Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
It’s been really nice having some Indonesian varieties to review again! Seemed like it almost went a whole year without any until recently! This one might confuse Westerners that see it on the shelf so I’ll help you out. Let’s break down Mi Kuah Rasa Soto. It directly translates to noodle soup, soto flavor. Now, soto is a popular Indonesian soup and seems to usually have a lime aspect to it which is very nice. This cup has a lot of stuff going on inside – let’s walk through it.
It’s been really hard to find new varieties from Indonesia lately and I was really stoked to find a total of four of them the other day! I always try to keep things mixed up – reviewing a different product from a different country every day if possible. It can be tough sometimes but lately I’ve been ending up with quite a range of varieties which is great. Anyways, let’s check out this one from Indonesia!
What do corn dogs, sandwiches, burritos and instant noodle cups have in common? They’re all portable. People can’t seem to stay in one spot for very long; they want to carry their meals with them as they move about. Since the inception of the instant noodle cup in the early 70’s when Momofuku Ando saw people using coffee cups and hot water to steep their instant noodles and brought this concept to market, the noodle cup has become a ubiquitous icon in the daily lives of billions. Today, I present the best of the instant noodle cups I’ve tried in my over 1,700 instant noodle reviews. With that, please enjoy The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2015 Edition.
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!
So I get this email asking me my thoughts on a particular instant noodle from Indonesia from this guy named Seth. I’ve tried another variety, but not this one. There’s a little dispute at his house whether it’s good or not and he wanted me to review it and get my opinion on it. So he sent me some, all the way from Indonesia. The package had some bumps along the way (mainly because I made a typo in my address) but it did get here, and so here I am, about to review this variety for the health conscious. It’s an interesting concept – low fat noodles and all. Grilled chicken does sound good as well – but let’s let the noodles speak for themselves. Let’s check out Tropicana Slim Grilled Chicken!
I got an email from a guy names Seth from Indonesia recently asking if he could send me some noodles that he has been having a difference of opinion on at his house. He likes them and others aren’t so sure, and he wanted my opinion. You got it! So I gave him my address and he expedited a package out – only one problem – I mistyped my address! Luckily, the person who got it hadn’t eaten the noodles and when DHL came to recover the package and redeliver had no problem doing so. So, after a crazy journey, the noodles are here!
Got this one during my trip to Malaysia at the Chain Ferry Econsave in Butterworth, Penang. Today is March 5th, 2015 and Momofuku Ando would have been 105 years old today! It’s fascinating to me to think that I wouldn’t be doing any of this if he didn’t invent the instant noodle. Happy Birthday, Mr. Andi! This one however is an Indonesian brand called Salam Mie. The flavor translates to original spicy sambal. Let’s have a look at this variety by Salam Mie!
In my spare time, I like to search hashtags on Instagram – and one day I decided to look up sambal. Sambal is a spicy mix which is a very popular condiment in Southeast Asia. I found a company I’d never heard of and asked if they could provide a sample for me to use in reviews.
On my last trip to the Asian grocery store, I had a though. I thought maybe I ought to toss in some of the varieties I’ve not reviewed in a while that I’ve recommended quite a bit to people since they’re relatively easy to source and quite good. This one’s a perfect example. My first favorite instant growing up was the Japanese Nissin Chickin Ramen. After trying a few varieties, I found Indomie Mi Goreng line and was all about it. When we’d go to Seattle we’d come back with a couple bags full of them, and I don’t think my parents minded too much since it was around 25 cents a pack. I tried many different varieties in the Indomie Mi Goreng line – there are quite a few. I used to go for the Satay flavor mostly, but then found the Barbecue Chicken one to my liking. Then there’s the Rendang which is a really great one, gracing the top ten list a couple times I think. This one today is the original version. If you’ve not tried this stuff, you’ve got to; it’s a real treat and easily modified to taste. There’s five sachets ioncluded- quite a few in an instant noodle pack and I’ll explain them all here. Anyways, let’s bring on the Indomie Mi Goreng!
