Category: Maruchan

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition

The Ramen Rater's top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition

The top ten instant noodles list is an annual post I do which is always quite a treat for me.  I started reviewing back in 2002, but I really got going with it in June of 2010 – I’ve done nearly 1,600 reviews since then. It still boggles my mind that after trying so many, the industry continues to innovate and bring flavors forth that truly amaze me. With that, here are my absolute favorites – The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition. ...see full post

#1570: Maruchan Big Cup Ramen Corn, Salt & Butter Flavor

Once in a while, I get something a little different – something that contains something I’ve not seen before. This is one of those times. So it was kind of difficult to translate this one – it’s basically salt Butter and Corn flavor, although the translation I ended up with didn’t mention the corn. I decided to go ahead and add corn in the title anyways. Also, I saw lots of translations mention the word circle, although I’m not sure if that was just Google translate being weird.Anyways, this is a big bowl of noodles and I’m very curious to try them. Without any further adieu, let’s open this thing up and look inside! ...see full post

#1521: Maruchan Gotsumori Sauce Yakisoba

Okay, I’m familiar with yakisoba, but what’s Gotsumori sauce all about? After some scouring of the Internet, I didn’t find a whole lot. I found on the manufacturer’s site that the sauce is spicy and also has a sachet of Kewpie karashimayonnaise (kind of a mayo-mustard thing). Anyways, yeah I’m definitely coming up short on this one! Let’s have a look. ...see full post

#1493: Maruchan Magomi-an Kitsune Udon (Eastern Japanese Flavor)

Thanks to Yuji Hashimoto over at Takamori Kosan of Japan for helping me to translate this one! Today’s review is one that I think I found up in Canada. It looks to be similar to Maruchan’s regular Kitsune Udon bowl – the red one.Kitsune means ‘fox’ in Japanese. Here’s a little something about the ‘kitsune myth’ from wikipedia – ...see full post

#1463: Maruchan Instant Lunch California Vegetable Ramen Noodles With Vegetables

I want to send a special thank you to Craig Y. over at Maruchan for facilitating the process of getting Instant Lunch California Vegetable into my hands! Much appreciated! I hunted high and low for these and couldn’t find them! There are lots of products sold around the United States – and some do better in some areas than others. A good example would be the King Cake. Most people where I live don’t know what a King Cake is, however folks in Louisiana definitely do – it’s a special cake enjoyed around Mardi Gras. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about King Cakes: ...see full post

#1444: Maruchan Instant Lunch Jalapeno Cheddar Flavor Ramen Noodles

Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking for a couple varieties by Maruchan for a while and this is one of them. I want to thank Craig Y. and all the nice folks at Maruchan for getting this one in my hands! I’m sure someone out there is going to say ‘Hard to find? It’s at every store around me!’ One thing though is that not every product is marketed or distributed to every area. One example of this kind of thing is a soda called Cheerwine. It’s quite popular and easily found in the southern United States, but it’s relatively unknown on the west coast. Anyways, Jalapeno Cheddar noodles sounds pretty neat! Let’s have a look at this one. ...see full post

#1438: Maruchan Old Style Miso Ramen

Most of us in the United States are familiar with Maruchan’s ramen packs and ‘Instant Lunch’ cups. However, most of us aren’t familiar with Maruchan’s popular products overseas in Japan. Miso is a fermented soybean paste – it’s good stuff, with a kind of musty scent. Notice on the front of this one: it’s also saying that it’s lower calorie. Let’s have a look inside. ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2014 Edition

Bowls of noodles. They’re made all around the world and are a great option for those with access to boiling water and are ‘on the go.’ Some are basic and have very little imagination to them or perks, while others are really full meals that include meat and vegetables, seafood and other niceties. I’ve review 1,410 different noodle varieties and of those, many have been bowls. Here’s a list of the best, most memorable bowls I’ve come across is my adventure in tasting. ...see full post

