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Well, hmm. This is the third variety of these I’ll be trying and the first two did very poorly. They both got zero stars. It really bums me out because these folks make some amazing rice products, but I have to say the translation into ramen makes my palate wretch. Hopefully, this one will be better! Third time’s the charm? We shall see.
This one’s an interesting specimen . You might be a hardcore instant noodle fan and notice the font of ‘premium’ and the color scheme. Definitely might remind you of something completely different. This one’s definitely packaged for US sale. I’ve had quite a few varieties from Dragonfly and found them generally to be quite good. Let’s check it out!
This is pretty cool – it only arrived a day or so ago and it’s only around for a short time I believe, so I’m rushing it out. I definitely like carbonara. Truffles are interesting from what I’ve experienced of them. I used to visit a restaurant every once in a while called Perche No in Seattle – an Italian restaurant whose head chef was Malaysian! Anyways, he made all sorts of fascinating fusions. Was at a special dinner there once and he brought out a big container of truffles and let us check them out. Truffles are hard to describe; kind of like the finest old book smell but edible. It’s really different and compelling. Well, this yakisoba has aromatics of truffle which is very interesting to me. Big thank you goes out to Nissin Singapore for contacting me about these and sending some! Let’s get to it.
The last one of these I tried was quite good. This one is a sesame paste flavor. Many would liken it to peanut butter, but it’s a bit different usually. It’s really a nice way to liven up dry noodles, that’s for sure. I’ve had it cold on the streets of Taipei – and it was really delicious. I have to say, visiting Taiwan has been a highlight of my days on Earth. It’s a vibrant place full of new things to try. Yeah – don’t be a square – visit the beautiful island of Taiwan.
You know, I can’t find anything anywhere about this one and what it’s actually called; I’m guess it’s an apt title, and the label looks to be an import label from the actual company itself. However, I bet the name is different. I bet. A dollar. I have a dollar. I’d have to open the piggy bank to get the cash out, but I’m good for a buck. It’s definitely a rice noodle as opposed to a wheat noodle – and I’m guessing that would be mentioned on the packaging. I looked further on the Sempio website –
Well, hmm. Last time wasn’t so ultra wonderful. I’m hoping this one is super awesome! Going to use the microwave directions this go-round. Tom Yum is a soup out of Thailand with bright, spicy, and strong flavors. I’m hoping it’s reflected here; time to find out.
You know, my favorite foods always have ambiguous and generalisms in them. Well, not really, but my favorite titles do. Miscellaneous sauce? Could be assorted sauce? This is one where the distributor’s label has a bit of a translation error I’m guessing. But this is how you’ll find it if you get it here in the United States, so I’ll leave it. Anyways, let’s give it a try.
This sounded interesting enough. Well, hopefully it’s alright. I dunno. I haven’t had all that much luck with this brand lately so we shall see. The last one was a shoyu and really kind of tame/bland. Hoping this will be a nice luxuriant and creamy tonkotsu with a lot of flavor.
Found this (as well as review 4275) over at H-Mart the other day. I swear Menraku just keeps coming out with new varieties constantly – it’s pretty hard to keep up with but that’s fine – the more the merrier. This is made in Japan but for the US market. Flaming hot, eh? Let’s find out.
It took a little finagling to wrap my head around this one – insofar as translation. Bar code was a no-go and the only English text referred to the caloric content and not much else. But what helped was that phone number with the 070 prefix. Boom! They were even kind enough to have an English version of their website. So, let’s check out this South Korean variety!
October 6th is National Noodle Day! I knew it existed, but every year I find out when it’s too late to do a special post or something to commemorate the day. This year, Nissin Foods USA overnighted me a box especially for National Noodle Day – and it arrived the day before! So, I’ve spent the day before National Noodle Day shooting video, doing special research, and sitting in the bathroom. Well, it’s been fun, and now it’s time to show you what you may have or have not heard about – the Nissin Cup Noodles Soup Soaker. It’s a bath bomb which came in this special box in a noodle cup. What’s more is it’s kind of chickenny. Yeah. A chicken broth bath bomb. Watch it fizz!!!