During the trip, I got a lot of instant noodles in Malaysia! Unfortunately on the journey home, the baggage handlers are moving fast and not super worried about luggage with instant noodle in them, so some cups got a little banged up. This one has been on my list to find for a long time – Indomie’s Pop Mie. It’s a basic chicken noodle cup, but it’s been hard to find it or get a sample. Well, here it is! Let’s have a look at Pop Mie and give it a try! I should mention also that this is my first instant noodle I’ve had since September 26th – so long!
Here’s another one sent by a friend in Indonesia – thank you! La Fonte is a line by Indofood, makers of Indomie. I don’t usually review boxed instants like this but this one’s really interesting. I reviewed a different one a while back and though I ought to give this one a try. Let’s check it out!
Here’s one a friend in Indonesia sent me a while back – thanks! So these are rice noodles – which are called bihun over in Indonesia. Rasa Kari ayam Pedas translates to spicy curry chicken flavor. This looks like a tasty one – let”s see how it comes out.
Here’s one I’ve been waiting for just the right day to try. Iga Penyet is a dish which is extremely popular in Jakarta, Indonesia. But, exactly what is it? Well, from looking around, I found that it translates to Smashed Beef Ribs ala Jakarta. I’ve also seen it referred to as Fried Beef Ribs. Either way, beef ribs and a spicy sambal sauce are involved, as well as garlic. I didn’t have any beef ribs to cook alongside, but I’ll figure something out – let’s check out this Indomie Iga Penyet!
Here’s an interesting new one – bulgogi is probably one of my most favorite foods! Bulgogi, for those of you who haven’t experienced it, is Korean barbecued beef. What they do is marinate the beef in a nice sweet sauce and then barbecue it in thin strips. What are great are Korean barbecue restaurants. You are seated at a table with a little brazier in the center.
I’ve been asked about this special series from Indomie for a long time and finally got my hands on some! Indomie’s Taste Of Asia line has three components: Laksa representing Singapore, Bulgogi representing South Korea, and finally Tom Yum to represent Thailand. I thought since I embark on a new Meet The Manufacturer tomorrow, I’d try something a little different. So Tom Yum is a Thai soup, usually with very strong spiciness and citrus flavors. I’m very curious as to how they’ll do this one. Let’s check it out!
Another from a friend in Indonesia – thank you! I’ve reviewed quite a few instant noodles lately that have been less ‘vanilla’ in color. I had some purple ones, another green one from Taiwan and a Japanese variety a week or two ago that had ‘jet black’ broth! This one’s hook is that it has green barley in it. I did a bit of looking around and found some information on green barley/barley grass here. From what it says, it’s good for you, but how does it do in the case of being added to Healtimie noodles? Let’s have a look.
Here’s another one from a friend in Indonesia – thanks! I got some really cool new varieties from Indofood last week, but I’d better get a few older varieties out of the way before those! Shouldn’t be long! Let’s check out this rice vermicelli soup variety from their Pop Bihun line.
Got a package today – from Indonesia! New product samples from Indomie! This should be awesome!
A friend sent this a while back from Jakarta – thank you! This is one that says kuah on it. What’s kuah? Well as far as I can gather, kuah is gravy. So instead of a broth, this one should be a bit thicker. Guess we’ll see! Black pepper chicken )rasa ayam hitam) – let’s check it out!
Today, we come to the end of this Meet The Manufacturer. Fifteen reviews! Let’s have a look at this one.
My son Andy got me a bowl and a plate for Christmas! Yesterday I used the plate – today the bowl! Hot and spicy chicken sounds really good – let’s see what kind of heat this one’s packing!
Only a couple left for this Meet The Manufacturer! Of the remaining varieties, I thought Andy might like this one the best. Let’s check it out!
Hope everyone who celebrated had a Merry Christmas! My son got me a new plate and bowl – today I’ll be using the plate as it’s mi goreng on the menu! Let’s check it out!
The last ten reviews have been varieties that are now available in the US. The next five will be ones sent to me by ABC President that are only available in Indonesia. Let’s check this one out!
As I said in the last post, today is the anniversary of the first time my wife and I spoke to eachother, four years ago. More on that in the video at the bottom. I had the fortune to be able to try real rendang yesterday! They make it at Waroeng Jajanan! I’ll do a special post about it soon! This one was really good last time – let’s revisit it!
Close to 100 reviews ago, I tried this for the first time. Four years ago today, my wife and I had our first conversation! It’s a big anniversary for us – check out the video at the end for more on that. Let’s revisit this one by ABC President!
I wanted to do something special with this one. Recently, I visited Waroeng Jajanan, an Indonesian grocery nearby. As it turns out, they make Indonesian style meatballs! I didn’t want to make this without sampling them, so this is a really exciting one for me! Honestly, I’ve never had Indonesian food other than instant noodles before! Let’s check it out!
This is a little different – fried dumplings! Basically they’re little chips of fried wonton as a garnish. These were present in one of the Eat & Go cups I reviewed earlier. Let’s check it out!
It should be pretty obvious: I like onions. I use them in pretty much every meal I make. Chicken and eggs are quite enjoyable too. Let’s check this one out.
This is an interesting one; there’s ABC and there’s President. I’ve seen the logo on products made in other regions too – Taiwan most notably. Let’s see how this one tastes!
This is a really good one – it placed #8 in my Top Ten Indonesian Instant Noodles 2013 Edition! Let’s revisit this one!
I got an email from Mario over at ABC President in Indonesia this week. He said a package with some more samples were on it’s way!
Chick mi goreng time – and it’s spicy and lemony! Sounds interesting. Actually I reviewed this a while back – it was #810. Let’s check this out!
Mi goreng means fried noodles. To those not familiar with mi goreng, you’ve absolutely must try it! There’s no broth involved and very strong and delicious flavors. I would wager that if I looked through all my reviews, I’d be hard pressed to find a mi goreng that I didn’t like. Well, there was one, but it was a Chinese take on it and the spices were really off. What’s really nice is the ability to pair it with so many different things. Let’s delve into this one; I have a good feeling about it!
To begin this Meet The Manufacturer, I decided that curry chicken flavor sounded good today. One thing I’m a big fan of is curry; from India, Britain, Thailand, Japan and of course Indonesia. In the past, I’ve been pretty amazed at everything that they put inside these Eat 7 Go cups. Let’s see what awaits within!
A box came the other day – noodles!
Four varieties of pillow pack instants by ABC President.
Interview With ABC President * Product Samples From ABC President * Eat & Go Curry Chicken Mi Instan Cup * Mi ABC Mi Goreng Mi Instan Cup Mi Goreng Spesial Special Fried Noodle * Mi ABC Selera Pedas Mi Instan Goreng Hot Chicken Lemon Flavour * More Product Samples From ABC President * Eat & Go Spicy Chicken Mi Instan Cup * President Chicken Flavoured Fried Noodle * Eat & Go Chicken Onion Mi Instan Cup * Mi ABC Mi Goreng Pangsit Fried Noodle With Dumpling * Eat & Go Rasa Baso Sapi Meat Ball Mi Instan Cup * Mi ABC Mi Instan Rebus Rasa Ayam Bawang Onion Chicken Flavour * Eat & Go Rendang Beef Flavor Fried Instant Noodle * Mi ABC Mi Cup Rasa Kari Ayam Chicken Curry Flavour * Mi ABC Selera Pedas Mi Goreng Cup Rasa Ayam Pedas Limau Hot Chicken Lemon Flavour * Mi ABC Mi Cup Rasa Ayam Bawang Chicken Onion Flavour * Mi ABC Selera Pedas Mi Goreng Cup Rasa Gulai Ayam Pedas Hot Gulai Chicken * Mi ABC Mi Cup Rasa Soto Ayam Chicken Soto Flavour
I’ve got a lot of reviews of Indonesian instant noodles coming up starting today and I thought ‘man, I need some Indonesian chilli sauce…’ Well lucky for me, there’s a nice Indonesian grocery just a few blocks away!
I can happily report that Thanksgiving holiday was quite enjoyable. My wife made the best turkey dinner I’ve ever had! Great stuff!!! I asked if she’d pick which instant noodle in my stores would be best to have with some leftover turkey and she decided this would be it. It is of course chicken flavored, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a turkey instant noodle, so it’s the next best thing! Let’s check it out!
After looking at the new The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Indonesian Instant Noodles Of All Time 2013 Edition and talking with people from around the world about it all week, I felt like having some Indonesian noodles! To translate, rasa means flavor, bawang is garlic, ayam is chicken and pedas means spicy. Let’s give this one a try!
