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’s review is a spicy one from the famous Fire Noodle range of Buldak products manufactured by Samyang Foods. Not only does it contain noodles, but topokki as well which is a nice touch. If you haven’t tried topokki, you’re really missing out! Let’s give it a try!
Samyang Foods Jjajang Buldak Ramen Topokki – South Korea
Here are the included instructions they made for me (click to enlarge).
Included is a package with a noodle block.
Here’s the topokki – make sure you remove the dessicant sachet.
Two wet sachets of jjajang sauce.
The vegetable sachet.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, fish cake, and baked chicken, Noodles come out with a nice chew to them and the topokki is with a nice chew as well. The instructions said 5~6 minutes and I did 5 1/2, so 6 would probably yield more tender topokki. The sauce is thick and luxuriant, with a strong Buldak kind of flavor as well as the black bean component. It’s definitely spicy as well. A good combo – tasty and great. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073310964.
It’s summer right now (I wrote and reviewed this on the last day of July) and one thing that happens during the summer months is that South Korean brands put out their cold noodles. This one is a play on bibimbap – instead of rice, it’s noodles. Here’s a little about bibimbap from Wikipedia –
Bibimbap[2] (/ˈbiːbɪmbæp/BEE-bim-bap,[3] from Korean 비빔밥 [pi.bim.p͈ap̚], literally “mixed rice”), sometimes romanized as bi bim bap or bi bim bop, is a Korean rice dish. The term “bibim” means mixing various ingredients, while the “bap” noun refers to rice. Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) or kimchi (traditional fermented vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), soy sauce, or doenjang (a fermented soybean paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The hot dish is stirred together thoroughly just before eating.[4]
The noodle version is served cold while the rice version is hot – and my favorite is served in a stone pot. The rice at the bottom is kind of crunchy and you pour a little tea in and it makes it’s own little rice soup which is nice. Let’s check out this, the noodle version called bibimmyun.
Samyang Foods Bibimmyun – South Korea
Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, cook noodles 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The oodle block.
A wet sauce sachet.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added sliced egg, spring onion, carrot, cucumber, ham, and Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts. The noodles worked well with the sauce – thick and chewy. The sauce was spicy and sweet – very good and a nice accompaniment to hotter weather. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073101449.
Two days in a row of varieties with long names! This one does NOT include noodles, however it’s topokki. What’s that? Wikipedia, if you please –
teok-bokki (떡볶이) or stir-fried rice cakes is a popular Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called tteokmyeon (떡면; “rice cake noodles”) or commonly tteok-bokki-tteok(떡볶이 떡; “tteok-bokki rice cakes”).[1][2] Eomuk(fish cakes), boiled eggs, and scallions are some of the most commonly added ingredients. It can be seasoned with either spicy gochujang (chili paste) or non-spicy ganjang (soy sauce)-based sauce; the former being the most typical form,[3] while the latter is less common and sometimes called gungjung-tteok-bokki (royal court tteok-bokki).
Today, variations also include curry-tteok-bokki, cream sauce-tteok-bokki, jajang-tteok-bokki, seafood-tteok-bokki, galbi-tteok-bokki and so on. Tteok-bokki is commonly purchased and eaten at bunsikjip (snack bars) as well as pojangmacha (street stalls). There are also dedicated restaurants for tteok-bokki, where it is referred to as jeugseog tteok-bokki (impromptu tteok-bokki).
Curry topokki?! Oh man I’m missing out. These little rice tubes of deliciousness are just what the doctor ordered – let’s give it a try!
Samyang Foods Buldak Carbo HOT Chicken Flavor Topokki – South Korea
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add sauce, topokki, and hot water to the line. Microwave for 2 1/2 minutes at 1000W with the lid on. Add in powder. Finally, stir and enjoy!
Finished (click to enlarge). Added baked chicken. spring onion, sesame seeds, and fried onion. The tteokbokki comes out very well – very satisfying. The carbo flavor is quite good – although came out soupy this go around. Nevertheless it’s very good. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073910287.
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!
Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion, baked chicken, chashu pork, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, and sesame seeds. Noodles are great – thick and chewy. Topokki comes out swinging. The sauce is a brilliant and lip-smacking super spicy smooth and flavor one with a kind of cheesy creamy heat and flavor. Just exemplary stuff and my favorite of th entire buldak fire noodle range. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 801073310957.
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!
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains seafood. To prepare, add boiling water to fill line and cover for 4 minutes. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
A wet soup base sachet. To see the sachets in action, watch Instant Noodle Recipe Time video below.
Dry garnish in this one.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added egg, spring onion, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, pork, and chili flake. Noodle is thick and chewy but more along the lines of their standard ramen. However, the broth is where the udon taste comes in a little more I suppose. It’s tasty and has a hint of spiciness. Myriad green onion and sesame seeds. Enjoyable. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073211452.
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!
Samyang Foods Hot Chicken Flavor Sausage – South Korea
Here’s the wrapper (click to enlarge). Contains fish. To prepare, open by pulling tab, extend sausage. Finally, eat sausage.
The package contains three of them. Note the little red tab.
Finished. I rally didn’t know what to expect with these little sausage things. What I found was they were pretty good – a little chew and a nice seafood and spicy hit from that definitive Buldak Bokkeummyun flavor. Spicy level, not through the roof, but definitely there. For a snack, I’d give these 4 out of 5 stars. EAN bar code 8801073940079.
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 –
Tteok-bokki (떡볶이) or stir-fried rice cakes is a popular Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called tteokmyeon (떡면; “rice cake noodles”) or commonly tteok-bokki-tteok(떡볶이 떡; “tteok-bokki rice cakes”).[1][2] Fish cakes, boiled eggs, and scallions are some of the most commonly added ingredients. It can be seasoned with either spicy gochujang (chili paste) or non-spicy ganjang (soy sauce)-based sauce; the former being the most typical form,[3], while the latter is less common and sometimes called gungjung-tteok-bokki (royal court tteok-bokki). Today, variations also include curry-tteok-bokki, cream sauce-tteok-bokki, jajang-tteok-bokki, seafood-tteok-bokki, galbi-tteok-bokki and so on. Tteok-bokki is commonly purchased and eaten at bunsikjip (snack bars) as well as pojangmacha (street stalls). There are also dedicated restaurants for tteok-bokki, where it is referred to as jeugseog tteok-bokki (impromptu tteok-bokki).
Haemul-tteok-bokki, (해물떡볶이; “seafood tteok-bokki”) uses seafood as a sub ingredient.
Galbi-tteok-bokki (갈비떡볶이; “short ribs tteok-bokki”) is a tteok-bokki uses short ribs as an ingredient.
Ra-bokki (라볶이; “instant noodles tteok-bokki”) and jjol-bokki (쫄볶이; “chewy noodles tteok-bokki”), are quite similar. They both add noodles to tteok-bokki. ra-bokki and jjol-bokki differs from the kind of noodles added to tteok-bokki. ra-bokki adds ramyeon noodle, and jjol-bokki adds chewy noodles which are used to make jjol-myeon.
Alright – let’s cook it up and I’ll do my best to lay waste to it.
Samyang Foods Buldak Hot Chicken Flavor Topokki – South Korea
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add topokki and sauce to the bowl. Add water to fill line (note it’s much lower than on most noole cups. Microwave at 1000W for 2 minutes and 30 seconds with the lid on. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The sextet of tines here are daunting! Check this out for a full list of forks – it’s really quite fascinating!
The pouch of topokki.
A wet sachet containing the spicy sauce.
Finished (click to enlarge). Chewy topokki is of good quality and plentiful. The sauce is sweet and very spicy. It’s tasty as well as hot – the heat level reminds me of the topokki buldak ramen they produce. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073910270.
So mornings can suck sometimes. Waking up 2 hours late for example. With that, I better get a move on!
Samyang Foods Tsuyu Soy Sauce Udon – South Korea
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). Unsure whether it contains meat – check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodles in 550ml water for 5 minutes. Add in sachets. Finally, stir and enjoy!
A large noodle block.
A wet sachet (no open pics today – just no time – watch the video for more)
A dry flake sachet.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added habanero togarashi, bbq pork, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, and spring onion, Noodles came out very tasty and chewy. They really complimented the broth which had a rich flavor of soy and sweet with just a tiny amount of spicy. The included garnish was on point. Very happy with this. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073113916.
After years of resisting the common practice of naming these lists after the year ahead, I’ve finally decided I’d conform with societal norms and start doing this with this list. So, there won’t be a 2019 edition (although between you and me that’s what this is as it’s coming out in 2019 and not 2020, but whatever). All lists going forward will be this way. My brain will be okay with it eventually, kind of like how I used to lose my mind when people would pronounce sriracha ‘sirracha,’ which IS the correct way to do s. Time heals all chunks of illogic I suppose. But anyways, these are my favorite and most memorable cup varieties from my reviews up to number 3,180. Let’s take a look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2020 Edition.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2020 Edition
Video Presentation
A special video showcasing The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups OF All Time 2020 Edition.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups OF All Time 2020 Edition
#10: Maison De Coree x Samyang Ramen Gout BBQ Coreen – France
A collaboration of Samyang of South Korea and Maison De Coree of France bring this neat variety. A thick and chewy noodle is married to Korean BBQ sauce – a sloppy umami bomb which really is quite delicious. Original review
#9: Nissin Cup Noodles Alitas Hot – Mexico
Part of their Intensos spicy range, Nissin Mexico brings Alitas Hot – ho wings flavor. The heat level is very tame, however the flavor is off the charts with a very tasty grilled chicken taste. A really nice surprise in this one – worth a try. Original review
#8: MyKuali Penang Red Tom Yum Goong Noodle Authentic Taste – Malaysia
A show stopper, this variety has a super savory broth which is thick and flavorful. Strong tomato and lemongrass notes are present and couples with a great noodle and vegetables sachet. Tastes almost identical to tom yum I tried in Langkawi. Original review
#7: Nissin Cup Noodle Nice Rich Pork Shoyu (New Version) – Japan
This low calorie cup is not low on flavor. A different kind of noodle which has a very good mouthfeel is couples with a strong broth and included garnish which are second to none. At 176 calories for the cup, it makes one wonder why they don’t make all Cup Noodle varieties with this style noodle. Original review
#6: Mamee Chef Curry Laksa Flavour – Malaysia
These noodles are produced using Mamee Chef’s ‘Mi Tarik’ technology which emulates hand pulled noodles. The broth has a rich and luxuriant curry flavor and is augmented by a myriad of garnish including little tofu puffs. Original review
#5: Miandom Tasty Asia Green Curry Shrimp Flavoured Instant Noodles – Singapore
With a very unique wheat noodle whose mouthfeel is different from any other on this list, this one has a strong green curry flavor. It’s unique from top to bottom and really delivers a nice green curry experience. Original review
#4: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen – Japan
QTTA (pronounced coo-tah) translated to ‘I’m full/satisfied.’ A cup full of rich curry and thick noodles, with a lot of different included garnish. It definitely should fill you up. Original review
#3: Nissin Cup Noodles Very Veggie Spicy Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup – United States
Here you see the Very Veggie Spicy Chicken variety, but truly the whole range which includes beef, chicken, and soy sauce flavors hold this spot – they’r equally good. The sheer amount of vegetables work with the base to create just about the most savory broth you could imagine. Really something that should be experienced by every noodle fan. Original review
#2: MyKuali Penang Hokkien Prawn Noodle Authentic Taste – Malaysia
If you like prawn like I like prawn, and I really like prawn, you’re going to be exceedingly enthused about this variety. The sheer amount of prawniness is just wonderful – a thick, sweet and spicy broth, great noodles, and included fried onlon just come together so well. Original review
#1: Nissin Cup Noodles Gourmet Sabor A Caldo De Camaron – Mexico
While other images in this list show the product with additions I’ve made, this one does not. What you see is what you get, and you get a seriously wonderful thing here. A vibrant prawn broth with Mexican flavor, ample garnish (including those reasonably sized shrimp there) and great noodles come together in this one. An absolutely incredible topper to this list. Original review
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 –
Tteok-bokki (떡볶이) or stir-fried rice cakes is a popular Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called tteokmyeon (떡면; “rice cake noodles”) or commonly tteok-bokki-tteok(떡볶이 떡; “tteok-bokki rice cakes”).[1][2] Fish cakes, boiled eggs, and scallions are some of the most commonly added ingredients. It can be seasoned with either spicy gochujang (chili paste) or non-spicy ganjang (soy sauce)-based sauce; the former being the prototype,[3] and the latter often called gungjung-tteok-bokki (royal courttteok-bokki). Today, variations also include curry–tteok-bokki, cream sauce–tteok-bokki, jajang-tteok-bokki, seafood–tteok-bokki, galbi-tteok-bokki and so on. Tteok-bokki is commonly purchased and eaten at bunsikjip (snack bars) as well as pojangmacha (street stalls).
Haemul–tteok-bokki, (해물떡볶이; “seafood tteok-bokki“) uses seafood as a sub ingredient.
Galbi-tteok-bokki (갈비떡볶이; “short ribs tteok-bokki“) is a tteok-bokki uses short ribs as an ingredient.
Ra-bokki (라볶이; “instant noodles tteok-bokki“) and jjol-bokki (쫄볶이; “chewy noodles tteok-bokki“), are quite similar. They both add noodles to tteok-bokki. ra-bokki and jjol-bokki differs from the kind of noodles added to tteok-bokki. ra-bokki adds ramyeon noodle, and jjol-bokki adds chewy noodles which are used to make jjol-myeon.
I would say that topokki is one of the tastiest things I’ve had – whether a spicy one or cream cheese topokki – oh man that’s good too. Anyways, let’s check out this newest variety!
Samyang Foods Buldak Topokki Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen – South Korea
Here’s the package (click to enlarge). Contains fish. To prepare, boil noodles and vegetables in 600ml water for 5 minutes. Drain, saving 8 spoons water (8x15ml=120ml) and add in sauce. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
A wet sachet.
Smells spicy!
A dry sachet.
Vegetables and fishcake!
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, kamaboko, baked chicken with NuTek Salt For Life, spring onion, and soft egg. The noodles are just superb – thick and chewy. Sauce coats everything really well and heat is strong. A great balance of heat and flavor and the little fishcake pieces are a nice bonus. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073114159.
Every year I come out with new lists in many categories. The more reviews I do, the more I figure the lists will change less and less. It amazes me though how much they do change and how much the industry evolves and changes. Here’s the latest list of bowls, current as on review #3180. All products are prepared according to labeling on the package, and scores are given before any external garnish is added. Let’s check out the Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls for 2019!
Th Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2019 Edition
Video Presentation
Watch me personally deliver The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowl Of All Time 2019 Edition in this video.
Th Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2019 Edition
#10 – Master Kong – Golden Stock Shrimp Noodles Bowl – China
This one features a good quantity of decent noodles and a broth that has a rich and flavorful body to it. Oiliness is on pint, and the inclusion of little seafood balls in the mix is very good. Original review
#9 – Uni-President Man Han Feast Braised Pork Flavor Instant Noodles Bowl – Taiwan
First, the noodles have a little bit thicker a gauge than most instant varieties. Indeed they are premium although a slight bit softer than one might expect. The broth is a sea of rich pork flavor – different than many. As a matter of fact, this really REALLY has a nice pork flavor; most pork varieties don’t have a great pork taste as the pork taste they do have get overshadowed by saltiness. The vegetables hydrated well and the pork was very good. Original review
#8 – Uni-President Man Han Feast Super Hot Pot Beef Flavor Noodles – Taiwan
So the noodles are broad and flat with a light chew and an excellent quantity. The broth is a tour de force of beef taste. It has a good thickness/oiliness to it as well as a good flavor. Indeed as expected, there’s a decent punch of spiciness. Indeed, the chunks of beef are of good size and quality. Moreover, the liquid with the beef in the retort pouch add depth to the broth. Finally, little rings of chilli pepper are here and there, joining the party. Original review
TTL stands for Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor and indeed there’s a sachet of rice wine in here! Add to that a big retort pouch full of decent sized chunks of chicken, good noodles and garnish, This is definitely a bowl to seek out and try. Original review
#6 – Samyang Foods Samyang Ramen Hot – South Korea
A newcomer to the list, however a flavor I’ve known for a while. Samyang Ramen and Samyang Ramen Hot are just plain delicious; a thick and chewy noodle is coupled with a great spicy ham broth which is just sensational. It hit #2 this year on my Top Ten South Korean list. Original review
#5 – Little Cook Tomato Beef Noodles – Taiwan
This one featured a strong tomato flavor broth and chewy, thick noodles. The beef in here is delicious and on great quality. Another example of Taiwanese companies stepping up products to make them more premium. Original review
#4 – Little Cook Braised Beef Noodles With Tendon & Meat – Taiwan
Okay so first off, this is a heavy bowl. There’s a huge retort pouch in here full of beef and beef tendon. The noodles are wide and have a great chew and the broth has a nice flavor. But the start of the show is that braised beef and tendon – it’s perfect and there’s just so much of it. Very impressive! Original review
#3 – Nissin Raoh Kogashi Shoyu – Japan
Premium noodles in this one. Very chewy and with an excellent mouthfeel. The broth just bristles with a rich meatiness. Flavor is just wonderful – an asset to this high end Nissin Japan range. Original review
#2 – Nissin Gyoretsu-no-Dekiru-Mise-no-Ramen (Shrimp Tantanmen) – Japan
Talk about amazing. Now, on most of these bowls, you’ll notice I’ve added my own garnishes. I don’t count them in my reviewing – everything is reviewed prior to any additions I make. This is one where I’ve added nothing and just look at it! This one had very good noodles to start off. The broth was a very thick prawn infused decadent flavor spectacle. Then there’s the little crunchy topping and the other garnish they provide and this is just amazing stuff. Wow. Floored. Original review
#1 – Little Cook Thailand Green Curry Instant Noodle – Taiwan
Wow – I’m so freaking impressed with this one. First, there are two bowls. Peel back the lid of the first bowl and add boiling water. After a short time, you poke holes in the lid and drain the liquid into the second. A sachet of soup base is added and you have a soup with lots of corn and herbs. Next, a huge sachet with chicken and vegetables boasts a great spicy green curry flavor which mixes with the noodle. A really amazing product which is unique and delicious. This is Little Cook Thailand Green Curry Instant Noodle’s third year in the number one spot in a row – congratulations! Original review
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!
Maison De Coree x Samyang Ramen Gout Coco Poulet – France
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add in dry sachet and boiling water to fill line. Cover for 3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!
Finished (click to enlarge). This was nice. A good gauge of noodle with a soft tooth meets a very strong chicken flavor and coconut taste broth. Kind of like ‘chicken noodle plus.’ Not bad. 3.75 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8805957019486.
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