Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Big thanks to Pher Engi for sending this one! A lot of the packaging is in Thai as well as English so I’m guessing it’s for sale in Thailand? Tricky, this one. I’m really curious about this – she also sent a soup version as well. After a little research, it turns out this is available at 7 Eleven in Thailand, so I was on the right track. Also, Jay Fai is a Michelin starred chef. Let’s give this a try!
I’ve a couple fascinating varieties from the Shin range by Nongshim which came by way of The Fat Hipster – thanks man! He’s got a YouTube channel where does reviews you should check out. This is one I though was only in the UK but from the labeling it’s distributed throughout Europe – there fore its getting the South Korea stamp as it’s not just for one country but many. Let’s give it a try!
Big thank you to James from Lakesida, CA for sending these over! This is the second of two new Nongshim Shin varieties recently released. It’s Vegan friendly which appeals to a broader group as time goes on. I’m very curious – I really like their Vgean varieties quite a bit, but generally not a huge fan of mushrooms. So, let’s give it a try and see how it is.
After a couple years, here’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time 2023 Edition. It’s been a sort of tough go lately; so few new Korean varieties have crossed my desk. Usually they’ve all been ultra spicy ones, and while good, they’ve not been ones that are top ten listers. There should be a few new ones to the list for next years list that have yet to be published, though. If you’ve an instant noodle company in South Korea, I’d love to review your products. I used to receive samples from the larger companies quite often, but unfortunately not so much recently. This list is comprised of varieties from South Korea that I’ve reviewed up to my 4,300th review. With that, here’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time 2023 Edition!
The Fat Hipster is a fellow ramen afficionado and has a great review channel on YouTube – check it out! He sent a box with a ton of varieties I haven’t tried before – let’s have a look!
Here’s another neat and never before seen Shin variety that was sent by The Fat Hipster – Shin Bokkeummyeon. Basically, it’s a dry version of Shin – also looks to be spicy from the packaging. I hope it’s good – let’s find out!
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 –
So for a long time, I’ve wanted to review the South Korean version of Shin Ramyun Black, and I know lots of people have wanted me to. Here in the United States, we have Nongshim America (NSA) in Rancho Cucamonga. Anywhere you find Shin Ramyun Black in the United States, it originates in California. However, Nonshim Korea (NSK) is its origin. You can thank Anders and his girlfriend Ji-Min from South Korea for sending this along! Thanks again! Here’s a little something about the Shin from Wikipedia –
For awhile now, I’ve been trying to get my hands on some of this that actually is from South Korea. Thanks to Anders and his girlfriend Ji-Min, here we are! Here’s some info from Wikipedia –
I got an email a few weeks back asking if I’d tried the new 2x Spicy Buldak Bokkeummyun. I hadn’t and really wanted to. The email was sent by Anders and his girlfriend Ji-Min who live in South Korea and were kind enough to send some varieties along! Let’s see what’s inside!
Every year in January I come out with a Top Ten list of South Korean varieties. Much to the disappointment and anger of many people, this will never be on that list. Why? Simple. It’s made in the United States. People have debated me into the dirt on it too ‘so, why does it matter?’ Well, if I put Nissin top Ramen on the Top Ten Japanese list that would be a little ridiculous, wouldn’t it? The differences between the Nongshim Shin Cup manufactured here and manufactured in South Korea might be only geographic and packaging, but those are the rules. This could be on the Top Ten Made In The USA list at some point (I haven’t come out with a new one of those lists in a while – maybe next year perhaps). I’m working on getting some South Korean varieties soon, so I guess we’ll see this January!
Okay so you might be wondering – beef tongue shio mayo ramen – that couldn’t possibly mean… Yes. Where did I get it though?
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!
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.
The FedEx guy apologized for the box getting a beating…
Its contents however were resilient!
Lunch (click to enlarge)!!!So I decided to have some of the Nongshim Jinjja Jinjja that they sent me a while back for lunch. I’ve reviewed it before – here’s the link. I added a slice of cheese, Crystal hot sauce, some Urashima Sesame & Salt furikake, an egg that I boiled with the noodles, some new odeng and onions. Oh – and of course kimchi! This is the first instant noodle that I devoured with the help of chopsticks! Yep – The Ramen Rater is going to be a chopstick eater! Funny; I wasn’t able to use them very well before but I tried them with kimbap, then some yakisoba I had at a restaurant and finally today and I’m stoked! Woot woot!
