Category Archives: * Stars 4.1 – 5.0

#3360: Acecook Coco Ichibanya Curry House Ramen – Japan

Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off!

Another day and more curry. I really like curry, however I’ve had some I’ve liked more than others. Let’s see how this one fares.

Acecook Coco Ichibanya Curry House Ramen – Japan

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains pork. To prepare, add boiling water to line as well as powder base sachet. Cover for 3 minutes. Finally, stir then garnish with furikake and enjoy!

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

The noodle block.

A dry soup base sachet.

A dry sachet of furikake.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added Dodo fish ball (cuttlefish ball would have been better), egg, spring onion, and Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, The noodles are a little thicker and enjoyable. They played well with the broth which had a nice Japanese curry hit. The fascinating thing on this one was that furikake sachet. I expected a sesame seed and seaweed melange of sorts. This was a white powder – sweet coconut! It was really good – unexpected and very nice. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4901071231842.

Acecook whole purport curry udon 70gX12

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#3352: A-Sha Rainbow Noodles – Taiwan

Check this out! Multi-colored noodles! This is an interesting set. What is coloring these? Well, you have Matcha noodle (green) with original sauce, Red Yeast Noodle (red) with onion sauce, Purple Yam Noodle (purple with sesame paste sauce, Danzai Noodle (yellow) with spicy BBQ sauce, and finally Blue-Green Algae Noodle (blue-green) with chili sauce. Pretty neat! I want to try making a bowl of multi-colored noodles I think. This could be interesting! Let’s check it out!

A-Sha Rainbow Noodles – Taiwan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil one bundle of noodles for 5 minutes. Drain. Add in corresponding sauce and one sachet of green onion. Finally, stir and enjoy!

Colorful!

The different sachets.

Dried green onion.

All five of the noodle varieties, cooked and prepared separately (click to enlarge).

Finished (click to enlarge). Added scallion, shrimp, fish cake, egg, sesame seed, black sesame seed, and pepper flake. The five different style of nodles are really quite interesting. They all have differring textures, and some seemed thinner (the red yeast is a prime example). The sauce flavors were nice as well. Included green onion worked well also. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4715635853971.

Asha Top Seller Ramen Sampler (Non-Spicy)

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#3346: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan – Hong Kong

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

Well, what have we here? This one contains a broad flat noodle made with rice. The straight noodle ramen variety from this range is on the 2019 Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time – super tasty stuff! Let’s give it a try!

Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan – Hong Kong

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains shrimp. To prepare, add in all sachets and boiling water to fill line. Cover and let steep for… Yeah – no instructions. Great. I’m going to go with 3 minutes and give it a look and if that’s not enough to hydrate the rice noodles, 5 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

An included fork!

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

Rice noodle.

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

A dry sachet.

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

A powder soup base.

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

A wet sachet.

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

A thick paste.

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

A second dry sachet.

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

An interesting looking mixture.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added shrimp, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, coriander, and pepper flake. The ho fan was just perfect after 5 minutes steeping time. Really great mouthfeel to it. The broth was just as good as can be with a bright, crisp tom yum flavor with notes of shrimp. Excellent. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 087303866922.

#3252: Sau Tao Tom Yum Kung Flavour Ho Fan - Hong Kong

Sautao Dried Mix Rice Vermicelli Non Fried (Tomyum Kung) – 3 Pack

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#3340: Three Meters Soybean Flavor Belt Noodles – Taiwan

These are the second of the belt noodle varieties from Three Meters. Really enjoyed the pepper sesame ones recently, and curious how these will be. Let’s find out!

Three Meters Soybean Flavor Belt Noodles – Taiwan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles for 5 minutes in 1000ml water, stirring gently. Midway through add 100ml cold water. Drain. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

One of the three individual packages.

Very wide noodles!

A wet sachet – looks like oil.

A second wet sachet, presumably the soybean flavor.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added a tea egg, Chinese sausage, sesame seeds, Sichuan pepper powder, and scallions. Noodles are perfect – really wide and a nice chew but not too chewy. The flavor is a salty soybean hit which was excellent. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4713361500138.

THREE METERS NOODLES Sesame Sauce Noodles (480g/4pcs) Best Taiwanese Gift – THREE METERS – Fresh Stock-Taiwan food – Noodle – Vegetarian

#3339: Samyang Foods Jjajang Buldak Ramen Topokki – South Korea

I thought today would be a fun day to include Miles in on an episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time (see below). I figured hey – he’ll leave the stove alone… Well, he did which was good and it was nice having a co-host! Job well done, Miles!

Today’s review is a spicy one from the famous Fire Noodle range of Buldak products manufactured by Samyang Foods. Not only does it contain noodles, but topokki as well which is a nice touch. If you haven’t tried topokki, you’re really missing out! Let’s give it a try!

Samyang Foods Jjajang Buldak Ramen Topokki – South Korea

Detail of the back of the package (click to enlarge).

Here are the included instructions they made for me (click to enlarge).

Included is a package with a noodle block.

Here’s the topokki – make sure you remove the dessicant sachet.

Two wet sachets of jjajang sauce.

The vegetable sachet.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, fish cake, and baked chicken, Noodles come out with a nice chew to them and the topokki is with a nice chew as well. The instructions said 5~6 minutes and I did 5 1/2, so 6 would probably yield more tender topokki. The sauce is thick and luxuriant, with a strong Buldak kind of flavor as well as the black bean component. It’s definitely spicy as well. A good combo – tasty and great. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073310964.

Samyang Original Ra-bokki Buldak Chicken Flavored Rice Cake Ramem Noodles 2019 New

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#3337: Nongshim Fururu Cold Noodles – Japan

Today, we have one that was part of Japan Crate’s Umai Crate. So Japan Crate is a subscription service which has all sorts of different options for you. pretty neat stuff from Japan! There’s a coupon code for you too – just use THERAMENRATER to get a special discount at check out.

So here’s what the folks at Japan Crate had to say about this variety -“Korean bibim noodles (think bibimbap, but switch out the rice with noodles) is popular in Japan on sunny days. These cold bibim noodles are flavored with sweet, sour, and spicy gochujang sauce. A relaxing and cold meal with a kick!”

Alright – it’s a sunny day! Let’s give ti a try!

Nongshim Fururu Cold Noodles – Japan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Unsure whether it contains meat – check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold wate. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

A large noodle block.

A wet sauce sachet.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added egg, cucumber, carrot, ham, sesame seeds, pepper flake, and spring onion. Noodles are thin with an interesting chew to them. The sauce imparts a sweet and bitter taste with a nice spicy level to them. Has a definite premium kind of flavor and experience. Refreshing and tasty! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4582214630229.

159gX10 pieces Nongshim Flour cold noodle survivin cold noodles

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#3334: Nona Lim Dan Dan Noodle Bowl – United States

Here’s the second of the three refrigerated bowl sent by Nona Lim – thanks again! This one contains ‘Beyond Meat,’ a meat substitute that sounds interesting. I know I liked Dan Dan Noodle so let’s see how this measures up!

Nona Lim Dan Dan Noodle Bowl – United States

Detail of the cardboard outer sleeve (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, cut a slit in the noodle pouch and microwave for 1 minutes. Add into bowl along with sauce. Microwave 30 seconds. Finally, stir and enjoy!

The noodle pouch.

The broth.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion, cucumber, and carrot. I should note I didn’t realize the instructions on this one differed from the previous bowl, but I think everything came out as it should. The noodles were very good – nice chew to them and a rustic kind of texture. The flavor was nice; a little hint of spice, a lot of the Beyond Meat – it kind of came together like a nice microwavable Hamburger Helper though – didn’t make me think of Dan Dan Noodle so much. That’s not to say that it wasn’t delicious – I really wanted to eat this whole bowl! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 859792002194.

Nona Lim Heat & Sip Cups, Sampler Variety Pack – Gluten Free (10 oz, 6 Count) – Packaging May Vary

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#3332: Kubota Men Onomichi Aji Hei Ramen – Japan

This one was in a Ramen Trunk subscription box.These boxes are full of extremely high end varieties that you’ll never find in the United States or anywhere outside Japan! Check out this link and use coupon code RAMENRATER20OFF for 20% off any single box or subscription!

Here’s what they have to say about this one – “

Onomichi is a small city of 136,000 in Hiroshima prefecture known for it’s ancient temples. It is a hilly city southwestern coast of Honshu island, the main island of Japan.

This Ajihei ramen is characterized by it’s soy sauce (shoyu) based broth cooked with fish to imbue a unique but light seafood flavor to round out the broth. Although noodles in the region typically are wide and flat, Ajihei ramen sticks with a more traditional thin-medium noodle thickness to not over power a lighter shoyu based broth.”

Let’s have a look at this fancy premium variety from Japan!

Kubota Men Onomichi Aji Hei Ramen – Japan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Contains fish (and almost certainly pork). To prepare, boil noodles on high heat for 30 seconds, then turn to medium heat and cook 1 minute. Combine soup base with 300ml boiling water. Drain noodles. Finally, add noodles and soup to bowl and enjoy!

Two servings of noodles.

Two servings of soup base.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft egg, narutomaki, chashu, spring onion, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, sesame seeds, nanami togarashi, and chili oil. The noodles are thin and quite nice – they’ve still got a backbone with a light kind of disposition at the same time which was nice. The broth is very rich and has a great oiliness to it. Impressive! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4972874209840.

ramen kitakata aizuwakamatsu koriyama iwaki Gourmet Information in Koriyama (Japanese

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#3330: Three Meters Pepper Sesame Belt Noodles – Taiwan

This is blue! I really like the color of this package – very striking and vibrant. These are something new from Three Meters – Belt Noodles. They’re very wide – kind of like a belt! The flavor sounds quite nice as well. Let’s check these out!

