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Another year’s gone by and here we are again with the new bowls list. A lot of really interesting ones this go around and some old favorites. At the point of putting this list out, I’ve almost hit 1,700 reviews. Of those, these are in my opinion the best tasting and the most memorable varieties. With that, allow me to present The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls 2015 Edition.
A couple years back, I did a Meet Ther Manufacturer with Paldo, a South Korean company. I was stoked to get a pack of this Rabokki back then and asked if it would ever be in the United States. It sounded like there weren’t any plans to bring it this way and I was bummed – really bummed. Well, bummed no more, I can happily announce that it’s gracing store shelves in the USA now! Rabokki is a fusion of ramyun and topokki Topokki is what you see there on top of the noodles on the package – finger length rice cakes that are chewy – about the consistency of string cheese, served most popularly in a thick sweet and spicy sauce. I will say it’s probably one of my favorite foods of all time – especially the way I’ve tried it lately at a local place called Chi-Mc n Hot Pot, with cream cheese – egad it’s really good. Let’s check out this ramyun-topokki fusion from Paldo!
Paldo Foods is a South Korean company, and it looks like they’ve expanded to Vietnam with Paldo Vina. Now mushroom isn’t generally my favorite flavor, but I’ve been surprised in the last year or so at how much I’ve liked many mushroom instants. Let’s see how this one pans out.
Wasn’t expecting this one today – what’s inside?
One of my favorite Korean foods is tteotbokki (pronounced tah-bocky or tah-pocky). They’re like little tubes made from rice and thick and chewy. Usually it’s accompanied by a spicy sauce, egg, fish cake and more. Well, this is rabokki – ramyun with tteotbokki sauce! I had this a few years back and was really bummed it wasn’t available here in the United States. When I got this package in the mail I contacted my friend at Paldo and found out that indeed it will be on shelves here soon! Awesome!
It’s still winter, so I thought something hearty would be a nice touch today. Jjajangmen is a Chinese-South Korean fusion dish. Ramyun noodles and Chajang sauce, rich and thick with black beans. Let’s have a look at this new bowl from Paldo!
The Ramen Rater’s top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time made it’s debut last January and I thought this would be a good day to release the new one for 2015! South Korean instant noodles (known as ramyun) are characteristically thicker and chewier than most instants. Spiciness is a common trait as well as beef flavors. Here are my top picks of the South Korean varieties I’ve reviewed of my 1,573 reviews to date.
My friend Moses over at Paldo America offered to send some new snacks my way to try. I figure hey – I like South Korean snacks as well as noodles – why not!
I thought it was about time to re-review this one. When people ask me about hot and spicy instant noodles that they can possibly find at a local Asian grocery, I usually steer them towards Teumsae Ramyun. Many consider this one to be the ultimate spiciest, although I have had one or two I think that have been hotter. That’s not to say that this stuff won’t challenge even the staunchest of spicy fans. This is mean. Real mean. If you ate a spicy pepper, the best thing to get rid of the heat would be a crunchy chip – when you chew, it scrapes the heat off your palate. Or milk, or sugar. The last thing would be beer or water. Well, this is soup. It sinks that spicy heat right down into your taste buds even deeper! Let’s revisit this spicy Paldo Teumsae Ramyun again and see why it’s been on the Top Ten Spicy List since the list’s inception.
Paldo Foods is a South Korean company, and it looks like they’ve expanded to Vietnam with Paldo Vina. Been curious about this line for a while now and wondering how they taste. Shrimp ounds good for today – let’s go!
Here’s a new Jjamppong King Bowl from Paldo. The king bowl is yet another instant noodle form factor. There are cups, king cups, bowls and king bowls. I think the main different between cups and bowls are really the portability factor. I think a king cup and a king bowl hold the same amount of liquid though; I’ll have to compare them some day. But I digress. This is Jjamppong – here’s a little from Wikipedia about Jjamppong who are unclear about what it is:
Here’s a new variety of Paldo’s Bibim Men line to come out recently. Jjol means ‘chewy.’ Bibim Men – now this is slightly trickier but isn’t that hard. Bibimbap is a mix of vegetables, meat and an egg topped with gochujang (a spicy sauce) over rice. It’s one of my favorite Korean dishes, often served in a stone bowl and sizzling like nothing else! Well, the ‘bap is rice. In Jjol Bibim Men, the Men is the same as -myun or myeon, which means noodles. So what you have here is a cold, spicy, chewy noodle dish. I’m hungry – let’s get to it! Bring on the Jjol Bibim Men!
My friend Moses over at Paldo America sent me a package!
Wow these are really big bowls! Jjajangmyen is a noodle with spicy black bean sauce and Jjamppong is a spicy seafood noodle soup! Thanks!
If you like it hot, you’re in for a real treat here. These are the spiciest instant noodles you can get that I’ve reviewed from my 1,446 reviews thus far. If you can’t handle spicy foods, these definitely aren’t for you – these are serious! Many of these were so hot, I couldn’t finish the bowl – and I can handle a decent amount of heat! I used to review hot sauces! Anyways, Hope everyone is having a great summer and here are the spiciest instant noodles of all time for 2014!
Yeah – it’s that time of year again! Cups are interesting; they usually hold a lot less water than a bowl, so the steeping process is a little different and so are the noodles. I’ve had some horrendous cups over the years, but then there are some that are really quite good. This last year has been a great one where cups are concerned! Let’s have a look at the best of the best! The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2014 Edition!
Hey look – it’s the return of the happy little cheese guy with the sign! He looks so happy that he will be eaten – after having been reduced to a powder mix! I wonder how he would look if he really knew he would be eaten?
Bowls of noodles. They’re made all around the world and are a great option for those with access to boiling water and are ‘on the go.’ Some are basic and have very little imagination to them or perks, while others are really full meals that include meat and vegetables, seafood and other niceties. I’ve review 1,410 different noodle varieties and of those, many have been bowls. Here’s a list of the best, most memorable bowls I’ve come across is my adventure in tasting.
Hey look – another prototype! Thanks, Moses of Paldo America! Kokomen is one of Paldo’s signature products. It’s a spicy chicken and jalapeno broth accompanied by a nice amount of noodles and a garnish that includes these little strips of chicken. Good stuff. This is a milder version. Let’s see how this one compares!
I got a message from my pal Moses over at Paldo America while back asking if I’d like to review some instant ramyun that hasn’t been put out yet but is being sampled with college students to see what they think. I was absolutely rceptive to the idea – prototype instant noodles sound very interesting! Let’s see how barbecue ramyun tastes – this is the first of two versions, the other I’ll try soon.
This is an interesting box. Why?
The new variety of Bibimyun!
But what the heck is this? Prototype ramyun! Paldo America sent three different prototypes – I believe this one is Mild Kokomen. The other two are barbecue flavor variants! Looking forward to trying! Thank you very much!
Hey look! A friend at Paldo America said he had something to send me!
It’s a pot! It’s square for square ramyun blocks!
Today I’m trying something really interesting. This is Paldo’s new spicy octopus ramyun! I thought I couldn’t make this stuff without adding some octopus, but I’d never cooked it before and was a little reserved and slightly nervous. Octopus? Hey, why not! I went to the Korean grocery and picked some up. It was a bit of a surprise how many different kinds of packaged octopus there are. I settled on frozen baby octopus. Let’s see how it turns out!
Hey look – a couple of little boxes came in the mail today – wonder what’s inside?
Korean beef soup is usually something that isn’t spicy; a departure from what people usually see in most ramyun varieties. Gomtang translates to ‘bear soup,’ but there’s no bear in there! It’s been – boiled for a long time. The ‘men’ at the end of gomtangmen is where the noodles come in. Men, myun, myeon and myon are all suffixes that mean noodles in Korean. I’ve had Paldo’s Gomtang variety in the gold packaging – that stuff is quite good. I’m very curious to find out how this one is. Let’s have a look.
A box of samples from Paldo – what are they?
My pal Moses over at Paldo America said it’s a new beef broth traditional soup – I’ve liked those in the past! Thanks – looking forward to trying this!
It’s no secret that I eat a lot of instant noodles. Last year alone, I did 320 new reviews! I’m often asked, “when you aren’t reviewing, what instant noodles do you like to eat?” South Korean ramyun is the answer. In 1963, instant noodles were first introduced to South Korea as ‘ramyun.’ People were a little confused at first; they thought it was a textile! They also weren’t super keen on it being chicken flavored; South Koreans prefer rich beef flavors as opposed to lighter poultry tastes. With a little tweaking, the spicy rich beef noodles synonymous with ramyun were born. The thick noodles, rich broth and spiciness keep me coming back for more. This list contains my favorites from the 1272 reviews I’ve done thus far. They are all made in South Korea, and many will be hard to find in the United States, if not impossible. With that, here’s my list.