Here’s another one of the Ramen Bowl varieties from Maruchan here in the United States. This is one of those varieties I figured I’ll leave as they’re so easy to find and save for a rainy day. Well, it’s raining – I’ve kind of hit a low amounts of instant noodles slump – happens from time to time. So, let’s get our chicken on.
I did a Meet The Manufacturer series with this company about four years ago – really good stuff, especially with this range. This variety features a straight noodle and a sauce. Looking forward to seeing how it is.
Well, folks – this is it. I’ve had a lot of fun reviewing this special Sanrio tie-in series over the last short while. Everything’s quite good. Now we come to the end of the line with this Badtz-Maru variety. Badtz-Maru is one of Hello Kitty’s friends – let’s give it a try.
I haven’t tried anything from these guys in quite a while. Their pillow packs were definitely not well received by this reviewer, but that was a very long time ago. These cups look interesting. These folks also make rice which is quite good – especially the ‘forbidden rice.’ Let’s give this thing a try.
A while back I discovered some of this brand’s Big Boss varieties – and it looks like there are more now, so that’s neat. Spicy and sesame sounds good enough – let’s find out.
Lately, I’ve found myself in a slight pickle. I’m low on varieties of review… Well, it’s mainly my fault – I think for over two weeks I’ve been in such a good groove that I’ve been able to do three reviews a day and walk about ten miles per day as well. That’s a lot of unique varieties of noodles… So, I’ve had to resort to finding a bunch in a bit of a hurry. I found this one locally at the grocery store today. In fact, I found five different varieties. Let’s see what this is all about – it sounds a little bit interesting. Guess we’ll see.
Onto the third review! There are four varieties of these you can find over at www.ashadrynoodle.com. This one is another of Hello Kitty’s friends. I don’t believe it’s frog flavor, but probably more akin to the Hello Kitty supercute soy sauce flavor with some heat. Let’s give it a try!
Here’s something from a company that doesn’t put out new varieties here in the United states very ofte, but when they do – they’re usually quite good. This is a spicy yakisoba and I’m very curious – let’s have a look!
Check this out! These subscription boxes come straight to your door and have some neat stuff inside! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles! Here’s the latest unboxing of the October 2022 Umai Crate!
Well, folks – this is it. The end of the road on these Hai Chi Jia varieties with Bobby Yip on them. At least the last one I’ve got. They’ve been pretty good – I get it. Definitely. Let’s check this last one out.
Oh man – so I’ve been digging. I’ve dug through everything in my hampers and assorted boxes. This is it. This is the last one I have that’s kinda old. It’s not expired. It expires next motn though. I know at the local grocery store there’s a couple more I can get so there’s 2/3 of a day of reviewing. I think I’ve been doing three reviews a day for at least 15 days now. Honestly, it’s kind of nice. I’ve got my groove on. It’s going. I’m doing it on the weekends. Full tilt. A slurp, a bite. Let’s see how this new one fares.
Here’s one I found in an Umai Crate from Japan Crate! They have boxes full of neat Japanese varieties! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles!
Here’s the second in a series of four Hello Kitty & Friends varieties from A-Sha Dry Noodle of Taiwan. This one’s made for the US market. So far, impressed as the soy sauce one was excellent. Let’s continue on with some friendly scallion sauce noodle – should be able to find them at www.ashadrynoodle.com.
Here’s one I found in an Umai Crate from Japan Crate! They have boxes full of neat Japanese varieties! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles!
Well, I’ll have you know that my daughter is incredibly pleased this was sent to me. She’s a big fan of Hello Kitty and her friends. My daughter’s name is Mimi, which is the name of Hello Kitty’s sister. Now where it gets weird is that the creator of Hello Kitty says is that she is NOT a cat. She is a girl named Kitty White. Oddly though she does have ears, whiskers, and no mouth. Well, she does in the cartoon and she talks too. Let’s give them a try – definitely one Hello Kitty fans will want to try – should be able to find them at www.ashadrynoodle.com.
First there was Shin Ramyun, then Shin Black. Now there’s Green and Gold – thanks to James from Lakeside, California – thanks again! He’s been a serial donor of noodles I’ve not tried yet! Very cool – check ’em out!
