
Having an emergency? Well then, hunker down in your shelter and boil some water! This is a fine dinner for two of Nissin Cup Noodle in a neat metal can, sealed for long life.
Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002

Having an emergency? Well then, hunker down in your shelter and boil some water! This is a fine dinner for two of Nissin Cup Noodle in a neat metal can, sealed for long life.

Most of the instant noodles from Malaysia have been just that – sent to me FROM Malaysia by manufacturers. What’s kind of cool is that now I’m seeing more of them start showing up in the United States. I found this Uncle Sun White Curry a few miles north of here in Everett at a newer Asian grocery simply called Asian Grocery (great name). It’s actually a great place – they have two varieties of this one – the one you see here and one that looks identical but says it’s extra hot! They also had Milo, a popular drink from Malaysia – kind of like chocolate milk, but like dark chocolate milk. Anyways – sweet – more white curry! Let’s check it out!

Here’s one I got up in Canada. Been kind of a spicy week and so spicy seafood fits the bill. In my last post, I mentioned having a sore tooth. Let me say that it got bad – really bad! The only relief I could find was to keep something cold next to it – my wife went out and got a bag of ice and I kept a little piece of ice in my cheek last night. I ended up pulling the tooth myself after taking a pain pill – take that, dentist bills! Anyways, your humble instant noodle reviewer is doing much better today! On with the show!

I got some samples the other day to try! This is Hao Way’s new Penang Laksa. They’re very excited about it, purporting it to the the very first instant Penang Laksa whose paste contains grilled fish in the mixture. Sounds pretty good to me! Let’s give it a try.

Here’s another one that was sent by a kind reader in Sweden – thanks! This is my second or third Swedish instant noodle. It’s been interesting to translate the packaging too. The little dots over the ‘a’ in Räksmak are interesting. I tried it in Google and without the dots got straight flavor, and with them got shrimp flavor. Of course, once I opened the pack I found that the seasoning sachet said ‘prawn flavor,’ so that kind of sealed the deal on correct translation for me. Anyways, let’s have a look at this one!

Got this one down in California during our summer trip! JFC distributes a lot of different products here in the USA from Japan and elsewhere. I’m curious what the actual brand here is. Those characters at the top look extremely familiar…

Went to the office and got packages – five minutes later, they called and said I had another!

During a trip to 99 Ranch recently (my son wanted to get my wife some Christmas gifts), I happened down the noodle aisle and found these! Ibumie CurryMee! Wow – white curry on the shelves so nearby! Can’t complain about that!

A while back, I reviewed Nanyang Chef’s Penang White Curry Noodle With Nanyang Chili Paste. Today, it’s a new product from them – Asan Pedas. At first, I thought this would be Asam Laksa, but then I dug a little in Wikipedia and found that Asam Pedas is a stew accompanied by fish. The Asam word refers to tamarind, which lends to the sour nature of Asam Laksa as well as Asam Pedas. Let’s check out this new comer from Nanyang Chef!

Got a package in the mail today Penang Asam Pedas – a new product from Nanyang Chef!

Asam Laksa is a sour and spicy soup popular in Penang, Malaysia. But what’s the pedas part?

Here’s one sent to me by Marvin R. – thanks again! This was one of a series I’ve been looking for for a long time. I kept seeing them online, but only looked to be available in Thailand. These are now available here in the USA and the last one I had (tom yum shrimp) was pretty good. Let’s check it out!

Paldo Foods is a South Korean company, and it looks like they’ve expanded to Vietnam with Paldo Vina. Been curious about this line for a while now and wondering how they taste. Shrimp ounds good for today – let’s go!

One thing that really surprised me during our trip was seeing that a lot of the fast food chains that are popular here in the United States are also popular in Malaysia. Burgers, fried chicken and even pizza were well represented by popular chain restaurants over there (I will say that there was no sign of the ubiquitous taco chain here). They all had different ways of serving things to fit with the local taste; like spicy fried chicken with rice or seafood pizza. This got me thinking that maybe a fusion of pizza and MyKuali White Curry might work in some way. I thought about it for a while and decided today was the day. We got the ingredients together and The Ramen Rater’s MyKuali White Curry Pizza was born! Check it out!

Here’s another one that Thomas from MyKuali got for me while we were on our trip to Malaysia! Thanks again! Vit’s is a brand that’s well known over there, but one I’ve never reviewed before. This looks like a spicy seafood variety – let’s give it a go!

Well everyone, today is Thanksgiving! I thought I’d like to thank everyone who visit The Ramen Rater every day – your attention and interest inspires me to continue on in my journey to find the best instant noodles in the world and let you know about them! I wanted to also thank you for buying things using the Amazon links I provide. These aren’t products directly from me, but from people/companies selling them on Amazon, and I get a little something every time one of you uses a link and either buys the item shown or browses and finds something else they’d like. This really helps us out, especially around the holidays. If you’re planning on doing holiday shopping on Amazon, consider something from the Noodle Shop or simply go to the Noodle Shop and click on the Amazon logo. You’ll be helping keep The Ramen Rater running ! Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Yet another one got in Malaysia during our trip! Thank you, Thomas! A popular dish in Penang is Char Kuay Teow, fried rice noodles. It’s kind of like the mee goreng of rice noodles. Kua Teow is rice noodles – and this is rice noodles with tom yam broth. From what I found online, it’s more a popular Thai dish. Either way, this sounds really good! Let’s dig in to some spicy stuff from Malaysia!

