Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
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!
I’ve been really lucky – the FedEx guy has been coming to my patio for ages when I have a package but he’s retired! This is the last box he brought me.
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!
Yesterday I saw the FedEx truck coming around the corner through the patio door window. They stopped. What’s nice is that the guy just parks and comes up to the window these days. Let’s see what inside!
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.
I’ve had lots of different versions of this. Today it’s the South Korean local one – not the export. Sounds really good to me! Let’s check it out!
On my Top Ten Spicy list, the package version of this is #1. Hottest thing ever – hands down! Well, they also sent me the cup version – let’s see how spicy this sucker’s gonna be!
So I did a live taping a few weeks ago for a brand new show on South Korea’s O’Live TV network. As far as the guys on the show, I think one is a K-pop star and the other was on South Korea’s Master Chef. Could be very wrong about that though! If anyone knows, clue me in in a comment. The first episode of the show is all about spicy South Korean ramyun. Here it is!
First, I’d like to send my best wishes to those affected by Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines. Latest news reports another storm on the way. Like to help? Check out www.redcross.org to see how you can.
I saw a recipe that sounded interesting a few weeks ago, and decided I wanted to try it. The issue: I only had one bowl of Samyang Foods’ Budalk Bokkumyeon, a fiery and spicy fest whose close relative the package version made the Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2013 list. I emailed Samyang Foods about it and they kindly sent some as well as some other new varieties.
Here’s a brand new one from Samyang Foods of South Korea. They sent instructions on how to cook them as well as a little info about this new variety:
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 we have a Shin Ramyun cup – this one was bought in South Korea and brought back to me by Kristen W. or Arizona – thanks! Let’s check it out!
Whoa hey what’s this? Here’s another snack made from instant noodles! This one’s from South Korea – let’s check it out!
You might be thinking, ‘hey – didn’t he already review this?’ Nope – I reviewed the Shin Ramyun Black cup from South Korea. This is the one that is manufactured here in the United States in Rancho Cucamonga, California.So what is this ‘Pot-au-feu’ flavor? I consulted Wikipedia and found this:
Since today is National Cheeseburger Day (yeah – it’s a real thing), I thought I’d report my ramyun burger recipe. Thought people might like to see it again.
I’ve had a hankering to re-review this one since I had the cup version and really liked it. Made me think maybe I was a little tough on this one when I reviewed it as #121. But now I’m looking through the archives and I gave it a 3.5/5.0 stars, which isn’t bad, then I re-reviewed it and gave it 3.5/5.0 again. Funny, I didn’t think I’d re-reviewed this one… Well, I guess it’s a re-re-revie; I already took the pictures of everything, right? Let’s give this one another peek.
Recently, I came up with the ramyun slider. I thought since I’ve got some Shin Black on hand, why not a full-fledged ramyun burger? This recipe came out great and really wasn’t that hard to do.
When we got home from the hospital yesterday, I called the apartment office to see if there were any packages – they said there was one. A mailer from Nongshim America – what’s inside?
With the recent popularity of the ‘ramen burger,’ I felt it necessary to try them out, but with a twist. South Korean ramyun is easily available by many brand and the noodles are thicker as well as more plentiful than other country’s varieties. Let’s give this a try!
Here’s one from South Korea. This is a seafood variety, but with no broth. If you look closely, you’ll see three triahles on the lid. These are perforated holes that you poke through and use to drain the noodles. Let’s check this one out!
Today, it’s a South Korean classic cup. These guys were the very first to introduce ramyun in South Korea back in 1963! I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Samyang Foods- here’s what they have to say about cups:
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!
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.
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!
Here one that came from Korea by way of Kristen W. of Arizona! Thank you so much! I’ve wanted to review this one for a long time! Let’s check this unique variety out.
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!
Found this one at Uwajimaya in Bellevue and thought it was worth a try. I do like Worcestershire sauce!
This is one you can probably find quite easily in a grocery store here in the United States. Let’s have a look.
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.
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!
Yep – another one from my Canadian birthday trip! Let’s check this one out.
Export sticker (click image to enlarge).
Another one I got while in Canada for my birthday. I’m sure many folks will immediately ask ‘where did you get this’ and ‘where can I get it,’ and I’ll just say I’ve only seen this in Canada. See, they get stuff in the Vancouver area from not only the Nongshim plant here in the states but the one in Shanghai, China. Got a couple more coming down the pipe of reviews soon that hail from China. Let’s check this out!
One of the last that Joe & Gil from the UK sent a while back – thanks again! I like chow mein, but what’s ‘super’ chow mein? Let’s see!
Another from my trip to Canada on my birthday! Vegetable! Let’s check it out.
Back of the packaging (click image to enlarge). Says it contains wheat and soy and may contain trace amounts of egg, fish/shellfish, nuts and sulphites.
Here’s the last of the three product samples sent by the nice folks at Maruchan – thanks again! Spicy shrimp sounds good – let’s check it out.