Three Meters Pepper Sesame Belt Noodles – Taiwan

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles for 5 minutes in 1000ml water, stirring gently. Midway through add 100ml cold water. Drain. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

One of three individual servings.

The belt noodles.

A wet sachet of sesame paste.

A wet sachet – guessing soy sauce.

A third sachet – looks like oil.

A dry sachet of Sichuan pepper.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added chashu pork, tea egg, scallions, and sesame seeds. Noodles are very broad with a nice chew to them – not too chewy or too soft but just right. The flavor is a nice coat of sesame, saltiness from soy, and pepper. It worked incredibly well. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4713361500121.

THREE METERS NOODLES Sesame Sauce Noodles (480g/4pcs) Best Taiwanese Gift – THREE METERS – Fresh Stock-Taiwan food – Noodle – Vegetarian

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#3328: Chef Nic’s Noodles Hot And Spicy – Taiwan

I’ve seen these recently at our local 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds, Washington. They’re on the more expensive end – closer to $6USD which is pretty steep, but I wanted to do a Spicy Noodle Mukbang video, was in the mood for something new from Taiwan… This just smacked of something interesting to try. Not only that, it was in a box. I swear, although more expensive, little boxes that are fancy with instant noodles in them are pretty dang cool.

A reader told me that this guy, Nic Xie, is a well-known actor from China. Let’s check these out!

Chef Nic’s Noodles Hot And Spicy – Taiwan

Detail of the box (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles for 3 minutes and drain. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

A tight little noodle block.

A wet sachet. Watch the Instant Noodle Recipe Time video to see contents!

Another wet sachet.

Crushed Sichuan peppercorn.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added barbecue pork, scallions, a tea egg, and black sesame seeds. The noodles have a great gauge and mouthfeel – fat little chewy strands. They pick up the sauce well, which is an amalgam of spicy Sichuan pepper flavor and sweetness and saltiness. Really worked well together – love it. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4897069140244.

Nic Reborn Love Karaoke VCD By Nicholas Tse

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Watch us eat Chef Nic’s Noodles on Spicy Noodle Mukbang!

#3327: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen – United States

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

I’ve gone to a couple ramen restaurants and hotten something mentioning spicy. Well, it hasn’t impressed me in flavor or spiciness in the past and been, well, bitter. I’m really curious about this one, though. Ramen Hero is based in the Bay Area and serves a few surrounding states at the time of this post – check their site for current service area. You pick your ramen, pay, and they’ll overnight you a set of ingredients to make a bowl of ramen at home – including garnish! Not bad. Let’s give this one a try – they send four and since they’re perishable, I’m going to do them over the next couple days.

Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen – United States

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

Here are the front and back labels (click to enlarge). Contains pork. To prepare, boil the large soup pouch for 10 minutes. when there’s 2 minutes left, boil your noodles in a seperate pot, stirring often. Also at the 1 1/2 minute point, drop the bags with the garnish in with the soup pouch to let them thaw (if needed). Finally, drain your noodles, add them to a bowl, empty the pouch of broth into your bowl, garnish, and enjoy!

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

Fresh ramen noodles.

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

The large broth sachet.

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

Pork belly chashu!

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

Menma (pickled bamboo shoots).

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

Narutomaki (fish cake).

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

Seaweed.

#3254: Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen - United States

Finished (click to enlarge). In addition to the garnish above, I added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, black sesame seeds, soft egg, spring onion, and habanero togarashi. Noodles came out perfectly yet again. They work so nicely with the broth which is rich, tasty, sinfully oily and spicy. Not only that, it’s not bitter. This was just great stuff to try on a rainy spring afternoon. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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#3325: Tabate Yuzu Dashi Shio Ramen – Japan

This one was in a Ramen Trunk subscription box.These boxes are full of extremely high end varieties that you’ll never find in the United States or anywhere outside Japan! Check out this link and use coupon code RAMENRATER20OFF for 20% off any single box or subscription!

Here’s what they have to say about this one – “This package of noodles is a very special one indeed and feels great during the wet season in Japan. First, the broth seasoning in this pack is a great mix of salt (shio) flavoring combined with Japan’s traditional dashi flavor and topped off perfectly with a hint of citrus from the yuzu fruit (kind of like a lemon/lime). It’s a truly unique combination of well balanced flavors.”

I’ll be honst, I’ve yet to have a yuzu variety that really has been all that great in my opinion, so fingers crossed for this one – let’s get started.

Tabate Yuzu Dashi Shio Ramen – Japan

Detail of the package (click to enlarge). Contains fish, unsure of other meat – check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles in 500ml water for 4 1/2 minutes. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

The noodle block.

A wet sachet.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added sesame seeds, Spring onion, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, baked chicken, and soft egg. Noodles were on the thin side, but chewy as hell and very good. Broth was strong with shio and dsahi, thin but giving. The yuzu element while not smack in your face danced around in a balance; a triumvirate of balance. 4.75 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4901592913401.

Ramen at Home: The Easy Japanese Cookbook for Classic Ramen and Bold New Flavors

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