Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I’ve had the export version in the past but this is the version that Koreans eat in South Korea. I picked this up in Taipei at a Carrefour store. I’d never been to one before and really didn’t know anything about them other than that I knew they existed in Taiwan. Here’s some info from Wikipedia –
Here’s one that was a gift from the folks at Washoku Explorer – thanks again! This variety from Nagasaki definitely has a fish sense to i, however let’s look at Wikipedia on the subject of Shoyu ramen –
This was sent to me by Ippin, a purveyor of wonderful Japanese items! Thank you again! This is an ultra special one they came out with to commemorate the anniversary of Cup Noodles – the Cup Noodle Rich line.
Here’s another left over from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. Here’s a little about XO sauce from Wikpedia –
Here’s one I got at Jason’s Market at the bottom of the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. I’d been very curious about this line as I’ve seen them before; hard to miss with the angry bear on the front! I’m very curious about how ripe and dry correlate with instant ramen. Lately when I use the term ripe, it’s referring to needing to change a diaper as in ‘ooof Miles – you’re ripe!’ Dry as far as flavor I usually think of when it comes to wine. I’m hoping this doesn’t smell like loaded diapers or taste like wine – I’m guessing it won’t. Let’s give it a go!
Well folks, today is the last day of Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been a definite departure from the flavors I’m used to and it’s been a different way of thinking about noodles. I usually include mung bean sprouts in everything, but that really wasn’t an option. Indeed don’t know if my application of queso fresca was correct, but I had to try. However I tried to find other varieties of Mexican cheeses, however couldn’t find any melty ones – just crumbly. It was fun and something different for me, and I want to thank the folks at Nissin Mexico for the opportunity to try all of these! Let’s check out the chicken Cup Noodles to wrap things up.
Ready? Set? Beef! Here again are the spoonable noodles, this time with a beefy flavor. Let’s give this cup a try!
Here’s the third of the pillow pack varieties of Nissin Mexico’s Sopa Nissin line. Pink! Shrimp! Let’s give it a try!
Time for some beef! I’ve noticed that kind of like in the US, there are only a scant few pack noodle varieties and most varieties are in cups. Cups are great since they’re portable, have their own container to eat out of, and are easily disposed of. Let’s check out this beef variety.
This is the second of the two RapiFideo varieties. Translating to Quick Noodles, RapiFideo has short, thin noodles and broth and can be prepared in the microwave. Let’s take a look!
Here’s the second of the Nissin Mexico fiery hot Habanero line. Habanero peppers are definitely not to be messed with; I’ve made hot sauce a few times using them. The worst was when I hadn’t used rubber gloves and later in the day rubbed my eyes – burned really good even after multiple hand washings! Yeah – no fun. But, they deliver a great heat – let’s give this shrimp variety a try!
Okay folks, what we have here is the baseline. Every company has a chicken flavored instant noodle, and this is Nissin Mexico’s. I should actually say not every company has a chicken flavor – but most do. Chicken is pretty open to interpretation and I don’t think (other than vegetarians and vegans) there are any cultural groups that don’t eat chicken. I could be wrong and if I am let me know. Let’s have something chicken flavored and dress it up Mexican style!
Felix Navidad! It’s actually Christmas morning today – I got up at 5am to get some reviews ready to go – don’t know if I’ll do any sampling today but it could happen! I’m about 60 reviews ahead of myself currently – pretty nuts, but helpful when I can’t review, there’s always one ready to go. Anyways, today it’s another one of the Maxi Sopa Nissin variants. Camaron picante is spicy shrimp. Let’s have a look!
Check this one out – HABANERO! This is another one that comes with a sachet of hot sauce! Awesome! Mariscos means seafood – something I’ve always dreamed of doing is visiting the coastal areas of Mexico and trying the seafood dishes there! Let’s give this one a try!
Here we have a big cup of noodles! I did a little translation on this one for you – ‘maxi’ means ‘big,’ ‘sopa’ means ‘soup,’ ‘cuchareable’ means ‘spoonable,’ and pollo means chicken. Basically, this is a chicken noodle soup one can enjoy with a spoon instead of a fork. Got it? Let’s check it out!
The name of this one – RapiFideo – is a combination of two words. ‘Rapido,’ meaning ‘Quick’ and ‘Fideo’ which means ‘Noodle.’ I reviewed these a while back – let’s revisit them for this Meet The Manufacturer!
I had always thought carne meant beef but I was wrong. Turned out carne means meat and res means beef – always learning something new about the world through the instant noodle and doing translations! Let’s check out this beef flavored instant noodle from Mexico!
To start things off, I thought it would be interesting to try one of these Cup Noodles that come with hot sauce. Definitely not uncommon around the world to find a Cup Noodle variety with a sauce sachet, however it seems to be a little less common in the Americas. Let’s give it a try!
As I’ve said in the past, I’m usually about 50 or so reviews ahead of myself. Well, today is the actual day our daughter Miriam will be born and by the time this comes out she’ll be close to two months old. Wow! It’s early in the morning – although it’s just a few hours away. Really excited! This one seemed interesting enough for a day of birth – Mexican pizza from Taiwan? I think a fiesta is in order; although I wish these were called Little Princess – but hey look at the title I think that works at least a little! Let’s check it out!
Okay so here’s another one of the new recipe Cup Noodles from Nissin Foods USA – thanks again for sending ’em over! The new recipe features reduction in sodium as well as no added MSG and no artificial flavors. Let’s have a look!
