Tag: filipino

#4819: Pamana Ginataang Mais – United States

#4819: Pamana Ginataang Mais - United States

Finishing up a week of reviewing today (it’s Friday for me) in early October, 2023. It’s pretty nutty – I’m now over 200 reviews ahead, and I’ve got a feeling this is coming out in late March of 2024, maybe April. While this isn’t ramen, it’s another thing you might find on the noodle aisle. It’s a Filipino porridge made in the United States. Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

#4795: Pamana Ginataang Monggo Mung Bean Porridge With Coconut Milk – United States

#4795: Pamana Ginataang Monggo Mung Bean Porridge With Coconut Milk - United States

Now this is a name I can get behind – Ginataang Monggo sounds like something from Flash Gordon! But it’s not. It’s porridge – I really like foreign languages! Anyways, yeah this one sounds interesting – let’s give it a go – by the way big thanks to James from Lakeside, California for sending this along! ...see full post

#4502: Quickchow Pancit Canton Toyomansi Flavor – Philippines

#4502: Quickchow Pancit Canton Toyomansi Flavor - Philippines

Toyomansi is a combo of soy sauce and calamansi flavors. Calamansi is a kind of citrus kind of similar to lime. This is great – rarely come across Filipino varieties and they’re some really good ones to try. Found this one at HMart with my daughter after her birthday party this year. We took her to Chuck E. Cheese – what an interesting place – very throwback. Let’s check this one out! ...see full post

#4476: Quickchow Instant Pancit Canton Chilimansi Flavor – Philippines

#4476: Quickchow Instant Pancit Canton Chilimansi Flavor - Philippines

I can’t remember where I found this but I’m stoked. I never find anything from the Philippines I haven’t reviewed which is weird since instant noodles are so popular over there. You might be wondering what is this pancit canton – well, think mi goreng; extremely similar. What’s that chilimansi?! Well, it’s spicy and calamnsi – kind of like a lime. Okay with that out of the way, let’s give it a go I’m stoked! ...see full post

#3744: Pamana Instant chicken Sotanghon – United States

#3744: Pamana Instant chicken Sotanghon - United States

Here’s another one for the Filipino market here in the states by Pamana. Sadly, this is the last Filipino variety I’ve got so I’m hoping someone who’s reading from the Philippines might be kind enough to send some new varieties I’ve not reviewed. Very hard to come by these days for me I’m afraid! Let’s check it out – but first, a little snippet from Wikipedia about Sotanghon – oh wait, I guess not. It appears it’s being confused with rice vermicelli – which this dish does use, but the translation in this instance would be to bihon instead so I don’t know what to do… A little research yielded use of mushrooms, however in my years reviewing, I’ve seen a lot of varieties including saltine crackers. We shall see. ...see full post

#3181: Nissin Yakisoba Instant Pancit Savory Beef Flavor – Philippines

#3181: Nissin Yakisoba Instant Pancit Savory Beef Flavor - Philippines

This one was found up in Richmond, BC at the SuperStore. What’s funny about this one? Well, it shows chopsticks on the cup and has a fork inside. I’ve been given a ration of insults and criticism for using a fork. I really don’t understand why; I mean, here’s an Asian variety with a fork. I think it’s common for Westerners to immediately go to ‘Asian people use chopsticks and if you use them wrong you suck’ kind of thing. My logic is that if I’m in Asia, I’ll use a pair of chopsticks. In Thailamd they use a fork to push food onto a spoon and then eat it, so I did that while there. It really doesn’t matter what tool you decide to use, it’s about eating a meal, right? ...see full post

#3146: Nissin Yakisoba Instant Pancit Spicy Chicken Flavor – Philippines

#3146: Nissin Yakisoba Instant Pancit Spicy Chicken Flavor - Philippines

Woot woot! It is so rare these days I can get my hands on a variety from the Philippines that I’ve not reviewed yet and so I’m really stoked on this one. What’s interesting is that there are two Nissin companies in the Philippines. Nissin Monde and Nissin Universal Robina. Nissin Monde is actually a company that first started out selling biscuits. Nissin Universal-Robina is an arm of the well known Japanese empire of instant noodles. Nissin Monde is responsible for the Lucky Me! brand. Kind of interesting and odd. Anyways, let’s check this yakisoba out! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Philippines Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

