This is a big and somewhat heavy bowl from Taiwan. I’ve reviewed the version not made for export (this one usually goes to Hong Kong). What was funny about this one is that I found it up in Canada at a store in Aberdeen Centre – defintely not where this belongs. It’s full of beef and import restrictions would bar it from Canada. What a nice surprise! Let’s check out this one with Australian and New Zealand beef!
Uni-President Imperial Big Meal Beef Flavor – Taiwan
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Contains beef. To prepare, add in powder and liquid sachets and boiling water to fill line. Cover for 3 minutes. Add in large retort pouch. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
A dry sachet (watch these sachets get used on the episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time below).
A wet sauce sachet.
A large retort pouch full of beef and sauce.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion, sesame seeds, egg, and chili flake. The noodle is thick and has a slight brittleness and chewyness at the same time. The broth is a very thick and tasty beef. Included beef is on point and the gravy it comes in really add a lot of rich flavor to the soup. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4710088412201.
This one’s very interesting. This is from Taiwan but for the Hong Kong Market. Found it up in Canada at Aberdeen Centre at a little gift shop full of Hello Kitty and other stuffed animals in the back – it’s near the food court.
What’s interesting is that there’s no reason this should be in Canada – it’s got about as much business being there as it would in the United States – this beef wouldn’t be allowed. There’s no import/distributor sticker either. Hey – I’m not complaining, don’t get me wrong!
It’s interesting too how it mentions New Zealad and Australian beef is used. I’d love to see this using Taiwanese beef honestly, but that’s a little difficult as that’s more spendy. Taiwanese beef is really good, but I don’t think there’s enough beef there to facilitate the instant noodle industry of Taiwan. Anyways, let’s peel back the lid and try this Imperial Big Meal!
Uni-President Imperial Big Meal Super Hot Pot Beef Flavor – Taiwan
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Contains beef. To prepare, add smaller sachets in and boiling water (500ml). Cover and put retort pouch on top and let steep for 3 minutes. Add in pouch. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
A dry sachet.
Vegeteables and seasoning powder.
A wet sachet.
A seasoned oil.
The retort pouch.
Thick sauce with chunks of beef.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added scallions. The noodles are pretty good; thy have a decent backbone to them. However, they just seem a little crumbly after 3 minutes and just don’t fit the bill; they’re the weakest part of this bowl. The broth on the other hand is rich and luxuriant – full of beef flavor and pieces of beef. A hard one o put down. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4710088412089.
Here’s the last of the Uni-President varieties my wife spotted a few months ago at Foody World up in Richmond, NC! They were $1.50 apiece which seemed very good. Really like the graphic on this one – looks really neat. Let’s crack into this one and give it a go!
Uni-President Braised Beef Stir Noodle Bowl – China
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add dry sachet and boiling water to fill line. Drain. Add sauce sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
An included fork!
The noodle block.
A liquid sachet.
A thick sauce.
A dry sachet.
Lots of bits and pieces.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion. Noodles hydrated so-so. A little tough in the final try. The flavor was a tinge acrid but was a nice beef taste – TVP complimented and bit of vegetable here and there rounded things out. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 6925303771966.
First off, thanks to Kyle K. for help with translating this one! I found this up in Canada at FoodyWorld – a huge Asian supermarket which is a must see for anyone doing the tour of Asian grocery stores up in Richmond – lots of fun and much to see. These were on sale and looked neat so I went and got all the varieties. Let’s give this one a try!
Uni-President Guizhou Spicy Soybean Paste Flavor – China
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add dry sachet and boiling water to fill line. Drain. Add sauce sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
An included fork!
The noodle block.
A liquid base sachet.
Chunky stuff.
A dry sachet.
Looks like a neat mixture of vegetables.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, Chinese sausage, fried onion and scallions. The noodles came out well – good chew and firm backbone. The flavor was definitely a fermented soybean hit – slightly acidic and with a nice bit of heat. 3.75 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 6925303771980.