Re-Review: Maruchan Instant Lunch Hot & Spicy Beef Flavor Ramen With Vegetables

Maruchan Instant Lunch is one of those products you see everywhere in the United States at grocery stores. Maruchan makes these cups as well as packs of ramen. They’re popular in Mexico as well – people refer to soup a lot of the time as ‘maruchan’ as it has become so popular and intrinsic to daily life. A month or so ago, I saw a post on Instagram. This guy was saying how he could eat these Instant Lunch cups (this flavor in particular) for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. I thought to myself, ‘have I reviewed this one?’ Well as it turns out I had – but it was way back in June of 2011. I’m always on the hunt for instant noodles that cannot be found within the United States – the more exotic the better. This guy’s enthusiasm about this little cup that can be found virtually everywhere here in the USA piqued my curiosity; is it worth another try? So when out grocery shopping, I decided to get one. After two weeks of enjoying varieties from Southeast Asia, I think this should be interesting. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#1176: Maruchan Old Style Shio Ramen

Here’s another I got at T&T Supermarket up in Burnaby, BC. Took a bit of research, but yep – old style shio ramen is what this is. Shio means salt. – but this isn’t a bowl of saltiness. Shio is light and savory stuff! By the way – did you know that salt was a way to pay people in the past? That’s where the term ‘worth your salt’ and the word salary come from! It brings out flavors, but was also used as a way to keep meats for longer when freezers and refrigerators weren’t around. Anyways, let’s check this one out! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Made In The USA Of All Time 2013 Edition

The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan, but since that time, they’ve expanded in popularity all over the world, including of course, the United States. Seeing this, instant noodle companies thought it wise to start building plants here in the 1970s. Since then, many brands operate factories here in the US, mostly in southern California. This is a list of my favorite varieties produced here, encompassing my over 1,100 reviews to date. With that, here’s your top ten, America! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater Top Ten Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2013 Edition

After more than a year of pondering and reviewing since the last list, here’s the new top ten instant noodle bowls. This encompasses all instant noodle bowls reviewed up to today, June 15th, 2013. With no further adieu, the top ten instant noodle bowls of all time, 2013 edition. ...see full post

#1011: Maruchan Bowl Hot & Spicy Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodles With Vegetables

Here’s one of the new Maruchan Bowl products. There are three varieties – a non-spicy chicken which I reviewed a while back, this one and a spicy shrimp. Maruchan sent me these in a neat box – first samples from them (hope to get more of their stuff in the future)! Well, let’s check it out! ...see full post

#947: Maruchan Yakisoba Jalapeno Cheddar Flavor

Merry Christmas Eve! Thought today I would go a little festive with my review. What does Jalapeno Cheddar instant yakisoba have to do with Christmas? Well, I don’t know but it just seemed like the right thing to do. You’ll see – trust me you’ll see. This is one I was looking for for a long time and my lovely wife Kit found it at the Grocery Outlet! Rad! ...see full post

Re-Review: Maruchan Creamy Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup

Found these at Walmart yesterday – or wait that was today… We decided to go shopping at 1am – figured we’d beat the crowds… Well, we did beat the crowds but they were restocking – pretty amazing all the pallets they load there at night! Wow… Anyways, creamy chicken sounded good. Here’s the original review and I’ll do a really in-depth re-review soon! ...see full post

#919: Maruchan 35% Less Sodium Beef Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup

Ah! The elusive 35% less sodium pack! A lot of you have asked about lower sodium instant noodles – here’s one. Each pack has two servings at 510mg sodium each instead of 790mg of sodium (look at the back of the package below for details). Found it recently at Walmart actually. Its funny how many Asian grocery stores I know of and hit up for new noodles to review from time to time, but I still find new items at the biggest grocery store around. I’m hoping to be doing a Meet The Manufacturer with Maruchan sometime soon too! That’s going to be great! Anyways, let’s see how this one is… ...see full post

#900: Maruchan Instant Lunch Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodles With Vegetables

When I recently redid The Big List, I noticed some things. One of them was that I have never reviewed this one, nor it’s Beef or Shrimp fellow Instant Lunches! Talk about an oversight on my part… I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do a Meet The Manufacturer with Maruchan soon – thanks to everyone who has asked me to do one, it’s just I’ve never been able to successfully get in touch with them. Well, here we go with a close up and personal with Maruchan’s Instant Lunch: Chicken Flavor. ...see full post