Another left over from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. I’ve reviewed many Nissin HK tonkotsu varieties thus far, and today we have yet another variety! This is a Tokyo Shoyu Tonkotsu. Shoyu translates to soy sauce, so this seems like it will be a kind of milky soy kind of thing? Let’s find out!!
Here’s another one that Colin sent – thanks! Today I was really craving something curry – it’s been a little while since I’ve had any curry to review so here goes!
Yet another left over from the Nisin HK Meet The Manufacturer! Man, they sent so many! Thank you so much – really helps a lot! So these are instant takes on classic Italian pasta dishes. They’re microwavable and thus far, I’ve not had one I didn’t like. Let’s see how this one fares.
Yet again, a donation from Colin of the east coast – thanks, bro! This is another ‘no way – I’ve reviewed this one’ kinda variety, but it turns out indeed I haven’t. It looks like the Nongshim ‘BIG Bowl’ line, but it’s definitely not the export version if it is. Let’s have a look – very curious about this one.
Here’s yet another from a reader named Colin from the east coast. He’s always surprised me a little insofar as being able to send me varieties I hadn’t reviewed yet. I mean, this totally would have been one I would’ve passed over as previously reviewed, but I can’t find it anywhere. As far as walking by it at local stores, I’ve done so countless times. Anyways, let’s crack i open and have a look!
Yep, you guessed it! This is yet another one left from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. Thanks again to Nissin HK for sending so many varieties! Sounds simple enough – it’s spicy, it’s beef. Let’s check it out!
This looks very interesting. Check out how thin these noodles are! Sesame and garlic are great flavors to marry together as well. So we’ve seen sesame sauce – the tan colored peanutty kind of stuff and today it’s sesame oil – a much lighter fare. Let’s have a look!
Xian Bian Mian is a new line from Howsler Foods. They all use straight noodles and are a bit different from the Mom’s Dry Noodle line. These tall narrow packs have three servings in each. So matcha has become really popular – but what is it? Let’s ask wikipedia:
Here’s one sent to me by Colin – thanks again! So this one is kind of interesting – I’ve reviewed lots of Mr. Noodles in the past, however they’ve been from Canada. I think there’s also a Mr. Noodles in India as well – unsure if they’re related to this Bangladeshi brand though. It seems to me that with so many Mr, Noodles out there (lest we forget Mr. Noodles from Sesame Street as well), there’s bit of confusion. In fact, I get comments quite often actually from the Mr. Noodles customers in Canada asking where to go to contact them. Of course as far as the Canadian ones go, all I can find is a distributor and nothing else. So very sorry, Canadians…
Another one from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. This one is really popular overseas – I think I saw it on some list as a favorite. Here’s a little from wikipedia on the might Cup Noodles:
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Here’s one sent by a reader named Jen from Australia – thanks again! So chow mein – very curious how this will translate. Indeed I’ve had chow mein that tastes like yakisoba, chow mein that’s just salty and soy, chow mein that’s very bland. But this one looks like it will be chow mein with a small amount of broth and vegetables which sounds odd. But wait – is it odd? As a matter of fact. Australia has it’s own take on Chinese food – here’s a little about it from wikipedia:
Here’s another one from Colin – you da man! He got these during a trip to Mexico earlier this year and sent them along. It’s funny; it still kind of boggles my mind how few instant noodles from Mexico I’ve had the chance to try until only recently. I mean, Mexico is pretty darn close. But then again it’s kind of the same way with Canada – I live about an hour and a half from the border and until we went up there a few years back for my birthday, I hadn’t tried much of anything from up there. Anyways, let’s check out this chicken flavored instant ramyun from South Korea for the Mexican marketplace.
Here’s yet another left from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer – thanks again! Today it’s the cup version of their black garlic oil tonkotsu. Indeed, black garlic is an interesting thing – here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it –
Here’s one my friend Paul S. brought me back from a trip to Mexico – thanks again, bro! So instant noodles are very popular in Latin America. A lot of flavors that reflect the local tastes, this one being shrimp. Let’s check it out!
Yet another leftover from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer! What’s XO Saucve? Here’s a little info from wikipedia –
Finally, after decades of sticking with the same recipe, Nissin has decided to go with something new. On Cup Noodles’ 45th anniversary here in the USA, they’ve changed it to make it healthier. Some changes are no added MSG and no artificial flavors. Furthermore they’ve lowered the amount of sodium in these cups from the previous versions using potassium chloride. So, let’s give this Spicy Chile Chicken a try!
Here’s a new one from Colin – thanks again! Don’t think I’ve reviewed anything by this brand before – let’s have a look!
Here’s another one sent by Colin from the east coast – thanks again! In a review yesterday, I mentioned that I review a couple of varieties daily and that I’m around 60 reviews ahead. Well, today is November 9th, 2016 – the day after the Presidential election. The results of the election are definitely a shock to most people in my community. I live in Washington State – very liberal. In fact during the primary elections, I believe Bernie Sanders got 80+%. I’m hoping that everything calms down and things end up going okay. Rest assured I’ll be reviewing noodles during the Trump administration as well. This is a type of Cup Noodle I’ve not seen in the past – this one is made in China. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one sent to me by Javier from Box From Japan. Box From Japan has subscriptions for all sorts of neat Japanese things. I regret to say that I was informed that they won’t be taking subscriptions for their ramen boxes for now – hopefully that will start again soon. He mentioned that you can purchase instant noodles from them here. Here’s what he had to say about this particular variety:
