Category: * Stars 4.1 – 5.0

#2462: TTL Sesame Oil Chicken Noodle With Rice Wine

#2462: TTL Sesame Oil Chicken Noodle With Rice Wine - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater - boozy noodles

This is one I was sent by Daniel of Exotic Noods, a subscription service specializing in instant noodles. I should note that this was something special he put in after a recent trip to Taiwan – thanks again! So these are manufactured by Wei Lih for TTL. TTL stands for Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor. Tobacco and liquor – what?! Indeed, this is a boozy noodle. It contains rice wine, something apparently that goes well in noodles and cooking. Ireviewed the bowl version of this a few weeks back. ...see full post

#2461: Fujiwara Hokkaido Hakodate Shio Ramen

#2461: Fujiwara Hokkaido Hakodate Shio Ramen - Japan - The Ramen Rater - instant ramen

Seems like a little while since I did a pack instant ramen from Japan. This is one I found during my trip to Taiwan last November at the Carrefour in Taipei by the Miramar Entertainment Park. I tell you – they had quite an impressive instant noodle aisle – like 4 aisles really. So this one is a shio instant ramen. Here’s a little from Wikipedia about shio – ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2455: KOKA Creamy Soup With Crushed Noodles Sweet Corn Flavor

Meet The Manufacturer: #2455: KOKA Creamy Soup With Crushed Noodles Sweet Corn Flavor - Singapore - The Ramen Rater - corn in a cup

I often remember my experience with corn in Southeast Asia in the past, however it wasn’t involving a creamy soup. First off, you don’t see corn very often – definitely nowhere near as much as you see it here in the United States. What I did see what in the Penang International Airport, they had a little snack stand. I think they had ice cream, beefburgers (they call them that because ham is not taken by so many people over there and just calling it a beefburger makes sure there’s no confusion), and corn in a cup. Here, we have corn on the cob. However over there I saw this corn in a cup – I asked our host what this was all about. Basically, it’s not popcorn, but yellow corn in a cup with butter and seasonings. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2449: KOKA Delight Tomato Flavor Instant Non-Fried Noodles

Meet The Manufacturer: #2449: KOKA Delight Tomato Flavor Instant Non-Fried Noodles - Singapore - The Ramen Rater - Tat Hui

Today we have one I have had the export version of in the past. This however, is the local Singapore version. One thing to note for the Vegetarian crowd is that these have that little box with the green circle inside. There’s two kinds – the green circle or the red circle. Green means suitable for Vegetarians and red means not suitable. Also, they’re steamed and not fried, and to top it off, there’s no added MSG, something people are always interested in. Well, let’s get started with this tomato variety from KOKA! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2446: KOKA Creamy Soup With Crushed Noodles Curry Flavor

Meet The Manufacturer: #2446: KOKA Creamy Soup With Crushed Noodles Curry Flavor - Singapore - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Here we have something new. So I usually only review instant noodles, not soups. However, this is a soup with instant noodles. Wait, what?! Yeah that’s what I thought too! I’ve never heard of such a thing – but it doesn’t sound bad. As I have always said, I love seeing innovation and something new. It definitely is a nice surprise when something unique and new crosses my desk and this certainty is that on both accounts. Let’s check out this cup of soup – with crushed noodles! ...see full post

Met The Manufacturer: #2445: KOKA Delight Laksa Singapura Flavor Instant Non-Fried Noodles

Met The Manufacturer: #2445: KOKA Delight Laksa Singapura Flavor Instant Non-Fried Noodles - The Ramen Rater - Singapore - Tat Hui Foods

I’m reviewing this on March 14th and it’s actually my birthday today! I just got done doing a really big project on spicy noodles and though maybe it would be nice to do a review of something curry. I was looking through the samples and saw this one and realized I do have laksa leaves in my fridge so I’d better review it. So, what’s Laksa Singapura? Wikipedia has this to say – ...see full post

#2439: Uni-President Man Han Feast Super Hot Pot Beef Flavor Instant Noodles

#2439: Uni-President Man Han Feast Super Hot Pot Beef Flavor Instant Noodles - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater - 統一企業 滿漢大餐

Here’s one I picked up during my November 2016 trip to Taiwan. So I found this one at 7-Eleven I believe. Indeed for years I’ve been told by people from Taiwan to give this one a try. They’ve been downright exclamatory about it, but nobody ever sent me one to try. Moreover it took me actually bringing one home from Taiwan to get it and so here we are. This is part of Uni-President’s Man Han Feast range. Here’s a little about Man Han (short for Manchu Han) Feast from Wikipedia – ...see full post

#2438: World O’Noodle Mi Goreng Original Flavour Fried Noodles

#2438: World O'Noodle Mi Goreng Original Flavour Fried Noodles - Indonesia - The Ramen Rater - instant noodle

I found this one during my November 2016 trip to Taiwan. So this was at a Jason’s Market at the bottom of the Taipei 101. Mi Goreng is a very popular stir nodle dish. Mi Goreng instant noodles are most well known from Indonesia, indeed where this one is from. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about Mi Goreng – ...see full post

