On Friday, I conducted a little experiment: let’s have a look at what happens when we look at 6 months of images from instagram that have the hashtag #topramen. What I found were many comparisons of instant noodles to hair, mentions of poverty and many images of what people liked to pair with their instant noodles.

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!

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. This is a pretty neat review – the cusp of my 1,500th. Let’s check this one out!

This Sogokimyun is a bit interesting. It looks to be a re-branding of another one. I just looked through everything and found this one from September of 2010 – that’s one old review! What I remembered was seeing the windmills on the packs. The difference though is that this version and the older one – this one doesn’t include a vegetables sachet, only the powder one. Wow – 1,378 bowls of noodles ago. I guess if you do something every day, it does tend to add up! Just about to the 1,500th review; I knew I’d hit it at some point. Next will be the big 2k. Anyways; let’s check this one out!

Here’s yet another one from a trip to Canada. This company is particularly interesting – they always include a big sachet of seaweed in their packs and bowls of instant noodles. What’s more, their bowl have two noodle blocks instead of just one – they sport some of the largest instant noodle meals I’ve ever seen! This one’s mushroom and beef flavored hot and spicy – which you find out by reading the back of the packaging. Anyways, sounds like an interesting one – let’s give it a try!

Before this Meet The Manufacturer, I really hadn’t known that Thai President Foods made so many different lines of instant noodles. I thought they made MAMA and that was about it – I was definitely wrong about that! Here’s another line for export to Europe, Bamee. This one has quite a few languages on it, more than the Thai Chef I reviewed a couple days ago which looked to be more for the German market. Anyways, beef! Beef sounds like a good one for today – it’s cloudy outside and a bit cooler. I’m wishing we could skip fall and go straight to winter – I really like snow and fireplaces and all of that comfy stuff. Summer is great, but it’s been a pretty hot one here. Beef soups are some of my favorites during winter, which is what made me go on that tangent there. Anyways, it’s still summer but time for Bamee beef noodle soup! Let’s go!

Today’s the next to last review of the Nissin Singapore Meet The Manufacturer. This is the 14th review! There have been an interesting array of different varieties that have been really quite good! Today, I’m trying the package version of their spicy beef flavor. I reviewed the bowl version pretty early on. Anyways, let’s have a look at this one!

My son’s favorite instant noodles of all time are (drumrolls please), Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor. It’s about as domestic as you can get. I’ll admit I like it a lot too – basic noodles and decent chicken broth. He does let me make him stuff that’s a little more adventurous from time to time. Today’s going to be one of those days.

Looks like we’ve got some hot weather coming to the northwest this week. One weather report is saying it will get into the 90’s which is pretty darn hot for these parts. My wife and I were talking about it the other day and she mentioned that the last time we had a summer with such hot temperatures, the winter was equally as extreme – got lots of snow! I hope that it turns out the same way this year because I really like snow quite a bit. Granted, there are quite a few challenges getting around being legally blind, but it’s neat stuff all the same.

This looks like a good one! I like how it mentions on the front in the little text: with ‘top-notch Secret Roasted Beef Paste Recipe’ – that definitely has me interested. This is part of their Premium line – let’s have a look under the hood and see what makes this instant noodle tick.