Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I’ve reviewed many fresh varieties in the past and this is a new variety from a brand I’ve never reviewed any products from before! What’s more, it’s a company in the United States. I must say that the packaging is rather striking; it’s thick cardboard and the little cut out of the bowl and steam coming out above it is really neat.
I’ve reviewed the pack version of this one and now it’s time for the bowl. A few months ago I did a series of seriously spicy reviews for my guide to this series. Let’s see if my palate still can handle the heat!
It’s been quite a year of reviewing as far as Taiwan is concerned. I brought back a trove of varieties I’d never had the chance to try before. Really opened my eyes many varieties that people had recommended I try over the years. This is the top ten – the best Taiwanese varieties I’ve tried from the over 2,500+ reviews I’ve posted to date. As always, if I’ve not tried your noodles, please contact me! I’m interested! Let’s check it out!
When I read about this new product line in my news feeds, I was very curious. For years, I’ve though that the amount of vegetables included with instant noodle varieties in general was way too slim. Of course, vegetables cost money to put in there and so that’s something to consider.
Well folks, the United States has started to see the light. There’s nothing I love to see more than a tie-in/crossover product and this is something I’ve seen zillions of times overseas but really never before here.
Thanks go to Amelia from Samyang Foods in South Korea for sending these along! The Buldak Bokkeummyun line from them is a fiery range which starts with their hot chicken flavor of Fire Noodle Challenge fame. Here’s what they have to say about this one –
Here’s another leftover from the KOKA Meet The Manufacturer series I did a little while back. Chicken flavor sounds pretty safe – I mean, who doesn’t like chicken except vegetarians? Let’s give this chicken flavor variety a try!
Here’s one left over from the KOKA Meet The Manufacturer. These soups are interesting; instead of noodles with soup it’s more like soup with noodles! Let’s have a look at this creamy soup!
A fellow reviewer from Happy Souper posted about these new Nonshim varieties and gave me the contact info for Nongshim Korea – I lost touch with my contact a while back. These were kindly sent by Danny – thank you very much! Let’s have a look!
Well, there’s always going to be a chicken variety. Here it is! I really don’t know how else to introduce it or what else to say! Here’s a little something about the history of Cup Noodles from Wikipedia –
Here’s another new variety of the Soba line – yakitori chicken. Here’s a little something about yakitori from Wikipedia –
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.
Time for chicken! I would have sworn I’d reviewed this one before, but apparently not. If I had, it wasn’t this new package version at least. CarJEN has changed their recipes in the past and so it’s reasonable to think that this one could be a new taste. Well, let’s have a look at this chicken variety by Malaysian company CarJEN.
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.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2017 Edition is a list of the best bowls I’ve tried of the over 2400 reviews posted to date. Bowls are interesting insofar as they often contain extra things, since there is more room for sachets, spoons, fork, etcetera. As always, I implore instant noodle manufacturers to contact me – I would love to review your products and all it costs is sending some samples and your time! So sit back, grab a bowl, some hot water, peel back the lid, stir – and enjoy!
I don’t think I’ve had a satay flavor variety in a long time so this should be interesting. Indeed, we should see what Wikipedia has to say about satay –
I looked upon all the samples sent by Tat Hui for this Meet The Manufacturer. Indeed, it occurred to me to go right for the curry, the laksa… But I thought to begin with, I would go right for the standard.
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.
The nice folks at Ippin sent me this one (SG folks click here) – thanks again! They are purveyors of all things Japanese! So I would say most Japanese instant noodles contain pork. Whether it be a chicken, seafood or whatever, it’s in there. Not with this one and That’s great for those that follow Islamic guidelines. So what is Halal? Let’s ask Wikipedia:
Well lookie here – another one from Colin – thanks again! This one’s a cheesy version of the ever popular Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun. This is what people use to do the famous ‘fire noodle challenge’ – although this is the cheesy version. This stuff is hot – real hot. The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodle Of All Time list kinda hot. Let’s take a look.
I found this one on my trip to Taiwan in November 2016. It was at the Jason’s Market at the bottom of the Taipei 101. That was a cool day – here’s a little about the Taipei 101 from Wikipedia –
Well hello there! Indeed, I rarely have the chance to get instant noodles from Fiji. This is only the second time ever that I’ve had any. Actually, I think the last time was about five years ago when a reader sent a couple varieties. I don’t know a lot about Fiji, so thought I’d consult wikipedia and share some info here:
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:
I believe this is the last of the Disney themes products I have from Nissin Thailand. Winnie the Pooh apparently is popular in Thailand! Today, it’s chicken and corn, two flavors that sound good together and indeed usually are,. Let’s give this one a look!
