I recently was contacted by Tokyo Treat about trying their box and thought it would be neat to do an episode of The Chocolate Break with it – so we did! Check it out and hey – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount – something great for Valentine’s Day!
It’s been quite a year! I just wanted to send a big thank you to all my readers, folks who’ve sent in noodles, companies I’ve worked with and for all the help everyone has been on translating and everything else. Every day is such an enjoyable one because of you! From my family to yours, Happy Holidays!
Awesome. Spicy instant noodles my sister got me for my birthday – from Walmart in Canada! Thank you again! So far these have been pretty good – the beef one tasted like beef and the chicken tasted like chicken. The operative word here is tasted; so many Canadian varieties don’t have a lot of flavor to them. However I should note these are manufactured in the United States. Not a slam on Canada though – I really like Canada! Let’s check this one out!
Detail of the back of the package (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add noodle block to 500ml boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Add in sachet contents. Stir and enjoy!
The noodle block..
The soup base sachet.
An ultra light powder.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added coriander, leftover seasoned ground beef for tacos, spring onion, shard cheddar and red chilli flakes. The noodles are just great – a very standard instant noodle gauge. The broth is a lightly spicy kind of light chicken broth. I’m surprised how good it is; I had this about 4 times when I was sick a couple months ago and it was so good with cheese and egg dropped into it. This is nice! 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 628915231717.
A Walmart Canada TV commercial.
Tomorrow is Momofuku Ando Day and I thought it would be fun to let my son Andreas do a video review. Just a reminder – today (January 18th, 2014) is the last day to enter the Momofuku Ando Day Photo Contest! The winner will be announced tomorrow. My Momofuku Ando Day video will be up tomorrow!
My son Andreas (Andy) giving his thoughts on his favorite instant noodles as well as recommendations for garnish.
This was sent to me by Kristina W. of Arizona – thank you! Jjajangmyun is basically a noodle that is coated in a black bean sauce. Let’s check it out!
The back of the package (click image to enlarge). Not sure if it contains meat or not.
The noodle block.
The only packet included is a big one full of sauce. Decided (as I did yesterday as well) not to make a big mess by trying to fit this stuff in one of the little sake cups I usually use.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added some beef, carrot and Vidalia sweet onion. The noodles good – a little chewier than usual and nice and plump. The jjajang sauce is really great – has a rich black bean flavor with a little bit of extra heartiness, especially from the potatoes. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 8801128506571.
Here’s a recipe for jjajangmyeon!
Here we go with the 28th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News! I scour the Internet for articles about ramen and instant noodles and bring them to you! Here are some recent stories you might find interesting!
In the last week, I’ve had a lot of traffic from upset Taiwanese that none of their country’s beloved instant noodles made the list. I saw videos like this one and then this angry one. I felt a video message would be appropriate, and here it is.
Another one from my March birthday trip to Canada. I tried to translate this one but no luck – the name I got from the distributor’s sticker, so if anyone knows for sure this is the wrong name, please let me know. Let’s check it out!
Distributor sticker (click image to enlarge). Contains egg.
Detail from the side and bottom (click image to enlarge).
The lid (click image to enlarge). Note the drain spout on the top left.
Lots of Japanese yakisoba products have this drain spout.
Liquid seasoning.
Has a light Worcestershire sauce scent.
The vegetable packet.
Looks like cabbage amongst other dried veggies.
The garnish packet.
Lots of seaweed and little bits of fried tempura.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added beef sauteed with garlic and Worcestershire sauce, sweet onion, broccoli, kizami shoga (pickled ginger), and red, yellow and orange bell pepper. These noodles are nice – good texture, quantity and gauge. They’re a little chewy but not overly so. The flavor is nice – what you’d expect from yakisoba with a little extra oiliness which works well. The vegetables went well too – decent sized pieces of cabbage rehydrated well. The garnish is good too – lots of seaweed (goes nice with the noodles) and bits of tempura (lost their crunch as the meal went on). I like this one – 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 4903088008882.
A video by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
Found this one at Uwajimaya in Bellevue and thought it was worth a try. I do like Worcestershire sauce!
Back of the package (click image to enlarge). Contains egg white.
The noodle packet.
Flavoring packet.
Has a nice strong Worcestershire sauce scent.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added green onion, beef, sweet onion, red and orange bell pepper, broccoli and kizami shoga (pickled ginger). The noodles have a nice consistency – exactly what you’d expect out of yakisoba – kind of like an Asian spaghetti if that makes sense. The flavoring coats and invades every nook and cranny with a sweet and salty Worcestershire ambience. It’s great stuff! 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 011152104294.
How to make yakisoba!
This is one you can probably find quite easily in a grocery store here in the United States. Let’s have a look.
Here’s the detail from the bottom (click image to enlarge).
Under the wraps (click to enlarge).
The noodle block.
Liquid seasoning packet.
A good amount of dark liquid.
Veggie packet.
A nice looking mixture and decent quantity.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added red, yellow and orange bell pepper, sweet onion and broccoli along with some chicken lunch meat and a bit of Dua Belibis Chilli Sauce. The noodles are pretty good – plentiful and have a slightly broad and flat way to them. Decent consistency. The flavor is good – has a nice taste of chicken teriyaki, but not sweet. The veggies plumped up well. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 070662087213 – get it here.
Nissin Chow Mein TV spot.
Another from my trip to Canada for my birthday. Wow – what a past two days here! The Top Ten 2013 list came out to a clamor of Taiwanese disapproval – Taiwan didn’t make the list. But, hopefully out of it all I’ll get contacted by one of the companies in Taiwan, but so far nothing. On to other things though – that being this interesting bowl by Nongshim. This one’s made in Shanghai, China. Let’s check it out.
Very red side panels (click to enlarge).
Hey look – an included fork! A new one, too!
The noodle block.
The seasoning powder packet.
Nice and red like one would expect!
No veggie packet – this is what was in the bottom of the bowl.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added cheese, green onion, sweet onion, and sauteed beef with some mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. The noodles were a little disappointing – had some songiness I didn’t enjoy. The quantity was good though. The broth seemed a little on the weaker side and didn’t have the ‘oomph’ that I would have expected from Shin Ramyun. Not to say it wasn’t tasty – has a nice red broth flavor as I would expect from Shin Ramyun, just not very fiery in the spiciness department. The veggies hydrated nicely and were alright. 3.25 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 6920238083016.
Making of video for Nongshim CF by T-Ara.
If you watch this from beginning to end, not only proven yourself a true fan of the instant noodle, but also seen pretty much every single instant noodle review and re-review I’ve ever done. Clocking in at an hour and forty-nine minutes, this is pretty heavy duty. Enjoy!
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