Here’s a new Jjamppong King Bowl from Paldo. The king bowl is yet another instant noodle form factor. There are cups, king cups, bowls and king bowls. I think the main different between cups and bowls are really the portability factor. I think a king cup and a king bowl hold the same amount of liquid though; I’ll have to compare them some day. But I digress. This is Jjamppong – here’s a little from Wikipedia about Jjamppong who are unclear about what it is:

The first thing you’re going to say is ‘porridge isn’t ramen.’ Well aware of that, dude. Then again, these often show up on the instant noodle aisle of an Asian grocery and as such, I thought it could use some attention. This is a Vietnamese seafood porridge, much like what they call congee in China. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Vietnamese rice porridge:

It’s a really cold day today and I think a big bowl of seafood noodles sound good. This is a Nongshim Neoguri I got up in Canada. It’s made in South Korea and it’s the milder version of Neoguri. Raccoons I say raccoons! Why do I say raccoons? Well, check out the video at the end of the post – it’ll all become clear I think. Let’s dig in to some Nongshim Neoguri!

One thing I didn’t expect to see during our stay in Malaysia – in the lobby of the hotel we stayed at, there was a Halloween display! A pretty good sized one, too! It seems that Halloween is somewhat popular over there! Well, last night was Halloween and we got a huge bowl of candy (yes, I tossed in some instant noodles for the trick or treaters as well). Well, nobody came. Not one kid. So, we have a ton of candy. Those kids really missed out – we’re generous when it comes to candy!

Next Friday is Halloween and we’ve got some plans with Andy this weekend! Thought he might like this one for breakfast today! He’s been curious about expanding his palate a little bit lately since our trip to Malaysia – something I really like. It took me a while to get to the age that I wanted to be more adventurous with food, and it’s great to see him starting to explore.

Here’s another one the nice folks at MyKuali got me on our trip to visit them in Malaysia! Thanks again! Wow – I must say I really miss Malaysia! Was such a vibrant place – and the food! These noodles are made made in Singapore. Singapore is at the far southern border of Malaysia, so it makes sense they’d sell them in Malaysia too. Anyways, yeah – this is one of the special packs I brought back so I’m excited to eat it! Let’s check it out!

It’s been so long since I’ve reviewed a new Bowl Noodle! I remeber a few years ago I was hunting high and low for certain varieties, many long gone. I remember the beef anfd ginger flavor was pretty good! Then they switched over to these microwaveable versions instead of the foam bowls – and I like them better! Curious how this one will be.

What does one do after reviewing 1,500 varieties of instant noodles? All I could think of was review number 1,501. Chow mein sounded nice today and I do have an open container of Kewpie mayo in the fridge. I think after trying so many yakisoba varieties that have mayo with them, not including it when having it is kind of a tragedy. This was a strange one as far as translation goes. I looked around and found it called Super Big Cup and then found this one and thought this would be the right translation! If not, please let me know. Anyways, it’s onwards towards review 2,000. Let’s get to it!

Wow – 1,500 reviews! 1,500 different varieties of instant noodles! What’s even more crazy is that I don’t even feel like I’ve scratched the surface of the world of instant noodles; there are always new varieties coming out, and I think there’s never going to be a day when I’ve tried every variety. Which is a good thing because I really enjoy reviewing these things! Today’s review is a special one. I usually try to pick one that’s a little more interesting than others – and this one is very unique. Usually, companies either send me samples, readers donate varieties I’ve not tried, or I just go to a store and buy them. This is one of the first ones I’ve received directly from a company – literally handed to me. Not only that, I brought it all the way back here from Penang, Malaysia! That’s a long way! I think it was more than 16,000 miles round trip! I’d like to thank everyone who has supported and enjoyed The Ramen Rater throughout the years – without your support and readership, well, it’d be pretty quiet around here! Anyways, let’s check out this new Tom Yum variety from MyKuali! On with number 1,500!!!

Here’s an interesting one. Now ‘easy’ is English, ‘fideos’ is Spanish. Fideos means noodles. It looks like if you had it in reverse, with the first word Spanish and second English, you’d end up with ‘Fácil Noodles.’ I think Easy Fideos sounds a little better. Anyways, I’m hungry – the big posts I’ve been doing recounting my trip to Malaysia have been taking a long time every morning before I get to noodles! Let’s check it out!

Usually if I’m really trying to get my hands on some noodles to review, I’m going to find a way. There have been a couple though which have eluded me for a while. This is one of them – Wai Wai’s Quick Zabb. There are four of these varieties, all with a different main color and different character. They’re kind of like Powerpuff Girls, but a little meaner looking. I’m stoked – got all four at a store only 5 minutes away yesterday! Sometimes walking down that noodle aisle you’ve been down a million times before with no luck pays off. Let’s check it out!