Big thanks to a reader named Cian for sending some amazing instant noodles from Brazil! I’ve always truly enjoyed Brazilian variants and this mix of varieties is truly fascinating as it contains two dessert varieties! Check it out!
This is the third variety of the Hai Chi Jian varieties I got. They’ve been pretty fascinating so far and this one sounds pretty good -let’s give it a go! But wait – who is the guy on the cup (image is below)? I have found out. I found it on a website called GoodyFeed.com – here’s what they had to say –
A number of years ago, I thought I’d see what would happen if I cooked up some noodles and ran a camera as I did it. It’s kind of funny – a lot of the large projects in my life have started with ‘let’s see what happens.’ I had thought for years the idea of shooting video while I cooked noodles for reviews was a purely idiotic idea; I would have to edit every video, which would take so much more time than the way I did things. Well, I found a way around that.
Here’s one I found in an Umai Crate from Japan Crate! They have boxes full of neat Japanese varieties! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles!
This is the second of four varieties, very popular in China and now abroad. I still am not sure who the man on the packaging is just yet, but I will say the last one I tried was absolutely wonderful. Let’s give this one a try – everything I’ve found about it points to it having a clam flavor.
I’m hopeful for this one, although my recent sampling of the chicken flavor variety didn’t go so well. Fingers crossed.
Firstly, thanks to Prima Taste for sending some samples! I thought this would be a nice duet of pizza pies to try. I know – ‘why do you do these things?’ Because I have to in order to feed my curiosity to see what different combinations and different vehicles will deliver when it comes to foods. Today it’s singaporean pizzas! Let’s do it!
I’m hoping that this variety does not do to the idea or history of Chinese cuisine what they did to Japanese teriyaki. Chow mein and teriyaki are generally not known to have soup, or a ton of gravy in excess. Let’s find out what we got here, folks.
Found a whole series of these locally at 99 Ranch Market (yeah that’s how you say it). They all have this fellow on them who I’m pretty sure is a comedian or a magician – I’m not sure. This one is immensely popular in China and features a mala (spicy) broth with chicken notes and special crisp rice. Let’s look within…
This was one of three my lovely wife Kit found at Whole Foods a while back. These are really large noodle bowls – as you’ll see below, they have two noodle block in there. I just baked some chicken for the review so it should look somewhat nice. Let’s give it a go!
Nearby where I live, I walk past a community free books/food pantry. I’ve found some interesting things in there – most recently a canned ham. I found this in there and there were a ton of them but only needed one. What is it? It’s a snack, that’s what it is! Let’s check it out.
I’m unsure where this one came from, but I’m going to make a guess that it came from an Exotic Noods subscription box. Ya should head over there and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER – he’s got some great subscription boxes and they represent many countries around the world – very much worth a look.
Went through my bins and found everything I’d not reviewed. Guess what? Only four things. Yep – I’ve all but caught up! Which is good because more should be here tomorrow with more on the way. I’ve been on a roll lately – really found my groove again. Here’s how my day goes (if anyone cares). Get up, get stuff ready for kids, get stuff ready for reviewing. Review. Get my boy on the bus. Have some oatmeal and peanut butter with my daughter. Edit images and video for the reviews I did. Do some walking back and forth in the apartment. Get my daughter ready. Get her on the bus. Walk ten miles. Get home and get my daughter off the bus. Then my son off the bus. Then start taking pictures of the stuff I’ll review the next day and get those posts ready. Then we get the kids dinner done, put em to bed, have our dinner, try not to fall asleep/wake up on the couch and then start the whole thing over. Today is a little different. Today is a new tradition I started a couple of weeks ago. It’s B-roll Sunday. What’s that you probably don’t ask? Well, I go out walking with my rucksack on my back with my monopod, the phone I use to shoot Instant Noodle Recipe Time, and a battery brick in search of benches that have decent views and shoot ten or more minutes of video to do time lapse videos. Today I walked to Seattle – and should have some good intros and outros in store for this and the next couple of episodes of the show. But enought about me and this behind the scenes look at things you probably aren’t interested in. Let’s try this one from China.