The Ramen Rater's Top Ten Philippines Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

As I mentioned at the begginning of the Top Ten Japanese list, I have added a little chat option to the site. If I’m available, I can turn it on on my phone and people can ask me questions or comment while they browse the website. Thus far, the most questions and comments are from the Philippines. I thought hey – why isn’t there a top ten Philippines list? I haven’t reviewed many from the Philippines lately and I kind of hope companies in the Philippines that make instant noodles might be interested in having me review their products – if so, please contact me. I would love to do an annual list for the Philippines, however without more reviews, there’s not a whole lot of reason to do so. So let’s have a look! These are my favorite Filipino varieties from the over 2,500 reviews I’ve posted to date. ...see full post

#2694: Nissin Cup Noodles Batchoy Flavor

#2694: Nissin Cup Noodles Batchoy Flavor

Found these while up in Canada. So my wife found a show a while back called 90 Day Fiancee where two people either meet online or when one is on vacation in a foreign country and think they want to be married. It then follows their process of getting a visa to spend 90 days in the United States and then whether they indeed are married or not. There’s a new show called Before The 90 Days before a proposal has been made. So on this show, we were watching and they follow a man who goes to the Philippines and meets a girl he’s been talking to online. Well, she picks him up at the airport and the next day brings him to her family’s home and they put on a big spread and cook up Lechon. Lechon is a roast pig, turned over a fire pit for hours and hours that’s been stuffed with chicken and vegetables like spring onion.  Long story short, her family is far from wealthy and they came together to make this big feast and he turns his nose up at it. ...see full post

Re-Review: Quickchow Instant Bihon Guisado Instant Rice Noodles Saute

So my sister got me a neat plate a couple weeks ago at Shipwreck Day. Shipwreck Day is like a big citywide garage sale up in Anacortes, Washington – my hometown. The plate was part of a set and the lady didn’t want to break up the set, but my sister came back a little later and the lady gave in and let her buy one after she mentioned what I would use it for. The lady was originally from the Philippines and was a travel agent. I decided maybe I ought to do a review of something from the Philippines in honor of her relenting, and that’s what today’s review is about. Bihon is like bihun – it’s rice noodles. I reviewed this one originally almost 5 years ago – and really didn’t like it. Wondering if my palate might be a little more interested, I thought it’d be nice to try again, and so here we are – let’s check it out. ...see full post

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? ...see full post

Friday Video: How to Cook Cebu Lechon

So when I post my reviews on instagram, I use hashtags. I usually try to find ones that are decent, relevant and get the most eyes on the reviews of course, and I then look at the pics others post and like them, in hopes that hey will look and like the ones I have posted or even follow. Pretty basic method of growing a viewer base. Well, I also look at the hashtags that those people use, and I saw an interesting one – #lechon. Wasn’t sure what Lechon was, so I looked at a bunch of people’s pictures and found that it was roast whole pig. I decided to take this to YouTube and have a look. After perusing quite a few, I found this video about how Cebu Lechon is made. I’ve never tried this, but I think I would love to give it a taste someday. Anyways, enjoy and Happy Black Friday! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef Instant Noodles

I think a lot of people will say that Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef is one that they’ve seen many times when visiting an Asian grocery in the USA. Beef, like chicken, is one of those flavors you see about every instant noodle manufacturer out there making. Everyone knows what beef and chicken flavors taste like (well, maybe not everyone – hi vegetarians!). The weather here is quite cold and rainy lately and nice beef flavored broth sounds really good. One thing though; the Philippines isn’t a place known for it’s chilly climate. Would a beef instant translate well for colder places that’s been made there? I think I’ll have to see! Let’s revisit Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1532: Lucky Me! Special Instant Noodles Jjamppong Flavor

Well everyone, today is Thanksgiving! I thought I’d like to thank everyone who visit The Ramen Rater every day – your attention and interest inspires me to continue on in my journey to find the best instant noodles in the world and let you know about them! I wanted to also thank you for buying things using the Amazon links I provide. These aren’t products directly from me, but from people/companies selling them on Amazon, and I get a little something every time one of you uses a link and either buys the item shown or browses and finds something else they’d like. This really helps us out, especially around the holidays. If you’re planning on doing holiday shopping on Amazon, consider something from the Noodle Shop or simply go to the Noodle Shop and click on the Amazon logo. You’ll be helping keep The Ramen Rater running ! Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1531: Lucky Me! Special Instant Sopas Chicken Flavor

Thought this would be one my son would like. He’s been keen on trying new things, and I doubt he’s ever had any Filipino soups before. Sopas is basically chicken soup, but has a Filipino twist to it. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Sopas in the Philippines: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1530: Lucky Me! Spicy Beef Mami Instant Noodle Soup

Lucky Me! Spicy Beef Mami is a newer product I’m pretty sure. A couple neat things about this one is tyhat they use Labuyo pepper. It’s also known as Bird’s Eye chilli as well a cili padi (chilli paddi) in Indonesia and Malaysia. What’s more, this is another instance of instant noodles being referred to as ‘mami.’ As far as I know, this in a purely Filipino thing; never seen instant noodles called mami anywhere else (although there is a Malaysian company called Mamee, (a play on mee and MAMA) and a Thai brand called MAMA (for the same reason). I thought I’d see what Wikipedia has to say about the various meanings of mami and got this list: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1528: Lucky Me! Supreme Pinoy Chicken Instant Noodles

As you can see, Lucky Me! not only makes packaged instant noodles but cups as well (they also produce bowls). This one is a variety called Supreme Pinoy Chicken. From what I gather, these are supposed to be adobo chicken flavored instant noodles. What’s adobo chicken? Let’s ask Wikipedia: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Original Flavor

Pancit Canton is a Filipino favorite whose roots began in China. It is also very much like Mi Goreng, an Indonesian dish. Basically, noodles and cooked, drained, and then combined with a dry powder and oil and sauce combination to create a tasty broth-free dish. These Lucky Me! Pancit Canton come in a variety of flavors, this being their original flavor. I’ll be reviewing more of these during Meet The Manufacturer as well, since it’s such a prominent product of theirs. Let’s check out Lucky Me! original Pancit Canton. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Chicken Na Chicken Instant Noodles

Chicken instant noodles are known the world over. In fact the first instant noodles ever sold were chicken flavored! Seems like chicken is a very accessible flavor for people. I reviewed this one over 3 years ago the first time – let’s see how Chicken na Chicken by Lucky Me! fares this time around! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1527: Lucky Me! Special Baked Mac Style Instant Macaroni

Macaroni is used in a lot of Filipino cuisine. One I’ve tried in instant form is Sopas, a soup with macaroni in it. The weather here is really quite cold (at least for Washington). It’s gotten down to as low as 26 degrees Fahrenheit the last few nights. This looks like a nice warm stick-to-your-ribsy kind of thing. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Lucky Me! Instant Pancit Canton (Chow Mein) Chili & Citrus

It’s been a while since I had any Lucky Me! Pancit Canton. This is a re-review of the 40th instant I ever reviewed! That puts it around 2002 or 2003 being the last time I tried this one. Not only that, it’s been about 1,000 reviews since I had any Pancit Canton. So what’s Pencit? Wikipedia has this to say: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Interview With Monde Nissin – Lucky Me!

#1408: Pamana Chicken Sopas Creamy Macaroni Soup

The other day we headed south to check out Ikea. I’d never been there before – wow pretty crazy place! I even tried the meatballs – not bad. Nearby Ikea is Seafood City, a big grocery store that sells mostly Filipino stuff. I have only been there once before and found lots of great instant noodles I’d not reviewed before. Sadly, I only found one – and this is it. Actually, my wife Kit found it! Thanks, Kit! I like the name; it looks like Panama and my spellcheck is insisting is should be spelled Panama, but it’s Pamana. One thing to note – so by the time this is posted, we”ll have moved. I’m quite a few reviews ahead which is nice. No time today to do the pics of sachet contents (actually I packed my little bowls already). Let’s see what’s inside! ...see full post

Re-Review: Payless Xtra Big Pancit Canton Original

Oh man I thought this was a new one! I reviewed this at #93! Here’s something from the Philippines! Been awhile since a review from there. Pancit Canton reminds me a lot of Indonesia’s Mi Goreng; the noodles are drained and then stirred with the dry and wet ingredients and served. Let’s try this one out! ...see full post