Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Today, we start with Forest Noodles’ sweet potato noodles. They’re sun-dried (no sun, no noodles). I think it would be neat to have a sun-dried noodle company here in the Seattle company, but it’s so cloudy around here that it probably wouldn’t work very well! Maybe in the summer months though… anyways, let’s see what we’ve got here!
A big box from Taiwan! What’s inside?
Nicely packed with bubble wrap!
A Forest Noodles brochure.
I was contacted a while back by a Taiwanese company I’d never heard of called Forest Noodles. I thought hey – I live near the forest! They had samples sent and I sent interview questions and so here we are! I interviewed MingYo, Founder of Forest Noodles – welcome to a new Meet The Manufacturer – on with the interview!
Today, we have the last review of the Meet The Manufacturer for Vit’s. It’s been fun – lots of strong flavors and flavors is Malaysia! Penang White Curry is one of my favorites – let’s try the first one I’ve ever seen with fresh noodles.
Re-reviews are kind of a trip sometimes; they don’t get a number, but they get another try. Usually they end up getting the same score, but sometimes they do a little better or worse. I kind of doubt there’ll be any change – had this one for the first time 40 reviews ago at #1791. Let’s give it a look!
So these new Taste of Malaysia varieties from Vit’s come in two ways: a fried instant noodle accompanying a paste or a fresh ramen pouch with a paste. It’s a very early morning here – we had to be up at 3am! In fact, my first taste of the day was this laksa at 5:42am! Let’s check out this new one from Vit’s!
Mi Goreng Pedas translates to Spicy Fried Noodles. I brought some of this back after my visit to Penang, Malaysia last year. Mi goreng has long been a favorite of mine – a little sweet, a little spicy, a little salty, kind of like an Indonesian yakisoba – sounds good, right? Let’s give this one another try, about 140 reviews later.
Here’s another one of the new premium line from Vit’s. The package contains two individual servings (2 noodle pouches, 2 paste sachets). If you like sweet prawn flavor, Hokkien Mee is definitely up your alley! Let’s look inside.
Penang White Curry was a flavor that really piqued my interest in Malaysia back in 2013. I was accustomed to curry flavors, but this was something entirely different. Green, red, yellow – those were all familiar, but white? Nowadays, there are many, many varieties of Penang White Curry instant noodles on the market – let’s check out this new one from Vit’s!
Here’s something fancy – asam laksa ramen! Vit’s has a ramen line which uses these pouches of fresh ramen noodles – haven’t seen this kind of thing before with Malaysian flavors. Here’s a little about what asam laksa is from wikipedia:
One of the standard varieties most instant noodle companies produce is chicken. However when you move east towards Malaysia and Singapore, curry ends up as one that is exceedingly common. Curry is a flavor I have loved since my childhood – in fact I remember at a very young ago really enjoying my mother’s curried chicken liver over rice. There’s something seductive about curry that I can’t quite put my finger on, but perhaps that’s part of it’s charm. It kind of has an earthy and mystical property that just enthralls me. Let’s delve into this pack again, one I originally tried about a hundred reviews ago.
This is the first of a new premium line Vit’s is manufacturing called Taste Of Malaysia. I’ll say right now that I really like Hokkien Mee, but many might not know what it is. Here’s some good info from the Penang Hawker Food Blog:
To start things off, I thought I’d go back in time with this one. This is part of the Vit’s Classic line of products. Definitely has that ‘old school’ look to it, eh? Well, let’s have a look inside!
Got a box from Malaysia today!
I always look at the packing material – it was all paper from a tradeshow in Tahiland called ThaiFex, and from a Hong Kong show called HOFEX.
Interview With Vit’s Noodles * Product Samples From Vit’s Noodles * Vit’s Instant Noodles With Chicken Flavour * Vit’s Taste Of Malaysia Penang Hokkien Mee Fried Instant Noodle * Vit’s Curry Instant Noodles * Vit’s Taste Of Malaysia Penang Asam Laksa Ramen * Vit’s Taste Of Malaysia Penang White Curry Fried Instant Noodle * Vit’s Mi Goreng Pedas Chewy & Springy * Vit’s Taste Of Malaysia Penang Hokkien Mee Ramen * Vit’s Taste Of Malaysia Penang Asam Laksa Fried Instant Noodle * Vit’s Tom Yam Instant Noodles * Vit’s Taste Of Malaysia Penang White Curry Ramen
Here’s one of the last ones I got during my trip to Thailand to visit the nice folks that make MAMA noodles in May. It was really great over there – really hot, but wow – the 7-11 next to the hotel was a treasure trove as far as instant noodles I can’t source here are concerned! Let’s check this one out.
Okay so you might be wondering – plum mayo ramen – that couldn’t possibly mean… Yes – plum and mayonnaise flavor. Where did I get it?
Today, we finish off this trifecta by Zeng Noodles with a straight Sichuan Pepper variety.
Here’s the back of the package (click image to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add noodle block to 800ml boiling water and cook for 5 1/2 minutes. Drain. Add in contents of sachets. Stir and enjoy!
I think when people here in the United States usually think of something sesame flavor, they think immediately of sesame oil. In Taiwan, sesame is something much different; sesame paste like tahini and peanut combine. The first time we found this out was when my wife got some noodles a few years ago that said sesame flavor and were like this – she’s not a fan of peanut butter, so it didn’t work out so well for her. Very curious about this one though – let’s check it out!
In the past year, I’ve tried quite a few varieties with Sichuan Pepper in them and really gotten a feel for this kind of flavor. In a way, Sichuan Pepper has almost a minty taste to it; it’s really quite different and unique. Let’s check it out!
A big box from Taiwan!
Fist thing – an envelope!
Meet The Manufacturer interview answers! Thank you!
My wife got me a gift off of Amazon. She didn’t say what it was. I immediately mentioned I’d emailed a publisher of a book asking for a review copy. Then I got the look.
Being a superfan of all things instant noodle, I have newsfeeds I check daily on my phone pertaining to them. I saw an article about Nongshim’s Jjawang in the Korea Times New York edition. It mentioned with it’s release, jjajang variants are flying off the shelves in NY and NJ. I figured hey – I better find this stuff!
I made some instant noodle the other day with beef balls in them and Kit really thought they were good, so I thought I’d make this one with some beef balls in it for her today! This one was sent to me after my trip to the Thai President Foods European Agent Meeting in May! It was really great – while I’m not a distributor for TF, they were super kind to invited me to come and check out Thailand and their factories. I did a travelogue you can check out here. I found out they don’t only make products in Thailand but have factories throughout the world. This one comes from Cambodia – let’s have a look!
Got an unexpected box from Michael C. over at Eastland foods today!
An Indofood reusable shopping bag!
It’s always awesome when I go to the store with my poor vision and my wife sees something and asks me if I’ve tried it. Sure enough, this was one of those occasions. I recently had the Sichuan Baijia Artificial Spicy Fei Chang a couple of weeks ago – it had been on my bottom ten list for years and really kind of one of the main reasons I wasn’t reviewing Baijia stuff so much. After not trying it in 5 years, I found that my tastebuds had done a bit of a metamorphosis. Where I found this more traditional Chinese flavor horrible before, I found it much more to my liking. So now at the store, I’m looking at Baijia in a different way. Today, I’ll try something I’ve not seen before – a broad noodle. I’ve seen broad noodles before, but not this broad – you’ll see what I mean. I want to thank Bobby Y. for helping me decipher the cooking instructions – hope the Blue Jays did good in the ALCS and won the World Series!
A lot of people have come to my site from the United States, knowing only a couple varieties, those usually being chicken or beef, pack or cup. If that’s you, this is kind of a beginner’s guide to exploring the different brands and varieties that are pretty easily sourced here in the States. You can find many of these in your local grocery store, although some might require a trip to the Asian grocery, or to Amazon. But all of them can be found here, unlike many I review that only are sold in their local countries. Many of these have even been on my top ten lists, past and present – so get ready to have some of my favorite and most memorable varieties that you can easily find here in the United States!
I’ve seen this one online a few times recently, but never in the store – until a couple of weeks ago, that is! I really liked the pack version of this one – made the 2014 Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list – the first vegetarian one to do so. The pack was made in South Korea – but this cup is made here in the United States at Nongshim America down in sunny Rancho Cucamonga, California. I went and visited Nongshim America in 2012 – was really neat – big factory and nice people! Let’s check out this cup and see how it compares to the pack version.
In the last few years, I’ve seen a large amount of articles with titles like ‘Best Ramen Hacks,’ ‘Pimp Your Ramen’ and so on. These titles fall under the category of clickbait – using hipster terminology and such to entice one to click on them. Usually, they’re all things people know about already; vegetables, oils and such. This is a list of my favorite add-ons and garnishes. While some may be familiar to you, others may not be. It’s also geared to help you navigate the Asian Grocery, a place many find to be alien to them but I have found to be one of the most vibrant and wonderful places I visit very regularly. Finally, I also included some tips of storage and how long these products last for those on a tight budget. In no particular order, here’s this new list!
So every product MyKuali has come up with so far had made it into the big annual Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list. It’s pretty mind-blowing; their products are so good, diverse and high quality. Well, today I’m going to check out a new one – a mee goreng offering. During our trip, I got to try some local hawker mee goreng last October in Penang.
Sweet! An Indonesian variety I’ve not tried! I wish there were more that I could get around here. I rarely get any from Indonesia – one reader sent a couple of packages a while back full of all sorts of wonderful varieties – maybe someone will again? I hope so! Let’s check out this one from Mie Sedaap.
I’ve been finding out about a lot of great new instant noodle box subscription services lately and here’s the latest find: The Ramen Box. Let’s have a peek inside.
My wife and I were at the grocery store the other day and she saw this series by Myojo. ‘Have you tried these yet?’ she asked. It’s funny – she finds lots of varieties for me that I never even notice – it’s pretty awesome! Since she’s a fan of udon, I thought I would make her some today. Let’s check ’em out!
Here’s one I got from the folks at Exotic Noods, the first subscription instant noodle service I’d heard from! It’s one big bowl, that’s for sure – and heavy, too! I looked into Buddha Jump on wikipedia and found this –
This is one I found at 7-11 in Bankok, Thailand dur the trip in May. I wish there were instant noodle tie-ins with 7-11 here in the United States – it would be really awesome! I think if you’re lucky, you might find 3 or 4 instant noodle variants by the same brand in 7-11’s here. Anyways, this one looks interesting. I read that this is sukiyaki flavor, however the Thai have a twist on the Japanese version. Thai Suki as it is known has more flavor closely knit to Thai traditional tastes. Let’s have a look!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This one says got Chinese cabbage with a sweet soup and a deep flavor which is from something called ‘rajan,’ a strong and spicy red pepper seasoning fermented with rice koji. Let’s check it out!
Got a very unexpected knock on the door this morning and the FedEx guy was there!
I wonder what they could be?
Prawn Mee as it is called in Penang, Malaysia is a very popular dish. Mee means noodles by the way. A broth that’s sweet and absolutely jam packed with prawn flavor is the norm, but in this one, we have a vegetarian option. Let’s see how well vegetarian elements can come together to mimic a full-bodied prawn mee!
This one came by way of Michael over at EastLand Foods – thanks! I haven’t reviewed a Vietnamese instant noodle in ages it seems like – let’s see what we have here!