Today, it’s more chicken. This is another one left over from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer – they set so many different kinds – it’s awesome! This is a Demae Iccho version – here’s some info bout Nissin and Demae Iccho from Wikipedia –
Here’s yet another one from Colin – thanks, bro! So this is an export version (obviously from all the languages on the front) and a very standard taste – chicken. This one is by CG which stands for Chaudhary Group. Here’s a little info from Wikipedia –
Here’s one of the last ones that were sent by Jen in Australia – thanks! Chicken and corn sounds pretty good – let’s find out!
Well folks, today is the last day of Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been a definite departure from the flavors I’m used to and it’s been a different way of thinking about noodles. I usually include mung bean sprouts in everything, but that really wasn’t an option. Indeed don’t know if my application of queso fresca was correct, but I had to try. However I tried to find other varieties of Mexican cheeses, however couldn’t find any melty ones – just crumbly. It was fun and something different for me, and I want to thank the folks at Nissin Mexico for the opportunity to try all of these! Let’s check out the chicken Cup Noodles to wrap things up.
This is the second of the two RapiFideo varieties. Translating to Quick Noodles, RapiFideo has short, thin noodles and broth and can be prepared in the microwave. Let’s take a look!
Here we have a big cup of noodles! I did a little translation on this one for you – ‘maxi’ means ‘big,’ ‘sopa’ means ‘soup,’ ‘cuchareable’ means ‘spoonable,’ and pollo means chicken. Basically, this is a chicken noodle soup one can enjoy with a spoon instead of a fork. Got it? Let’s check it out!
To start things off, I thought it would be interesting to try one of these Cup Noodles that come with hot sauce. Definitely not uncommon around the world to find a Cup Noodle variety with a sauce sachet, however it seems to be a little less common in the Americas. Let’s give it a try!
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Here’s one sent by a reader named Jen from Australia – thanks again! So chow mein – very curious how this will translate. Indeed I’ve had chow mein that tastes like yakisoba, chow mein that’s just salty and soy, chow mein that’s very bland. But this one looks like it will be chow mein with a small amount of broth and vegetables which sounds odd. But wait – is it odd? As a matter of fact. Australia has it’s own take on Chinese food – here’s a little about it from wikipedia:
Here’s another one from Colin – you da man! He got these during a trip to Mexico earlier this year and sent them along. It’s funny; it still kind of boggles my mind how few instant noodles from Mexico I’ve had the chance to try until only recently. I mean, Mexico is pretty darn close. But then again it’s kind of the same way with Canada – I live about an hour and a half from the border and until we went up there a few years back for my birthday, I hadn’t tried much of anything from up there. Anyways, let’s check out this chicken flavored instant ramyun from South Korea for the Mexican marketplace.
Finally, after decades of sticking with the same recipe, Nissin has decided to go with something new. On Cup Noodles’ 45th anniversary here in the USA, they’ve changed it to make it healthier. Some changes are no added MSG and no artificial flavors. Furthermore they’ve lowered the amount of sodium in these cups from the previous versions using potassium chloride. So, let’s give this Spicy Chile Chicken a try!
Here’s another one sent by Jen from Australia – thanks! This one is just plain old chicken flavor and I think should be pretty good. Let’s find out!
I haven’t generally been a fan of abalone and chicken instant noodles. I’m crossing my fingers here though. Let’s give it a try!
If you follow my daily reviews, you might have noticed not just a lot, but a lot a lot of Nissin reviews lately. This is because I’ve done a few Meet The Manufacturers and they were kind enough to send more varieties than I review in a Meet The Manufacturer (15 maximum). Nissin Hong Kong sent around 50 different product varieties! That’s what we have today. Let’s check out this chicken flavor vermicelli!
After a few decades, Nissin decided they wanted to make some changes to one of their flagship products here in the United States, Cup Noodles. They’ve lowered sodium and now there is no added MSG and no artificial flavors. I thought this was kind of interesting as last year they came out with these new cups, but it looks like they’re not available anymore. Let’s have a look at this iconic domestic instant noodle in a cup.
Here’s another one sent to me by Javier from Box From Japan. Box From Japan has subscriptions for all sorts of neat Japanese things. I regret to say that I was informed that they won’t be taking subscriptions for their ramen boxes for now – hopefully that will start again soon. He mentioned that you can purchase instant noodles from them here. Here’s what he had to say about this particular variety:
