Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
As I’ve said before, some companies will make products for different markets. Shoyu isn’t really a variety you’d generally see in South Korea, however Samyang Foods is making this one for the Japanese market. Shoyu is a very common variety of ramen in Japan – here’s a little about it from wikipedia:
Last year, my son Andy noticed a ton of these A-One cups at a local Asian grocery. “Do you have these, Papa?” he asked me – and no, I didn’t! So that was a great score thanks to my boy! Let’s check out this Vietnamese variety from A-One.
It might be hard to tell from this image, but this is a very small bowl from Nissin’s Donbei line. I’d say it’s about 1/3 the size of a normal bowl. Kinda cool – a mini bowl! Let’s have a look.
Hao Way has made corresponding bowl version of their whole line of products. I reviewed the Laksa pack version a while back and now it’s time for the Laksa bowl! Let’s check it out!
Quick2 is a new one from Nongshim America. The 2 has to do with the cooking time of two minutes. I find this one interesting; kind of a departure from their more premium lines and if you notice the color and lines, it more resembles a pack version of a Nongshim Bowl Noodle in graphic design. Let’s have a look at Nongshim Quick2 and see what’s inside!
Another new Malaysian variety! It seems like the Malaysian instant scene has really caught fire these days – and no complaints from me! This is asam laksa – asam means tamarind, so it has a sour taste to it. Couples with seafood flavors, Bihun is also known as rice vermicelli! Let’s have a look at this Premiere Gold Penang Asam Laksa!
Yet another variety got during our trip to Malaysia last year! Got it at the Econsave in Chain Ferry, Butterworth which Thomas from MyKuali! Thanks again! Let’s have a look at this interesting Singaporean variant.
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!
Got this one on last year’s birthday trip to Canada. Since my trip is coming very soon this year, I figured it was time. So, what is maitake? Wikipedia had this to say:
Here’s a flavor I’ve never had before – spicy lemon. I think the only comparable thing would be tom yum flavored products, but then again this is from Pakistan, so not sure how Thai it’s going to taste. Very curious! Let’s check it out.
Lucky Me! is a line by Filipino brand Monde Nissin. I thought today sounded like a good seafood day! Let’s see what we have here!
Tomorrow morning is the big moving day for us – can’t believe it’s here already! I thought I’d have something I know I like today – tom yum. This one’s made by Thai President Foods, a company who’s invited me and my sister to visit Thailand in May! I must say that it’s really quite a surprise to open your email and be asked if you want to go to Thailand to visit instant noodle factories! Of course I said yes! It’s going to be tough though – my wife Kit is pregnant and so it’d be a little much for her to take the trip – I’m going to miss her immensely. Won’t be for too long though! So we’re going to visit their wheat noodles factory in Bankok and then the President Rice Products factory in Ratchaburi. Of course I will take lots of pictyures and share when we return. It’s still a couple months off though, but can’t wait! So today in anticipation of the trip, I thought I’d have some MAMA tom yum. Last time I had this was over four years ago! Let’s have a look!
Another one I got during my trip to Malaysia! This looks like a really spicy curry, that’s for sure. All those little peppers on the package! Plus the guy on the package seems to be aghast at the level of spiciness as well! But what does kari letup mean? Well, the Google translation says ‘curry explosion.’ I gotta say I like the sounds of that! Let’s see if Maggi Kari Letup lives up to its name!
Another one I figured I ought to get to before we move. This one is from Hong Kong and one of a line of interesting flavored macaroni instants by Nissin. Amongst them are seafood, chicken and abalone and many more. Let’s check out this mushroom vegetable flavored Nissin Demae Iccho variant!
Here’s something new from Vina Acecook – Mikochi. Never seen Mikochi before, but I thought it sounded interesting. These are non-fried noodles, so they’re lower in fat. I’m a big fan of tom yum flavored anything, so I’m hoping it’s a good pick. Let’s check out Vina Acecook Mikochi!
For a long, long time, I’ve been hunting the elusive Top Ramen from India. I remember at n Indian grocery where I used to live that they had a few curry varieties, but never was able to find it again. Well a few weeks ago I found a large Indian grocery in Redmond, Washington that had this stuff and was happily surprised. So to start off with, this isn’t your domestic United States Top Ramen. This is from India, made in India by Indo Nissin for the people there and so the flavor will be much different. This is a 4 pack – four noodle blocks, four seasoning sachets. Let’s look inside and see what we have.
Here’s a new one I found a couple days back locally! I’m really excited – going to go visit Thai President Foods’ and President Rice Products’ in May! I’ll have more info on the trip soon! This product is made from rice vermicelli. It sounds very interesting – the wheat noodle version made the top ten list in the past – let’s check this rice vermicelli version out!
I had some leftover chicken and thought it’d be a good idea to make use of it. I reviewed the old version of this one quite a while back. This is the one with the new premium label on the package. It sounds good, but how does this Nissin Chow Mein taste? Let’s find out!
Today we bid a fond farewell to the CarJEN Food Sdn Bhd Meet The Manufacturer. It’s really amazing how many different instant noodle companies there are in Malaysia. What got me was after so many years of exploring instant noodles, here’s yet another one I’d not heard of until they contacted me. Today’s final review is their ‘sayuran’ variety (sayuran translates to vegetarian). Let’s have a look!
The first review of this Meet The Manufacturer was Mi E-Zee Perisa Kari. The difference here is that this is one for vegetarians. Let’s check it out!