This is the last of the Nissin Soba varieties that were sent to me by Scott over at Nissin Foods USA a while back – thanks again, man these have been fun! These are made by Nissin Germany and are really neat. Let’s get to it!

I was contacted by a fellow named Kyle from Taiwan a few weeks ago and asked if I’d like to sample his company’s noodles. Mom’s Dry Noodle? Sure, why not! It’s pretty exciting – out trip to Malaysia in coming very soon – like in ten days we’re leaving! There’s a layover in Taipei and I’m really excited to be able to actually be in Taiwan, albeit in the transit area and only for two hours, but it’s going to be amazing! These are what they call ‘dry noodles’ over in Taiwan; they’re served without a broth. I’ve been very curious about what these would be like, and I thought I’d also test out a new kitchen gadget I got with the garnish.

I was a little surprised today to realize that this is the last of the Thai President Foods Meet The Manufacturer! I’ve gotten used to having something ‘tom yum’ almost every day for a couple weeks now. It’s gonna be interesting to going back to the rotation of varieties from my hampers of noodles! Well, let’s check out this one and bid a fond farewell to this Meet The Manufacturer. I still have more varieties they make that I’ve not reviewed yet, so you’ll see them coming along.

Thai Chef is a line by Thai President Foods that’s sold in Germany and the surrounding area. Everything on the pack is in German. Seems that people all over the world are big fans of instant noodles! It still surprises me to find varieties in areas I wouldn’t have expected them. Beer and sausages are what I come to think of when I think of German food choices, but I’m finding out more and more that people around the world are looking east to try new things. Let’s have a look at these noodles!

This is one of the easiest to find varieties of MAMA noodles here in the USA. The ubiquitous ‘silver pack.’ What’s different about this one is it’s the 90g Jumbo Pack as opposed to the smaller 60g size. If you’ve been following my recent Thai President Foods reviews, you’ll note that there are lots of Tom Yum variations. Here’s a list with some different ones to note:

When I think tom yum, I think spicy, seafood and citrus flavors. When I think extreme thrown into the mix, I’m guessing that it’s going to be ultra spicy. One thing that Thai varieties tend to have in common is that when they say they’re spicy, they really mean it! Let’;s have a look at this new variety for this year by Thai President Foods’ MAMA brand and see what it’s got.

MAMA Shrimp Creamy Tom Yum. This stuff is magnificent. So much so that it was on The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2013 Edition list. What’s nice is that it’s pretty easily sourced. What’s even nicer, this is the Jumbo Pack! I was told once that the reason this is called ‘shrimp creamy’ instead of ‘creamy shrimp’ is that when you boil shrimp heads, there is a creamy looking effect and that’s what they’re going after here – not something pertaining to a dairy product. Let’s see how this one comes out – it’s is just a bigger version, then it should be even more wondrous fun!

I’ve seen Pad Kee Mao on the menu at our local Thai restaurant but never ordered it. Hmmm. What’s wikipedia have to say about it I wonder?

As I mentioned yesterday, I was nominated by my sister to do the ALS ice bucket challenge – it’s the thing everyone is doing these days to bring awareness and donations for people with this debilitating condition. You have to have a bucket of ice dumped on you! Well, I did it with a little help from my pal Jason Warden – the video is at the bottom, so be sure to check it out and also have a look at www.ALSA.org and consider donating to help find a cure!

We’ll start the Thai President Foods Meet The Manufacturer off with one of their export products – Thai Chef – sold in northern Europe. Looks like this one would do well in Germany with all the German writing on it. I’ve seen quite a few Thai companies making varieties for northern Europe – kind of a surprise, but in a way not really. Seafood is quite popular there and so this is kind of a twist on what they’re used to there I suppose. Excited to try this new one – let’s check it out!

Well, we come finally to the end of the Nissin Singapore Meet The Manufacturer. It was a nice little journey through a multitude of great flavors! Today we finish with Black Pepper Crab flavored Cup Noodles. What’s Black Pepper Crab? I’ll ask Wikipedia:

XO Sauce is an interesting thing; I think this Wikipedia snippet is a good way to start –
Developed in the 1980s in Hong Kong for Cantonese cuisine, XO sauce is made of roughly chopped dried seafoods, including scallops, dried fish and shrimp, and subsequently cooked with chili peppers, onions, and garlic. This dried seafood-based sauce bears similarity to the Fujianese Shacha sauce. Spring Moon, the Peninsula Hong Kong‘s Chinese restaurant is often credited with the invention of XO sauce, although others claim the sauce’s origin in the urban area of Kowloon.[2]

I first heard of a dish called Chilli Crab a few years ago, and was told it was the ‘signature dish of Singapore.’ Since the advent of Instagram, I’ve seen this particular Cup Noodle variety dozens of times and always have been quite curious about it. Let’s take a look at this regional Cup Noodles variety!