Here it is! Now you can get a big cup of Namja here in the states! I reviewed the South Korean Namja King Cup before, and there are differences between the two. If you’re wondering, Namja means ‘men’s’ or ‘guy’s’ – still wondering if they will make a ramyun for the ladies. Let’s check this new one out.
Here’s something new from Paldo of South Korea – cheese noodle! I am a big fan of cheese! I also like noodles obviously, so this should be a nice pairing. Let’s dig in to some cheesy goodness!
My pal Moses over at Paldo sent me a message the other day: “I’m sending you something…”
This year, we’ve got some new fiery additions to this list of spicy and burning hot varieties. If you can find them, you’ll be feeling quite the burn! If you think you’ve found anything hotter or noteworthy of being on this list, please comment below or send me an email. Without further adieu, here’s the 2013 picks for the spiciest instant noodles I’ve found after 1,128 reviews!
Cups were the second instant noodle innovation that really took the world by storm. Nissin founder Momofuku Ando of Japan decided that a cup would be a really handy way to have instant noodles on the go. His creation came to the market in 1971. Forty-two years later, the instant noodle landscape is filled with many different cup designs and contents – some all inclusive only needing hot water,m and some requiring a little more with packets – and some even with forks! Of all the varieties I’ve tried to date, here are my favorite ten.
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!
After more than a year of pondering and reviewing since the last list, here’s the new top ten instant noodle bowls. This encompasses all instant noodle bowls reviewed up to today, June 15th, 2013. With no further adieu, the top ten instant noodle bowls of all time, 2013 edition.
Today, I’m trying a new recipe sent to me by the folks at Paldo! Summer is right around the corner and this cold noodle dish is great to enjoy during the warmer months of the year. It was first introduced on a South Korean TV show on the KBS network called ‘Happy Together’ (click here to see the video). It uses some ingredients I’ve never heard of before, but I’m sure the folks in South Korea are very familiar with them – Cho Gochujang and Bai-Top Shell. Cho Gochujang is a gochujang infused with vinegar. But what’s bai-top you ask? Sea snails! Never had snails from the sea or otherwise before. Thank you to Moses over at Paldo America for sending me everything to make this! Always excited to try something new.
It’s been over a year since the last Top Ten List came out and it’s time for a new one. You’ll see some from the old list and some new ones! With that, Welcome to the new Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time – 2013 Edition!
Well my friends, onward we march with the first post-1000 review! This is Dosirac with Cyrillic writing on it. I thought at first this is sold in Russia, but on the back there was a clue. I looked up the url mentioned – it turns out the .MN means Mongolia! Neato! So what’s Dosirac? It translates to ‘lunch box!’ I’ve had many of the versions that are sold in trays, but never have I seen a pack version. Let’s give this a try.
A box from California…
Wow how awesome! If you’re keen on South Korean noodles, you’ll probably recognize that this is the pack version of Paldo’s Dosirac tray. Paldo sells a lot of these in Russia.
This was sent to me by Kristina W. of Arizona – thank you! This one was a toughie to decipher so here’s what I found. GS25 is a chain of convenience stores in South Korea. From what I read on the packaging, this is a product made for them by Paldo. There’s a restaurant in Incheon called Gonghwachun – I think that’s what is being referred to here. Gonghwachun is a famous Chinese restaurant and well known for its Jjajangmyeon. Finally, Jjamppong (also jjambong, champong) is a spicy seafood soup. If I’m wrong, please comment! Anyways, on with the review!
Here’s one that was sent by Sungmin over at Paldo America – thank you! This is a new variety that just came out in South Korea. The name ‘Jong-gah-jip’ is of a well-known kimchi producer. Let’s give this a try!
Kristen W. of Arizona sent me some noodles she got while she was in South Korea!
This is a great little collection of South Korean varieties you can’t easily find here! Ottogi Cheese Ramyun and Spaghetti bowls – been wanting to try them for a while! The two above are Paldo Korea varieties – I think Rabokki and Jjajang. The Nongshim Shin Cup in the lower right is the South Korean version. Thank, Kristen! Soon as they’re made, some The Ramen Rater stickers will be coming your way!
My friend Sungmin over at Paldo Foods America sent a package of neat stuff!
Wow this looks cool!
