This one’s interesting – a Thai take on a Japanese classic! Tonkotsu! Here’s what wikipedia says about tonkotsu:
Category: * Stars 4.1 – 5.0
#1658: Choripdong Hurricane Rice Cake (Topokki)
Topokki time! Okay so you’re probably thinking ‘what? Yesterday he reviewed rice porrige and now it’s rice cake?!’ Well, this one has topokki (Korean rice cake) as well as noodles in it. One thing to note as well – see where it says to keep it refrigerated? I saw pallets of these where I got it that weren’t. To be honest, I think putting that on certain instant products that have these kind of fresh noodle packs inside is a way to give the illusory guise of something less shelf stable, making one think it’s higher quality. Honestly though, that kind of thing doesn’t really phase me. So! What is topokki? Wikipedia for ya –
Meet The Manufacturer: #1654: MyOri Malaysia Penang White Curry Noodle Super Spicy
To wrap up this Meet The Manufacturer, we revisit our old friend the Penang White Curry. This one says it’s super spicy – something that always piques my curiosity. I’ve had some instant noodles that have said they’re really spicy and they’ve been almost bland (yeah, I’m looking at you Canada and England). Usually though, something that has a little mention on the pack of heat usually isn’t kidding around. Let’s check this one out and see how spicy it truly is.
Meet The Manufacturer: #1653: MyOri Malaysia Penang Green Curry Rice Vermicelli
Ok, so I don’t think I’ve been bugged more by any company to try an instant variety before. I mean wow – daily asks of ‘have you tried it yet?’ The folks at MyOri are ultra excited about this one! Well, today is the day! I think I’m ready! I really like green curry, but never been a huge fan of rice vermicelli. However, rice vermicelli has been kind of growing on me in the last year, so we shall see. Let’s pop this sucker open and give it a go!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1652: MyOri Malaysia Penang White Curry Noodle Original
Penang, home of some of the most amazing food and culture of the world. White Curry is one of the great things about Penang – spicy, full of flavor and fascinatingly exotic. There are quite a few White Curry Noodle variants on the market, of which I’ve tried many. It’s always really great to try a new one – I’m succh a curry junkie… I could eat curry every day! My first meeting with curry was when I was a kid – my mom made curried chicken livers over rice. I really liked it quite a bit – still kind of surprises me that I would have been so adventurous at such a young ago, but back then, dinner was what your parents made and that was that. Luckily, my mom always made tasty dinner! Anyways, let’s move from past to present and try this Myori Malaysia Penang White Curry Noodle!
#1650: Ottogi Sesame Ramen Korean Style Instant Noodle
I’ve gotten a good amount of comments about this one. Ottogi Sesame Ramen seems to have filled an interesting niche in the noodle market! It’s pretty neat stuff – it has something called an ‘egg block.’ It is basically dehydrated egg that when introduced to the boiling water springs to life! I’ve had the bowl version (also known as a king cup) before, but never reviewed the pack. Let’s check out Ottogi Sesame Ramen!
#1649: Master Kong Seafood Flavour Instant Cooking Noodles
Here’s another one sent by a kind reader in Sweden! Thank you! Master Kong is really popular in China and what surprises me is that there are no places that I’ve seen that you can get their products here in the United States. Luckily, people send them to me from time to time, but it seems to me that I really need to figure out a way to contact them and do a Meet The Manufacturer with them. The Chinese consume billions of packages of instant noodles a year and I’ve never done a Chinese Meet The Manufacturer yet! It’s about time. Well, let’s check out these seafood flavor Master Kong instant noodles!
#1648: Wei Lih Instant Noodles With Onion Flavour
This is one I got last month on my birthday trip to Canada! What’s interesting is that it’s one I tried to get along with a couple others from one store up there the previous year but there was some kind of thing that to use a card you’d need to spend at least $20 or something, and since the noodles I found were a far cry from that, I skipped it. I really was bummed – this is nowhere to be found here in the USA so thought this time around I’d see if the place had it – and it did! Let’s check out this Wei Lih onion variety.
Top Ten 2015 Re-Review: MyKuali Penang Red Tom Yum Goong Noodle
This one is pretty special. When I traveled to Malaysia last year, we got to visit an island off the coast called Langkawi. We went to a couple of really nice Thai restaurants while there and I tried the tom yum soup. It was nothing like anything I’d tried previously; extremely strong broth, with a deep richness to it. It was one of the best things I got to try during my trip! I knew that MyKuali had a new Tom Yum variety and I was very keen on trying it. The day I left, I got a couple packs to bring home and try. That being said, let’s have another look at MyKuali Penang Red Tom Yum Goong and see what makes it so special.
