Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Yep – it’s a bag of potato chips withj Cup Noodles Spicy Seafood seasoning from Hong Kong. I really like these kinds of things – really funny to see this – they did it once in the United States with Chicken Top Ramen Pringles (you didn’t think I missed reviewing that one, did you?) – they also have Cup Noodles chips in Singapore (like these). Anyways, let’s dig in to this bag and have a looksie.
Here’s one sent to me by Ippin, a purveyor of lots of different Japanese products. This is definitely a fancy variety from a set of Kanto region varieties based on popular ramen shops. Not a lot of boxes come across my desk so this should be interesting! Here’s what the Ippin website had to say about this variety:
It seems that Red Chef is focusing their range on unique facets in their creations – Sakura prawn, the green tom yum and here we have a white curry with pandan. So, what’s pandan? Here’s a bit from Wikipedia –
Green Tom Yum? Hey, this is something unique and new to me! I wonder what the story is on this… Let’s find out from Red Chef:
To start things off, we have a variety with Sakura prawns. I’ve never heard of these – here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them:
I don’t know if this one came before or after the famous ‘special edition lobster’ variety by this company, but this looks like it’s going to be quite a different variety. Here’s a little about ribs in Korea –
I’ve always been impressed how often MyKuali changes their recipes. I want to say this may be the fourth iteration of the Hokkien Prawn Noodle thus far – at least that they’ve sent and I know of. I’ll admit I’ve not always been keen on the changes, but it really is nice to see companies that want to keep improving – even a product that’s very well received to begin with. Let’s see how this new change taste!
This was one variety I didn’t want to leave Taiwan without. I was lucky – we walked around the food expo in Taiwan last November and didn’t see it. Then We went through the beer, wine and spirits section and boom – there it is! A huge booth for TTL (Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor) and a guy asks is he could answer any questions. ‘Where are the noodles?’ Well, I showed him my event badge and he knew who I was which was very cool. Nice guy who went by the name of Ben – if you see this Ben, contact me – would love to do an interview about this product line!
You may recall I reviewed some Nissin Cup Noodles Tom Yum chips a while back – those were from Singapore while these are from Hong Kong. Here’s a little about tom yum from Wikipedia –
There have been some big changes over at MyKuali and the recipes of all their flavors are getting a bit of ‘tweaking.’ Many times in the past, MyKuali has changed recipes. I’m very curious to see what they’ve done with this one. The first time I tried it was in 2014 and I really enjoyed it then – it ended up on the 2015 Top Ten – let’s see how this new recipe taste.
Another one I picked up at Osaka in the Yaohan Centre up in Richmond, BC. This should prove to be a boatload of yakisoba! So, what’s yakisoba? Here’s what wikipedia has to say on the matter –
This one comes by way of Japan Ramen Box. Japan Ramen Box is a new subscription box outfit with neat varieties to check out! Go visit their website and have a look!
Here’s another one from Zenpop.JP. Zenpop offers a lot of diverse Japanese boxes – lots of assorted things like ramen and also stationary among other things. Here’s what they have to say about this variety –
This is the instant noodle that started my fascination with Malaysia. About five years ago I got some samples and was just floored. It hit 7th place back then on the top ten spicy list and was a really big deal. Then it hit #1 on the regular top ten list in 2014. The recipe has changed at least three times since it’s original release I think and this might be the fourth iteration of flavor for Penang White Curry from Mykuali. Let’s not delay – let’s give it a try!
To start things off, we have a tomato variety from Meimen. Just as a reminder, all of the Meimen products are Vegan.
I received this as a gift from a representative of the Little Cook brand in Taipei, Taiwan at the Taiwan International Food Expo! Thank you very much! She also accepted the third place award from The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2017 Edition – Little Cook Green Curry – at the awards show.
Here’s another one I brought home from Taiwan in November 2017. Thanks again to friends on facebook for helping with the translation.
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.
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! Here’s what they had to say about this variety:
Today, it’s probably the most popular variety in India – Maggi Masala. If you ask anyone in India about instant noodles, they’ve heard of this one. I actually got this one up in Canada at Walmart (yep – they have Walmart in Canada). Here’s a little from Wikipedia about this one –
I think I found this one at 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds, Washington a month or two ago. I go in there an awful lot – they have the mung bean sprouts I like and usually with the longest expiration life in the area. I could go on and on about mung bean sprouts, but here’s a little about tonkotsu ramen from Wikipedia –
These came by way of Snackoo – a company that supplies you with great snack boxes, containing all sorts of fascinating things as well as ramen noodles. Why not check them out?