#2428: TTL Sesame Oil Chicken Noodle With Rice Wine

#2428: TTL Sesame Oil Chicken Noodle With Rice Wine - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater - boozy noodles

This is one I found at a 7-Eleven during my November 2016 trip to Taiwan. So these are manufactured by Wei Lih for TTL. TTL stands for Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor. Tobacco and liquor – what?! Indeed, this is a boozy noodle. It contains rice wine, something apparently that goes well in noodles and cooking. I’m unsure, but I think this may be the first variety I’ve reviewed with alcohol in it – could be wrong. ...see full post

#2419: MyKuali Penang Red Tom Yum Goong Noodle Soup (Japan Version)

A while back the folks at MyKuali sent over samples. I give reviews to different versions of products and this is certainly different. This is the Penang Red Tom Yum Goong that is now in Japan. As you can see on the front of the box, a rank #1 on the 2015 Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list. Well, what’s tom yum? Here’s something from Wikipedia: ...see full post

#2418: Myojo Yomise No Yakisoba Karashi Mentaiko Flavor

#2418: Myojo Yomise No Yakisoba Karashi Mentaiko Flavor - Japan - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Here’s another one I found in Taiwan on my trip in November of 2016. Yakisoba is one of my favorites – and my wife Kit likes it quite a bit as well. As I’ve said before, I’m usually quite a few reviews ahead as normally I do two reviews a day but only post one. Right now It’s February 20th, 2017 and our new President Trump has only been in office for a month. I have to assure my friends from all over the world that indeed not all of us are rude and boorish as he is and respect other people’s rights. That being said, let’s talk more about this one! ...see full post

#2416: Xiuhe Hot & Sour Beef Noodle

#2416: Xiuhe Hot & Sour Chilled Beef Noodle - China - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Here’s another one that was sent to me by Colin from Arlington, Massachusetts – thanks again! This one has really proved to be a touch one to translate this morning. Cooking shouldn’t be an issued, however figuring out what the name/variety is on this one is tough. Searched by image, searched by barcode, hit the company’s website… I see other ones with the little ‘angelic baby’ on the packaging, but none that look just like this one. UPDATE – Thank you to Bobby Y., my friend from Toronto – he figured it out. It was too late for my friends in Southeast Asia so I had to look west! So the noodles are hot but I guess I will put chilled prepared beef in with them. Alright – let’s check it out! UPDATE #2 – my friend Mengzhe Z. who is in China told me actually it isn’t chilled beef – just beef. ...see full post

#2407: Just Way Noodles Chuan Wei Spicy Hot Guan-miao Noodles

#2407: Just Way Noodles Chuan Wei Spicy Hot Guan-miao Noodles - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater - instant noodle

This variety comes by way of Colin, a reader from Massachusetts – thank you! It was originally said by Oscar Wilde: ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.’ I have often found this to be true fr the most part. Indeed, why would someone want to imitate exactly what you do unless they want to attain something that you did prior? Well, sometimes it just seems like it takes a bit of a spiral from flattery to pure copying. ...see full post

#2404: MyKuali Penang Hokkien Prawn Noodle Soup

#2404: MyKuali Penang Hokkien Prawn Noodle Soup - Malaysia - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Her’s one you may not have seen from MyKuali before. Actually, you have on here , but with different clothing. So this is what is now known and seen more commonly as MyKuali Spicy Prawn Noodle Soup. However, it is dressed differently for the Singaporean market. Curious about what Hokkien Prawn is all about? Here’s something from wikipedia: ...see full post

#2403: Goku-Uma Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodle

#2403: Goku-Uma Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodle - United States - The Ramen Rater - instant noodle

We recently took a trip to Asian Food Grocery in 130th & Aurora and found this one. My wife likes yakisoba a lot and so I like to make it for her. This one has a little interesting thing though. On the sticker, it mentioned ‘This product contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.’ Wait, what? So I took a look at the ingredients list and found something I’d not seen before – an ingredient called Rebaudioside A. I looked that up and wikipedia had this to say: ...see full post

#2395: Master Kong Chicken Noodle

#2395: Master Kong Chicken Noodle - China - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Here’s one sent to me by a reader named Colin – thanks again! So Master Kong has been in the news a lot lately. It seems they’ve closed a factory in Taiwan and people all of a sudden thought Master Kong was going to stop producing their products everywhere. However, this is definitely not the case. For example, here we have a Master Kong variety from China. Master Kang (also known as Kang shi Fu) is produced by Tingyi – here’s a little about Tingyi from wikipedia: ...see full post

#2392: MyKuali Penang Red Tom Yum Goong Rice Vermicelli Soup

#2393: MyKuali Penang Red Tom Yum Goong Rice Vermicelli Soup - Malaysia - The Ramen Rater - rice vermicelli

Hey awesome! So I’ve been trying to get my hands on the full range of MyKuali rice vermicelli bowls for a while now. Indeed, they are only sold in Southeast Asia which can make it difficult. However, the kind folks at MyKuali sent me quite a few of their newer varieties and so I’ve got them all including a couple others! So today, it’s Penang Red Tom Yum goong. So, what does this mean? Wikipedia, if you please: ...see full post