#1638: A-Sha Veggie Noodle Tomato Noodle With Vine Ripened Tomato Sauce
Got this sample recently and been really wanting to try it. Well, today’s the day. They told me that it has a very strong tomato flavor and is ‘robust.’ I have been asked by people quite a few times ‘so whatever happened to the tomato flavor instant noodles? They were really good!’ I’ve never really figured out what the heck they were talking about, guessing that they were referring to a domestic brand most likely. Well, let’s check out A-Sha’s take on tomato!
Re-Review: Mamee Chef Gold Recipe Mi Kari Seribu Rasa
I woke up this morning in the mood for something curry. I was looking in my stores of instant noodles today and found this Mamee Chef Gold Recipe. I’ve reviewed it before, but I thought it would make a good breakfast and would be neat to re-review. I really liked the name of this one – seribu rasa means a thousand flavors, which immediately makes me think of thousand island dressing. Of course, this isn’t anything like thousand island dressing. Let’s have a look inside and see what makes this instant noodle tick.
Re-Review: Prima Taste Singapore Curry La Mian
I thought it was about time to review this one again. Prima Taste Simgapore Curry La Mian has been on my top ten lists for the last couple of years – it’s really great stuff! I remember when I first tried it tell my friends and colleagues that it was ‘a real game changer.’ I hadn’t seen but sachets like the ones found within before and though it was really neat stuff. I just found out about a couple new videos Prima Taste has made to prepare them as well – check them out here! Let’s have another look at Prima Taste Singapore Curry La Mian!
#1625: MAMA Instant Rice Noodles Soup Spicy Shrimp Flavour
I often get asked ‘can you make a top ten gluten free list?’ My answer unfortunately is always no. Since I’m not someone who’s a doctor and not having to modify my diet for gluten intake, I would be afraid of telling people ‘oh yeah – eat this!’ and then they get sick, file a lawsuit against me, and I end up so poor I can’t evern afford instant noodles! But there’s a however coming up! I have been thinking I may start an annual top ten rice noodles list. Why? Well, my top tens probably will never include rice noodles or rice vermicelli; instant noodles are more of the wheat flour kind of thing. Rice noodles however do appear to be mostly gluten free as this variety is, so a top ten list of rice varieties might be a great place to start if you’re looking for something that you can have if gluten isn’t on your personal menu. Let’s have a look at these gluten free spicy shrimp noodles by MAMA!
#1623: MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle (New Improved Taste)
MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle was the number one instant on the 2014 top ten list. So what do they do? They’ve changed it to make it better. This is pretty fascinating, but not at all surprising. What I heard again and again while visiting MyKuali in Penang last year was that the hawkers will change their recipes all the time; improving them and refining them. It looks as though that’s what MyKuali is doing here with their product line. Let’s see what’s different about their Penang White curry Noodle!
Re-Review: Prima Taste Singapore Laksa La Mian
#1617: MyKuali Penang Hokkien Prawn Noodle (New Improved Taste)
During my trip last year to Malaysia, I got to try a lot of Hokkien mee. I think about 4 or 5 different restaurants. Here’s a little bit of info about it from wikipedia:
#1614: The Bridge Penang White Curry Noodle
Another one got during our trip to Malaysia! I think this is one of the first white curries that spun off of the craze that started in 2013. I’ve seen it many times, but never been able to try it. Well, no more! Today I’ll see what The Bridge has to offer!
#1608: Hao Way Penang Vegetarian Prawn Instant Noodles
Here’s another new one from Hao Way – Penang Vegetarian Prawn instant noodles! I’m really quite curious on how you can make a vegetarian prawn flavor. Let’s have a look!
#1603: Salam Mie Mi Goreng Ala Jawa Dengan Sambal Cabe Asli
Got this one during my trip to Malaysia at the Chain Ferry Econsave in Butterworth, Penang. Today is March 5th, 2015 and Momofuku Ando would have been 105 years old today! It’s fascinating to me to think that I wouldn’t be doing any of this if he didn’t invent the instant noodle. Happy Birthday, Mr. Andi! This one however is an Indonesian brand called Salam Mie. The flavor translates to original spicy sambal. Let’s have a look at this variety by Salam Mie!
#1601: Nongshim Jinjja Jinjja (New)
A big thank you to reader Anders E. of South Korea for sending this along!For a long time, Nongshim Jinjja Jinjja was my absolute favorite ramyun from South Korea. They even made it here in Rancho Cucamonga, California for a while with the subheading of ‘flamin’ hot and nutty.’ Jinjja Jinjja means ‘really really.’ Well, they stopped making them. I’m not exactly sure why; some people said that South Koreans aren’t big fans of pork broth. Nevertheless, Nongshim has brought Jinjja Jinjja back – here’s a little something I found on Nongshim’s South Korean website:
#1600: Chering Chang Instant Non-Fried Noodles Shallot Pork Flavour
Today my wife asked me if I had any non-spicy noodles without much broth. It’s pretty rare for her to ask me to make her some noodles; she’s not the biggest fan of them, and really doesn’t like broth – she’s usually game for yakisoba or mi goreng as long as it isn’t spicy. I looked around through my stores of noodles – the ones in my son’s room, the ones under my desk, the ones that arrived the other day that are sitting in boxes in front of the fireplace. So this is the one I thought she might like. These are by a company that ranked high on my top ten Taiwanese instant noodles list that I contacted, asking if they could possibly send some varieties I couldn’t get here – and they did. Let’s see how we like them.
#1595: JML Emperor Instant Noodles Spicy Chicken
Here’s yet another that was sent by a kind reader from Sweden – thank you! This one is by JML (Jin Mai Lang) – I’ve reviewed many of their varieties in the past but never one of the ‘Emporer’ line. It looks to have some kick to it – let’s check it out!
#1593: Nongshim Tteokgukmyun
This one came from Anders E., a reader in South Korea – thanks! He mentioned that this variety is often enjoyed on Korean New Year, and since that was a couple days ago, I thought I’d have it today. Here’s a little info about how it fits in with Lunar New Year celebrations from wikipedia:
#1592: Mom’s Dry Noodle Vegan Chilli With Sesame Sauce
Today’s a very big day for people living in Asia as well as the rest of the world! It’s Chinese New Year! I thought today would be a good day to have this new Mom’s Dry Noodle from Taiwan. I have the honor of taking part in a special Chinese New Year gathering in Seattle this year with a Singaporean group! I’ll be posting about that on Sunday. For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese New Year, here’s a little about it from Wikipedia:
Meet The Manufacturer: #1585: CarJEN Nyonya Curry Laksa
Here’s the new CarJEN Nyonya Curry Laksa! This one’s supposed to be pretty good and comes with a sachet of sambal dipping sauce. So to start, let’s see what wikipedia has to say about the term Nyonya:
#1575: Paldo Jjajangmen Chajang Noodle King Bowl
It’s still winter, so I thought something hearty would be a nice touch today. Jjajangmen is a Chinese-South Korean fusion dish. Ramyun noodles and Chajang sauce, rich and thick with black beans. Let’s have a look at this new bowl from Paldo!
#1573: Hao Way Penang White Curry Instant Bowl Noodles
I’m sure everyone has been noticing – I’ve been reviewing a LOT of Malaysian instant noodles lately. The reason for this is that I have a ton of different varieties with more on their way – but this one’s a first! This is the first Penang White Curry bowl variant I’ve tried. Let’s have a look!
#1570: Maruchan Big Cup Ramen Corn, Salt & Butter Flavor
Once in a while, I get something a little different – something that contains something I’ve not seen before. This is one of those times. So it was kind of difficult to translate this one – it’s basically salt Butter and Corn flavor, although the translation I ended up with didn’t mention the corn. I decided to go ahead and add corn in the title anyways. Also, I saw lots of translations mention the word circle, although I’m not sure if that was just Google translate being weird.Anyways, this is a big bowl of noodles and I’m very curious to try them. Without any further adieu, let’s open this thing up and look inside!
4th Annual Momofuku Ando Day: #1567: Nissin Emergency Cup Noodle
Having an emergency? Well then, hunker down in your shelter and boil some water! This is a fine dinner for two of Nissin Cup Noodle in a neat metal can, sealed for long life.
#1563: Nongshim Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup (New Edition)
Before you go crazy and say ‘what you’ve never reviewed Shin Ramyun before,’ just listen for a second. So this is the new packaging they rolled out recently. I thought it was worth as whole new review as they’be had the old packaging on this one for eons and eons.