Went to the new Daiso over in Lynnwood, Washington this weekend. I used to get lots of neat bowls from there but unfortunately, those days are over. This was one of the larger Daiso places I’ve seen but unfortunately, they had the crummiest selection of bowls. Makes me bummed out as they had super awesome ones in the past.
So a couple months ago I read an article mentioning this high end fancy instant ramen. Having never seen nor heard of it, I thought I’d better investigate. I mean, how can I be The Ramen Rater if I’m not going to hop on board for something like this? I got some eBay gift cards for Christmas and thought I’d seek this one out.
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.
Here’s another one sent by Zenpop. Zenpop is a subscription box service where you can get many varieties of Japanese products sent to your door monthly. Here’s what they had to say about this variety –
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve had a version of Neoguri to review. Actually, wait – not that extremely long – they came out with the Neoguri dry stir noodle one recently. So this is one I got up in Canada a couple of months ago.
Been forever since I tried Shanxi cold noodle. I think perhaps I cooked them wrong. Regardless, I know how to cook them correctly thanks to the nice folks at Snackoo! Snackoo is a subscription box service startup in San Francisco. They’ve got a lot of neat products – many I’ve never seen before – check ’em out!
I believe this is the last of the new Straight Noodle/Bar Noodle Demae Ramen range from Nissin Hong Kong – really sad that I’ve tried them all! So let’s look at shoyu and then tonkotsu – Wikipedia if you please –
These came by way of Snackoo – a company that supplies you with great snack boxes, containing all sorts of fascinating things as well as ramen noodles. Why not check them out?
Yet another leftover from the KOKA Meet The Manufacturer series. I’ve still got a bunch more! Wow! So this one should be really great – I love KOKA’s Laksa Singapura every time I try a different version. They make it in quite a few – rice, wheat, fried, non-fried. Let’s crack into this bowl and see what’s within.
Alright – bring on the confusion, the shock and the WTF’s. Yes, mayonnaise is very popular as a topping in Japan. Why? Well, it’s freaking awesome – it’s tasty and works very well. Yakisoba without it is just not as good.
Once you get outside the United States, cilantro is known as coriander. This is actually the second coriander variety I’ll be trying from Japan. Didn’t expect that to be a popular flavor for Japan, but hey, why not. I really like coriander. This one comes from Zenpop.jp. They have monthly ramen boxes that are a really great deal – definitely, check them out! Okay – let’s crack this one open.
Yay! Another new variety of the popular Buldak Bokkeummyun ‘Fire Noodle Challenge’ series. This one’s called Carbo. At first, I saw the name and the heart and thought low carbohydrate, but that’s definitely not the case here.
This is the MyKuasli Penang White Curry Noodle variety that comes from Singapore – rather it’s made for Singapore. I don’t believe it’s different except for the packaging, but to be honest, any chance UI have to review another MyKuali pack is worth it to me to do so. It’s just a no-brainer; I love their stuff. So let’s have a look.
Here’s a pretty well known variety from Japan but actually made in Indonesia for Singapore and Malaysia. This one was sent to me by Nissin Singapore (thank you!) and has some big differences when you compare to it’s Japanese cousin – spicy mayonnaise to start with. Let’s unwrap this yakisoba and have a look inside U.F.O.!
When I saw this one I was extremely interested. I’ve had tom yum soup many times in Thailand and in Malaysia as well. I’ve reviewed tom yum instant noodle varieties from throughout Southeast Asia – tons of them. I’ve NEVER had one however from the United States. Not only that, this one is a microwavable tom yum. I must admit these are definitely uncharted waters. I’m really hoping this is good. With an open mind and palate, I delve into this bowl.
Here’s yet another of the Demae Ramen Bar Noodle series. These have not failed to impress since the first Straight Noodle Demae Ramen varieties I tried last year. This sounds really good and I like seeing the corn in the above image. One might be surprised, but butter and sweetcorn really go incredibly well with miso ramen. This promises to be bumped up by being a tonkotsu miso – wow I’m definitely curious about this one. Here’s a little about miso as well as tonkotsu from Wikipedia –
Woot, woot! This one comes by way of Jay from Taiwan – thank you! This is a meaty one! Big retort pouch inside. These things actually have some heft to them (they weigh a bit).
Here’s another interesting one from Zenpop.JP – thanks! So Zenpop is doing monthly boxes of all sorts of things Japan-related including instant ramen of course. This one looks particularly interesting in that it’s an instant yakisoba made with noodles made from… Mochi? Here’s a little about mochi from Wikipedia –