I thought this sounded interesting. Ayam Jagung translates to corn and chicken. What’s nice is that I haven’t made any noodles with chicken in a while and it just seems like it’s about time to have some! Let’s check it out!
This is only the second time I’ve had this flavor of instant noodle a couple of times before. For those of you who are wondering, Bayam translates to Spinach. I’m kind of bummed – I don’t have any spinach to go with it today, but I wonder if it’ll need any. Let’s see if this Mi E-Zee Perisa Bayam delivers some spinachy goodness!
I’m sure your first question might be ‘what is asam pedas’ so let me break it down for you. Pedas means spicy. Asam is tamarind. The two together refer to a dish which is both sour and spicy. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about asam pedas:
Instant noodles are usually served cooked, but there are other methods as well. These are ‘snack noodles,’ which are eaten without any cooking straight from the bag. Although not well known in the United Staes, they indeed are very popular around the world – there are multiples brands and varieties spanning Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan to name a few. Today we’ll look at an individual pack (the picture above is a ten pack). Let’s check out these J.J. Snek Mi from CarJEN!
To start things off, I felt it would be great to try this Mi E-Zee Kari. Kari (curry in english) is one of my favorite flavors since I was a kid. My mom used to make curried chicken liver over rice and it was some seriously delectable stuff. Over the years, I’ve experienced a great many kinds of curry: Japanese curry which is usually sweet, Indian curry, Thai curry and my current favorite, Malaysian curry. Let’s see how this Mi E-Zee Kari measures up!
This was sent to me by Anders E. from South Korea – thank you very much! For some time new, eMart’s Dare You! Habanero Ramen has topped The Ramen Rater’s Spiciest Instant Noodle Of All Time lists. There’s a really good reason for this too – it’s violently hot. Heat is measure in SHU – Scoville Heat Units. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about the Scoville test:
Hooray for White Curry! What’s great is that there are so many new brands coming out and I like curry so much. This is Curry Prince – looks interesting! Let’s check out Curry Prince!
I thought today would be a nice day to deal with one I’ve been a little confused about. The instructions on this one have had me confused; drain it but it has soup? Hmmm… Well, a YouTube video I found helped with that and now it makes a lot of sense! In fact, it’s looking like a very easy one to prepare to be honest. Let’s have a look at this Nissin Gonbuto Tempura Udon and it’s unique preparation.
Here’s an interesting one made in Thailand by Thai President Foods. Why’s it interesting? Well, aside from being a whole wheat noodle, it’s definitely for the Scandinavian market. I think it’s interesting how many companies have popular products both in their home countries and abroad, but especially in Scandinavia. Let’s have a look at this product from MAMA!
I’ve seen Maggi Vegetable Atta noodles in a variety of forms throughout the years. This one’s a little different; usually there are import stickers and other things on them, but this looks to be for export. So, what’s masala? Here’s what wikipedia has to say:
In last year’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2014 Edition, Chering Chang was second place with their Curry La-Men – excellent stuff! What is interesting is that that was the only variety they make that I’d tried. I’m very curious how this one fares – vegetarian. Vegetarian instant noodles can be all sorts of different things; bland, bitter, full of vegetables, focused on mushroom; it’s such a broad flavor that can be interpreted masterfully or poorly. I have high hopes that this will be another excellent offering from Chering Chang. Without further adieu, let’s have a look inside.
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!
One thing that tends to baffle a lot of my readers is my fascination with ‘store brands.’ I often get ‘it nothing special’ and thoughts like that. To me however, any instant noodle I’ve not reviewed before is definitely fair game and believe it or not, store brands tend to be much harder for me to source than any others. The reason for this is that large supermarket chains are mostly regional and don’t distribute their instant noodle varieties to anywhere other than their own stores. This one is particularly special – I got this one on my trip to Malaysia, and got it at the Econsave grocery store in Butterworth, Penang!
The last of the batch of different Malaysian noodles sent to me by Annie T. over at MyKuali a while back – thank you again! This sounds good – curry mi goreng. I know that’s it’s curry from the word ‘kari,’ but I can’t figure out the ‘ori’ word. If anyone knows, please impart your fine wisdom! Let’s give these a try!
Recently, I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Thai President Foods, makers of MAMA brand instant noodles. They’re located in Thailand and have a quite enjoyable range of products. Well, I’m happy to announce that I’ve been invited to visit their factory and visit ThaiFex, a big fhood expo in May! I’ll have more on that soon. Very exciting! I’ll have more info about the trip soon, but for now, let’s check out this cup from Thailand!
This one I got at a large Indian grocery in Bellevue a month of so ago. I had a couple from this line waaay back – a Pani Puri and a Manchurian one. This one sounds pretty good to me – also curious how must of the hot sour I’ll enjoy as I’m going to bet this sucks up almost all the liquid. Anyways, let’s see!
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!
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!
I thought it was about time to re-review this one. When people ask me about hot and spicy instant noodles that they can possibly find at a local Asian grocery, I usually steer them towards Teumsae Ramyun. Many consider this one to be the ultimate spiciest, although I have had one or two I think that have been hotter. That’s not to say that this stuff won’t challenge even the staunchest of spicy fans. This is mean. Real mean. If you ate a spicy pepper, the best thing to get rid of the heat would be a crunchy chip – when you chew, it scrapes the heat off your palate. Or milk, or sugar. The last thing would be beer or water. Well, this is soup. It sinks that spicy heat right down into your taste buds even deeper! Let’s revisit this spicy Paldo Teumsae Ramyun again and see why it’s been on the Top Ten Spicy List since the list’s inception.