#1561: Uncle Sun White Curry Noodle
Most of the instant noodles from Malaysia have been just that – sent to me FROM Malaysia by manufacturers. What’s kind of cool is that now I’m seeing more of them start showing up in the United States. I found this Uncle Sun White Curry a few miles north of here in Everett at a newer Asian grocery simply called Asian Grocery (great name). It’s actually a great place – they have two varieties of this one – the one you see here and one that looks identical but says it’s extra hot! They also had Milo, a popular drink from Malaysia – kind of like chocolate milk, but like dark chocolate milk. Anyways – sweet – more white curry! Let’s check it out!
Re-Review: Indomie Mi Goreng Fried Noodles
On my last trip to the Asian grocery store, I had a though. I thought maybe I ought to toss in some of the varieties I’ve not reviewed in a while that I’ve recommended quite a bit to people since they’re relatively easy to source and quite good. This one’s a perfect example. My first favorite instant growing up was the Japanese Nissin Chickin Ramen. After trying a few varieties, I found Indomie Mi Goreng line and was all about it. When we’d go to Seattle we’d come back with a couple bags full of them, and I don’t think my parents minded too much since it was around 25 cents a pack. I tried many different varieties in the Indomie Mi Goreng line – there are quite a few. I used to go for the Satay flavor mostly, but then found the Barbecue Chicken one to my liking. Then there’s the Rendang which is a really great one, gracing the top ten list a couple times I think. This one today is the original version. If you’ve not tried this stuff, you’ve got to; it’s a real treat and easily modified to taste. There’s five sachets ioncluded- quite a few in an instant noodle pack and I’ll explain them all here. Anyways, let’s bring on the Indomie Mi Goreng!
Re-Review: Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup Creamy Chicken Flavor
We heard the news about QZ8501 last night – very sad news indeed. We flew from Penang to Langkawi during our Malaysia trip on a bright red AirAsia jet. Today the red is gone. We send our hopes to the passengers crew and their families. Here is a live blog on news of the flight.
#1550: Ibumie Penang White CurryMee
During a trip to 99 Ranch recently (my son wanted to get my wife some Christmas gifts), I happened down the noodle aisle and found these! Ibumie CurryMee! Wow – white curry on the shelves so nearby! Can’t complain about that!
#1549: Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein Japanese Style Noodles Yakisoba
Here’s another one my wife got me during my annual birthday trip to Canada this year – thank, Kit! So this is the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein. There are a couple differences between this and the version for sale in the United States packaging wise, but does it taste different? I’m guessing it’s going to be about the same but it could be different. Let’s find out as I tear into the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein!
#1547: Vedan Volcano Spicy Pork Noodle
Here’s an interesting one which I got some great help in translating from Bobby Y. – thank you as always! I kind of ran into a hitch when I was trying to translate this: 台湾泡面 味丹双响炮 碗装方便面 火山岩烧豚骨汤面110G 6个包邮 and then got this from Google: Taiwan Vedan Pom instant noodles bowl of instant noodles volcanic burning dolphin soup surface 110G 6 个 shipping. Volcanic burning dolphin soup does sound interesting though! Another thing he was able to verify was that there’s a little sachet that is to be enjoyed as a snack while you wait for the noodles to steep and aren’t actually an ingredient – we’ll go more into that in the directions. Anyways, let’s check this one from Taiwan out!
#1545: Nanyang Chef Penang Asam Pedas Hot & Sour Instant Noodle
A while back, I reviewed Nanyang Chef’s Penang White Curry Noodle With Nanyang Chili Paste. Today, it’s a new product from them – Asan Pedas. At first, I thought this would be Asam Laksa, but then I dug a little in Wikipedia and found that Asam Pedas is a stew accompanied by fish. The Asam word refers to tamarind, which lends to the sour nature of Asam Laksa as well as Asam Pedas. Let’s check out this new comer from Nanyang Chef!
#1540: Unif-100 Instant Noodles Artificial Shallot Beef Flavor
I keep looking at this one in my noodle hamper and then curse at myself for not getting shallots… I mean, they’re cheap and taste really good – why didn’t I get shallots? Well, I kept forgetting to. But fear not shallot lovers! I now have shallots. Beef and shallot lovers, your day has arrived. Let’s delve into the insides of this Unif-100 Artificial Shallot Beef flavor pack from Unif of China!
Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Extra Hot Chili Flavor
Today, we say farewell to the Monde Nissin Meet The Manufacturer! It’s been really neat to try all of these different varieties one right after the other – this is the 15th review! I do up to 15 in a row during an MTM. I thought today would definitely be fitting for something hot and spicy. Why you ask?
Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Sweet & Spicy Flavor
There are quite a few varieties of these Pancit Canton – and in the past this one’s been my favorite. It’s been quite a while – sounds really good today.