Today Andy wanted to try something new. Knowing he’s a little timid of things that are too far off the map, I went with this. I’m pretty sure he’ll like it.
During my trip to Nongshim America, I was interviewed – here’s what they aired on TV! This is the first time I’ve ever been on television! Pretty exciting! If someone would like to translate this, I would be very appreciative.
Check it out – the new Shin Black cup! Onion flavor! I’ve had one of these chilling on my shelf for a while now – been wanting to review it and now that it’s out on the market, I can! Let’s check it out!
I got two shipments today – one from Nongshim America, which I visited last week (there’ll be a lot of stuff all about the visit, the plant tour and the people very soon!). Here’s the first one from Nongshim America!
Tomorrow, my wife and I are headed to the airport to fly down to the Nongshim USA plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California! There, we’re going to do a plant tour, a noodle tasting, and a videotaped interview for the next Meet The Manufacturer, which (you guessed it) will feature Nongshim. We’ll return on Saturday with stories and pictures – I might do a post while we’re down there from my phone possibly. I want to say thank you to the wonderful folks at Nongshim USA for this opportunity to learn more about their company and instant noodles! We’re really looking forward to this! Next stop, southern California.
Starting yesterday evening, I noticed a huge amount of people from Korea coming to the site. Apparently, they were all coming in droves because of a news story about my Top Ten list including Nong Shim’s Shin Ramyun Black noodles! Well, here’s some links and some pictures of the articles. I’m really hoping someone can translate them soon as Google Translate has done a really crummy job where it usually does so well.
So this guy named Dave P. posted a YouTube video on the Ramen Rater Facebook page showing some people in Korea making a bowl of Shin Ramyun a little different that I’ve made it in the past. I thought I’d try to get the ingredients and give it a try. Here’s the video:
So I saw an i-Report article on CNN about ramen noodles and it mentioned they wanted people to write about their experiences with noodles from restaurant style to instant. I decided I’d write a short article and if it gets enough attention, it will be included in a big article CNN will be running at the beginning of next year! What I ask is that you click this link and check out the story yourself – share it on your facebook and twitter if you’re up for it! I feel The Ramen Rater blog isn’t just about my reviews; its about everyone who comments and participates. The more coverage it gets, the bigger the community and the more useful the site becomes. Thanks to everyone who comes to the site every day!
UPDATED REVIEW – uses a recipe from EatYourKimchi.com! See it HERE!
First off, I want to thank Greg B. of Florida for sending this one in. Shin Ramyun Black – wow. So I should mention about the ‘ controversy in South Korea about this product. Nong Shim advertised that it had more nutritional value than it really did and was fined for misleading advertising ( Korean Herald article here ). It was extremely popular and I believe it still is. It costs much more than regular Shin Ramyun too. I’ll have to say that I’ve been waiting for just the right day to review this one! Let’s see what’s inside this interesting package of South Korean instant noodles!
Honestly instead of Big Bowl I think these should be marketed as Huge Bowl, but honestly this is about what you would get if you bought a pack of Nongshim Kimchi noodles in a pack, except you would get better quality noodles there. These noodles are built for fast inflating and absorbency.
So here’s the last (as far as I know) of the Shin Ramyun line from Nongshim. Shin Ramyun (pack), Shin Cup, Shin Bowl and Shin Big Bowl. Let’s give it a go.
So here we go – an even larger container of Nong Shim Shin Ramyun!
Styrofoam! Ready for battle!!!
So here’s a video with pretty much all the photos I’ve taken of noodles and where they come from. Strange, I know, but enjoy!
Shin Bowl. So this should be exactly like Shin Ramyun but in a bowl, right? I’m going to figure it isn’t because the noodles usually seem different with bowl noodles.
Seen this around for a long time but have never tried it.Always looked kinda plain and boring.
Look at those big deadly looking red peppers! This should be interesting. Usually stuff you’d find around here domestically would be on the weak side if it had a pepper being shown. We’ll have to see if this stuff lives up to the flavor of hot taste! I’m also very curious if I like this better than Shin Ramyun. I’ve really been enjoying the Ottogi products…
So these instant noodles are very prevalent in this area and I imagine easily procured anywhere in the USA. This is Nongshim Shin Ramyun Gourmet Spicy flavor and it was purchased at a regular grocery store.
