
Was extremely happy to get a knock at the door and a nice big box today!

Ooh! New things to try from China! What’s within I wonder?
Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002

Was extremely happy to get a knock at the door and a nice big box today!

Ooh! New things to try from China! What’s within I wonder?
Interview With JML * Product Samples From JML * Poster From JML * JML Spicy King Bowl Noodle Spicy Pork * JML Supreme Bowl Noodles With Stewed Egg Braised Beef Flavour * JML Spicy King Spicy Beef * JML Supreme Bowl Noodles With Stewed Egg Sour Beans With Pork Flavour * JML Spicy King Spicy Pork Noodle * JML Spicy King Bowl Noodle Spicy Beef Noodle * JML Spicy King Bowl Noodle Spicy Chicken Noodle * JML Supreme Bowl Noodles With Stewed Egg Spicy Flavour * JML Spicy King Spicy Chicken Noodle

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!

As many might know, I started The Ramen Rater (click to see the old site) in 2002 and did about 60 reviews. Then, I turned my attention to spicy hot sauces with The Sauce Rater. In 2010, I resumed my instant noodle reviewing. I’ve long been a fan of the spicy side of things – strong heat and good flavor are a couple of my favorite things. Let’s have a look at the absolutely hottest varieties I’ve found in my over 1,700 reviews of instant noodles from around the world in this year’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition.

There’s a new Asian Food Center on 130th & Aurora – went there hunting for some of the fruit I goty to try in Thailand and found mangosteen – and quite a few instant noodle varieties, this being one of them. It’s pretty far and few between that I find Master Kong varieties – always kind of a treat! I want to thank Bobby Y. from Canada for help in translation on this one! Let’s have a look at this one from China!

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!

This one has been a little tricky to figure out. A lot of the time, distributor stickers aren’t all that helpful; they might say the flavor, but the true name can be elusive. After looking around, I found ‘boiled fish’ and ‘spicy fish’ and ‘hot fish’ (hot fish being the one on the sticker). I think however Sichuan might be in there somewhere, so I included it. As for the lady on the package and the folks on the back, I’m pretty sure they’re involved in some kind of television program in China. Anyways, let’s have a look!

There have been quite a few of these Baixiang varieties. Well, this looks to be the last one I have – I’m sure I’ll find more. Let’s check it out!

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.

Now, we again return to the tangle of the sea. This is the package version of the first variety I tried on this Meet The Manufacturer. Is there a difference? Let’s see!

Here’s a different one – a box with 5 different varieties! Check it out –


Here’s a different one – a box with 5 different varieties! Check it out –


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

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!

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.

Here’s another one sent by a kind reader in Sweden! Thank you! Master Kong is really popular in China and what surprises me is that there are no places that I’ve seen that you can get their products here in the United States. Luckily, people send them to me from time to time, but it seems to me that I really need to figure out a way to contact them and do a Meet The Manufacturer with them. The Chinese consume billions of packages of instant noodles a year and I’ve never done a Chinese Meet The Manufacturer yet! It’s about time. Well, let’s check out these seafood flavor Master Kong instant noodles!

This is one you probably won’t find in the United States (I got it up in Canada). It’s made by Nongshim’s Chinese plant in Shaghai. I’ve found that sometimes the same product can taste a little different in different regions. This one’s interesting in that the packaging look is very much like Nongshim Ansungtangmyun, but the characters are very different. Let’s have a look at this Nongshim Korean Clay Pot Ramyun!

Last year, I found this Baixiang brand up in Canada and tried the spicy beef variety. I found this one down here in the USA a month or so ago. Let’s check it out!

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 is the first review here in our new apartment. It’s been
frustrating; the only Internet I have currently is via tethering
my cell phone to the desktop, and I’m hoping I don’t go over the
data allowance. So I’ve got Still have 6 days until they install
– which is a long time… Kit picked this one out for me a couple
of weeks ago. There are a couple other ones in this line, but she
picked this one because it showed shrimp and knows I like shrimp.
Let’s have a look!

Here’s yet another that was sent by a kind reader from Sweden – thank you! This one is by JML (Jin Mai Lang) – I’ve reviewed many of their varieties in the past but never one of the ‘Emporer’ line. It looks to have some kick to it – let’s check it out!
Far and few between are the Master Kong varieties I find locally. This is one of them I got a couple months ago – a real surprise. I don’t know why so many of them aren’t available in the United States; I’m guessing possibly that many of their products contain chicken or beef, and import of chicken or beef into the United States from Asia is very hard if not impossible. Luckily, fish products are generally accepted for import quite easily and here we are. Let’s check out this Master Kong Seafood instant noodle!

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!

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!

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!
I noticed this morning lots of people from China visit the website! If any of you have contacts with Chinese instant noodle companies, please ask them to contact me. I would like to do a series of Chinese instant noodle review. Thank you!

JinMaiLang is an interesting brand. I’ve found their logo on a lot of seasoning sachets that are in different branded packaging – Golden Wheat comes to mind first. This is known as ‘private labeling’.’ Basically, say I wanted to have a The Ramen Rater brand instant noodles, but I didn’t want to have a factory. I could call on a company and say ‘hey – I like this variety you make – can you make it but use these graphics for the outer packaging?’ Boom – private labeling. Usually if you see something like ‘made for [company] by [company]’ that’s a clear indicator. Anyways, these look interesting. There are certain colors that seem to be designated for different flavors where Chinese noodles are concerned. Chicken is yellow, beef is red, seafood is blue and pork is green. Also, purple seems to be the color of sauerkraut! Anyways – let’s check this one by JinMaiLang out!

Here’s another one sent by a kind reader in Sweden! Thank you! Master Kong is really popular in China and what surprises me is that there are no places that I’ve seen that you can get their products here in the United States. Luckily, people send them to me from time to time, but it seems to me that I really need to figure out a way to contact them and do a Meet The Manufacturer with them. The Chinese consume billions of packages of instant noodles a year and I’ve never done a Chinese Meet The Manufacturer yet! It’s about time. Well, let’s check out these pork ribs Master Kong instant noodles!
Here’s one that was donated by a reader from Sweden! Thanks! It’s funny; you really can’t find any Master Kong noodles here in the United States which is a real bummer. They’re really good – hopefully they’ll be here at some point. What’s tough about Master Kong packs is that they don’t seem to say how much water to add in. For a pack this size, I’ve gone with 500ml before, so I’ll go with 500ml again.

These little cups always are a nice surprise. I usually expect that they’ll be funky and gross but they usually have been very good! This one sounds interesting – I’m curious what ‘brown sauce’ means; like brown gravy? The pic on the front looks like wide rice noodles too. Well, it looks like fun to me – let’s crack this one open and see what’s going on inside.

As with many instant noodle companies, Nongshim has plants all over the world. Usually, these factories produce flavors that are popular in the countries they are located in, as well as well known favorites. This one is a variety made in China and I found it up in Canada. It seems that many of the ones made in China are available up in Canada, although I’ve never seen them here in the USA – curious. Let’s have a look!