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This is a longstanding favorite of mine and probably the first cold noodle I came in contact with. First time I had it I wasn’t so sure, but over time it definitely grew on me. This is usually enjoyed in the summer months, but seeing as the folks at Paldo sent it to me recently, I’d give it a go right now. Let’s cook it up!
Well, Merry Christmas! Hochi has her Santa hat on for this one. Meat spaghetti, huh? Sounds interesting. Christmas is over, but they must have had some leftovers – got these last week and thought hey – maybe some burning would do me good. Let’s give this new variety a try!
Special thanks go out to Normalgorl for shooting this over! Much obliged! So what the heck is this? Corn?! I’m thoroughly fascinated. Let’s check it out!
Okay, I think I found this one at HMart up in Richmond BC at Aberdeen Centre. I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure. Anyways, yeah this is topokki. Why, you ask? Because topokki is wonderful stuff and lives in the section with the noodles, so there. Let’s get it on!
It’s been quite a while since a new Shin variety came out I think. On the edge of the package it mentions it being ‘Shin Black Class’ but I mean look at the packaging. Clearly, this is Shin White – am I wrong?I’m guessing this is going to be quite different – fried vs non fried noodles are like night and day, and I expect I’m going to like this one to be honest. Let’s find out!
I reviewed the pack version awhile back and been sitting on this bowl version. Actually I saw the cup version at Boo Han Market in Edmonds, Washington a few minutes ago right before we got our Christmas tree at Country Farms. Anyways, This one sounds like a good idea today. Let’s give it a try.
Kimchi is really great stuff – and it’s not just cabbage. There’s lots of different vegetables that can be kimchi – radish kimchi is my favorite. Now I want some Korean BBQ! Okay, okay – let’s give this one a try.
Here’s the last of the Aloha! bowls. I figured I’d just run through them and then tomorrow a last one from the last box from Samyang. Let’s give this kimchi variety a try.
Here’s another one of the Aloha bowls that Samyang sent recently. I’ve always been fascinated by the bowl noodle concept – they end up in convenience stores and gas stations a lot of the time and they’re honestly pretty good. Let’s check it out!
Okay so this is the local South Korean version of this variety. I’ve had it before as an export. Let’s see if it’s any different!
Here we have the latest in the long line of Buldak varieties from Samyang Foods. This is Buldak Light – so let me explain. This one has only 375 calories. The noodles are not fried, so all that oil used in frying isn’t present. But not only is it lighter on calories, it’s lighter on heat. It’s 40% less spicy than original Buldak Bokkeummyun clocking in at 2,600SHU compared to the original’s 4,400SHU.
So this is an export variety from the company that brought you the fire noodle. I’m not exactly sure why the Hawaiian theme, but that’s kind of cool. Let’s give it a try!
I’ve honestl been hoping to find this one for a long time – and I finally did up in Richmond, BC at the HMart in Aberdeen Centre. I was getting the stuff to do the Shin Ramen Prison Burrito! Anyways, Gomtang is a horse of a different color in the realm of Korean instant noodle soups. It’s never spicy (although a spicy Gomtang sounds kind of neat). It’s a kind of creamy beef soup – stick to your ribsy and comforty. Good stuff! Let’s give Nongshim’s offering a try!
This is an interesting name. I have a feeling lid might be hat? I’m unsure so if anyone’s got better please let me know. I’m guessing this will be a spicy beef in the traditional style. Let’s crack this open and have a look!
I’m going to take a wild stab at something here – that this one contains…. EGGS! I like noodles and eggs quite a bit – I’ve been curious about this one but didn’t know if Samyang was going to send this but I decided to hold of in case. So, I finally got it at 99 Ranch Market! Let’s check it out!
Check it out! Lobstergeddon!
Here’s an export variety from Paldo. The other day I tried out the Mr. Kimchi with broth – this one has no broth. Sounds good – let’s hit it!
I thought today would be a fun day to include Miles in on an episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time (see below). I figured hey – he’ll leave the stove alone… Well, he did which was good and it was nice having a co-host! Job well done, Miles!
Today, we have one that was part of Japan Crate’s Umai Crate. So Japan Crate is a subscription service which has all sorts of different options for you. pretty neat stuff from Japan! There’s a coupon code for you too – just use THERAMENRATER to get a special discount at check out.
My buddy Paul in Australia and I met when he mentioned this one on the facebook page. ‘Have you tried this?’ I found it at a local HMart – he tried the bowl version – I ound botht he pack and the bowl. It sounds good – I like kimchi a lot. I like how often they say real on the package – no dude, it’s real – it’s really really real.
I got three different version of this up in Canada. After a little translation work, it looks to be Jjajang
I’ve been wanting to try this one for a great while. Happily, they were sent along by my new contact at Paldo! Thank you very much! This one screams mukbang to me but as some of you might know already, mukbang is something that’s getting harder and harder for me these days. I used to eat a LOT mre, and now I exercise and my diet is much more regulated. To put it bluntly, scarfing down a big block of carbs is easy when you do it more often than I do now.But of course, I’ll give it a shot.
Here’s another one I found over at Boo Han Market in Edmonds, Washington. This new O’Taste brand seems to be cropping up a lot lately. It’s interesting as it’s not exactly a Nongshim variety, but it’s Taekyung Food & Processing, and I’m unsure exactly how they fit in with the Nongshim corporate structure. Maybe I should find out.
Found this one yesterday at Boo Han Market in Edmonds, Washington. So it had a sticker on the side which pulled a bit off but I can still make out the cooking instructions from what’s left. The sticker mentioned ‘Korean pasta’ which I found compelling. This is sujebi – let’s see what Wikipedia has to say –
Oh wow okay so I’ve been kind of hanging on to this carbonara topokki for a little while. Today seemed like a god day for this one. Is it? Well, let’s find out!
Found this one up in Canada at Smart N Save as well. It turns out that this brand is actually related to Nongshim. It’s produced by Taekyung Nong San, which is part of the Nongshim company as can be seen on their logo. Interesting! This is a combo of tteokbokki and noodles. Let’s check it out!
Someone on social media alerted me to the existence of a new spicy variety on the market. This is The Knight Of Fire Ribs. I’ve reviewed The Knight Of Ribs (in fact, that was on the 2018 Top Ten Instant Noodles OF All Time list). This is a spicy version and we shall see exactly how spicy it is. Let’s give it a try!
So you might be wondering – you haven’t reviewed this popular South Korean variety before? Well, yes and no. I’ve had it quite a few times – South Korean versions as well as ones manufactured in the United States. However this particular version is made for Europe and Oceania, so a different export version. I try to hit every version of everything- especially ones people have lots of access to. This one is generally a nice spicy seafood soup – let’s check it out.
I’m sure there are some folks out there figuring this is going to violently spicy. Well, that’s just not the case. Not everything that Samyang Foods makes has an angry little chicken on it! Let’s see what we have inside this big bowl!
Here’s something pretty fascinating. First off, thanks to Empire International for sending these over! This is from Indonesia, is only 160 calories for the whole package, and… yeah. It’s konjac (pronounced like cognac).- These noodles are incredibly low cal and I’ve honestly had mixed resilts. I’ve had them that are horrible before – thicker noodles. But recently tried some that were thinner and they worked well. These are dry, and I haven’t tried them that way before, so we shall see how it goes. Let’s find out!
No, this is NOT noodles. But it’s a tie in that’s for sure. These are little surimi (fish) sausages to enjoy as a snack, flavored like Buldak Bokkeummyun. I’ve seen these all over recently in different ways – some packs call them ‘Kid’s Bong’ and they come in a variety of flavors. These sounded interesting! Couldn’t resist. Let’s take a look!
Okay, alright. It’s another Buldak spicy thing and this time its not topokki and ramen, it’s just topokki. What’s exciting about this is that this is the export version. I’m usually not happy about getting export versions; I want the local versions; te ones that people in their respective countries find at the store. But what’s cool is that this is now available in the United States – and I’ve seen it here recently. This is original Buldak Bokkeummyun flavor – there’s also a Carbo version as well. For those of you who are asking ‘what’s a topokki?!’ here’s a little info from Wikipedia –
So mornings can suck sometimes. Waking up 2 hours late for example. With that, I better get a move on!
When I used to drink (and I was very good at it, mind you), I would often try beers from different countries. One I remember from South Korea was Hite beer. It’s pretty good stuff – they had them in cans and bottles and then in these huge plastic jugs which I would get from time to time. This one’s a private label variety from Samyang Foods that came in a recent box from them. Very curious about this one – let’s give it a looksie…
Spicy stuff! So this one is the latest of the standard pillow pack varieties of the ‘fire noodle’ series. For those of you who don’t know what topokki is, here’s a little something from Wikipedia –
Got an email from a reader named Donald J about this one and he wanted to send a sample – well, here it is! Thanks! Always very interested in Korean varieties – especially ones I’ve not seen before!
A reader clued me in about these recently – thanks! I thought I should definitely give these a try. Why? Well, the regular Knight Of Ribs variety was on the Top Ten Instant Noodles 2018 Edition.
Well here we are. The last of the French Samyang stuff. I’ve really found these to be really quite good and hope to see more from them at some time soon – maybe packs? Anyways, this is a coconut chicken flavored variety. Let’s dig in!
Found this one at the HMart at Aberdeen Centre up in Richmond, BC, Canada. This one at this point is a little vexing as I’m having trouble with translation however I’ve asked Facebook folks to help.
Here’s another one from Mohd – the last of the ones he sent (please feel free to send more varieties and thank you again!) – this is a collaboration between Malaysian company Mamee and South Korean style company Shinsegae. This is a spicy kimchi soup – let’s hit it up!
