Everyone I know seems to enjoy stepping foot into Trader Joe’s. Personally, I’m loathe to enter it. The silly bells, the caffeinated out overly engaging checkout people, the haphazard design of the aisles, the customers hanging out in groups here and there, oblivious to others and impeding travel through the place… Yeah, I don’t like going in there usually. However, I went in there recently with my wife and it was somewhat enjoyable as I found some noodles there. Now, Trader Joe’s makes nothing – nothing at all. They get companies to do private label products for them. This is one of those – made in Taiwan. These are Taiwanese dry noodle, a time-honored cuisine. Well, let’s just call ’em squiggly fun time noodles! Egad. Well, whoever manufactured them, I hope they’re getting paid good. Hopefully these are good, too. Let’s find out.
Tag: sesame
#4337: A-Sha Crazy Rich Ramen – United States
Okay so first off, a big thanks to A-Sha for sending one of these! Second off, this is a very premium box. Within are noodles, sauce/seasonings, and then some very fancy extras. This box retails for $199. Yeah – that’s a lot. I often tell people when they’re sick there’s nothing better than noodles. Well, that’s maybe if you have influenza. This box however is if you have affluenza. Read on and see what is within!
#4270: Sichuan Baijia A-Kuan Big Boss – Instant Vermicelli Spicy And Sesame Flavor – China
A while back I discovered some of this brand’s Big Boss varieties – and it looks like there are more now, so that’s neat. Spicy and sesame sounds good enough – let’s find out.
#4151: MIT Ginger & Sesame Oil Noodles – Taiwan
Here’s a Vegan variety that was sent by James from Lakeside, CA – thanks again! So these are very thin dry noodles from Taiwan. Usually they’ve been hit or miss, but we shall see. The sick continues. At some point soon, we’ll know if we have the COVID or not. Let’s give these a try.
#4115: Nan Chuan Dao Sheng Wuhan Sesame Hot Sauce Konjac Rice Noodle – China
Konjac noodles generally are very chewy and rubbery – unless they have a gauge that works well with them. That being said, they’re also quite low in calories – extremely low. This one seems to marry konjac and rice together for the noodle. However, if it were simply konjac, it would be much lower. Anyways, let’s see what we have.
#3828: Kenko Foods Sesame Flavor Ramen – Japan
3828
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.
#3766: Mom’s Dry Noodle Sesame With Chili Oil – Taiwan
Here’s one that’s specifically made for a store chain called PX Mart. Sesame and a peppery oil sounds like a good one – let’s check it out!
#3623: Itsuki Sesame Wakame Udon – Japan
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.
Meet The Manufacturer: #3581: Sau Tao Taiwanese Style Sliced Noodle Pepper & Sesame Flavour – Hong Kong
Still just surprised with all the different varieties. Here’s a nice wide-style noodle from Hong Kong – Let’s cook some up!
#3523: Little Couples Dry Noodle Sesame Flavor – Taiwan
Little Couples sent me two varieties – an Onion one that was about as good as can be, and this one which I’m curious about. This one won’t be noodles with sesame oil. Instead, in Taiwan sesame is more of a sesame paste with peanut notes and soy sauce which pulls it all together. My wife found this out in the early years of my reviewing one time when we got some sesame noodles and she was very excited, but when she tasted peanut she was really quite unhappy. She is not a fan of peanut butter, and that’s what it reminded her of.
#3405: Maruchan Dining Soymilk Sesame Miso Ramen – Japan
#3391: Marutai Boh Ramen Shoyu Aji – Japan
Here’s one I found up in Canada at one of my favorite discoveries this year, a little store called Smart’n’Save in the Lansdowne Centre mall in Richmond, BC. This is a shoyu ramen, which translates to what we call soy sauce in English. I’ve always been impressed with Marutai’s stuff – let’s check it out!
#3342: EDO Pack Sesame Oil Flavour Noodle – Hong Kong
Alright so this one is made in Singapore, but it’s made for the Hong Kong market. It’s funny how products are made elsewhere for other countries, right? Well, you honestly should be used to it by now – Take the myriad of products in your home. If you have a Big Mouth Billy Bass on the wall, it’s made in China. Singing bass don’t seem like something very popular in China – could be wrong but who knows. Anyways, let’s crack this open and see what we have.
#3174: TIEasy Sesame Sauce Handmade Noodle – Taiwan
I got an email asking if I’d like to try a new noodle and of course I said yes. Turns out the fellow who wants to distribute it is up in Vancouver, BC. So I emailed him while we were up there and we met up at Foodyworld in Richmond. He gave me this and another variety as well as a pack with different kinds of noodles that contain vegetable – like a purple yam noodle, pumpkin noodle, etc. This was really cool – we chatted for a few and two days later, I’m giving these noodles a try. Let’s check them out! By the way TIEasy is short for Take It Easy.
#3111: Maruchan Soy Milk Tan-Tan Wantan Men – Japan
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
Meet The Manufacturer: #3081: Fu Chung Village Dry Noodles With Sauce – Garlic & Sesame Flavor – Taiwan
We bid a fond farewell to Fu Chung today and I hope we will see more of their products in the future! Let’s try this one – sesame and garlic!
Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: TTL Sesame Oil Chicken Flavor With Rice Wine Instant Noodle – Taiwan
The second review in this series was the bowl version of this one. Steeping vs non-steeped. Let’s take a look!
Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: TTL Sesame Oil Chicken Flavor With Rice Wine Instant Noodle – Taiwan
When I think of rice wine, my mind immediately goes to sake from Japan. I was surprised to find that there are many different kinds of rice wine – here’s a pretty extensive list from Wikipedia –
#2943: San-Iku Gomaaji Ramen
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.
#2941: A-Sha Dry Noodle Guanmiao Noodle Hakka Sesame Oil Scallion
A-Sha’s US distributor messaged me a little while ago about these new varieties about to hit the US market that are very popular in Taiwan right now. Guanmiao noodles hail from southern Taiwan in the agricultural heartland. Hotter weather and lot of noodles! Let’s crack it open and have a look!