We found this one up at Foodyworld in Richmond, BC. They were on a great sale – 2 for $3CAD! Not bad at all! I have to say I love this packaging’s graphic. The food is all sharp and colorful and contrasts so well with the background. Very old school Chinese! Sorry about the lack of pictures of what’s inside the sachets – woke up late and so rushing to get just this one done! Let’s have a look!
Uni-President Pickled Cabbage Beef Stir Noodle Bowl – China
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add dry sachet and boiling water to fill line. Drain. Add sauce sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
An included fork!
The noodle block.
The liquid base sachet.
Pickled cabbage.
Dry vegetables etc.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, scallions, white onion and thinly sliced beef. The noodles hydrated pretty well. Decent chew and gauge. The flavor was definitely a beefy one with the included pickled cabbage really doing a nice job here. This was exceptionally decent. 4.25 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 6925303770716.
We found this one up at Foodyworld in Richmond, BC. They were on a great sale – 2 for $3CAD! Not bad at all! I have to say I love this packaging’s graphic. The food is all sharp and colorful and contrasts so well with the background. Very old school Chinese! Let’s have a look!
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Contains seafood. To prepare, add dry sachet and boiling water to fill line. Drain. Add sauce sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
An included fork!
The noodle block!
The sauce sachet.
The vegetables and garnish sachet.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added scallions, carved squid, fishball and shrimp. The noodles came out pretty well after the 4 minutes of steeping – good texture. The flavor was a lightly spicy and seafood tasty kind of thing. It really went well and I enjoyed it. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. 6925303771973.
It’s time for another top ten list and this time it’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2018 Edition! The first list debuted in 2013 – I can’t believe this is the sixth list! As always – if you are a company who would like me to review your products, please contact me via the contact link – I want to talk to you! These are my favorite instant noodle bowl selections from my over 2800 reviews to date. Let’s get started!
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2018 Edition
Video
Here’s this year’s video presentation of The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2018 Edition.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2018 Edition
#10 – Paldo Bul Jjamppong – South Korea
This variety boasts a thick and chewy ramyun – a wider and flatter noodle that’s become popular in the last few years. Pairing that with a spicy soup with strong notes of grilled seafood taste – almost smoky – and vegetables/seafood and you’ve got an excellent bowl. Original review
#9 – Maruchan Bowl Taste Of Asia Tom Yum Ramen Noodle Soup – United States
To be honest, I’m about as surprised by this one as you might be! But make no mistake – this US domestic variety is truly amazing. The tom yum flavor is just superb along with a huge quantity of noodles. You’ll fill up and be extremely happy as you do so. Original review
#8 – Maruchan Gotsumori Shio Wonton Ramen – Japan
The second Maruchan variety on the list and this one comes from Japan. A light and tasty shio broth is paired with a large quantity of noodles in this bowl. The inclusion of wonton – which are very good I might add – rounds everything out and becomes a delicious feast. Original review
#7 – Seven & I (Nissin) Gold Sumire Ramen – Japan
The noodles are thick and chewy – very premium. The broth has a very rich miso flavor that had a little thickness and a nice oiliness. The vegetables and bits hydrated perfectly – nice bits of ground meat and menma float happily about and are of good quality. Original review
#6 – 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
#5 – Uni-President Man Han Feast Super Hot Pot Beef Flavor Instant 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
#3 – 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
#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 second year in the number one spot in a row – congratulations! Original review
A guy named Mengzhe Z. from China sent me this – thank you again! I think the first time I saw the export version of this one it was called beef and sauerkraut. Cabbage is definitely popular in Asia – goes well with yakisoba, pickled in soup and fermented in ramyun. Let’s give this a look!
Uni-President Pickled Cabbage Beef Noodle – China
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). To prepare, add everything to a bowl and add 400ml boiling water. Cover for 3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
The dry base sachet.
A tan mixture.
A paste sachet.
Thick and oily.
The vegetable sachet.
A nice little mixture.
Pickled cabbage.
A pretty good amount of it!
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts and stew beef. Noodles are soft – and very plentiful from the tight knit noodle block. They hydrated extremely well. The broth has a nice beefiness as well as a tartness from the pickled cabbage. The included vegetables hydrated well and the pickled cabbage goes very well. 4.25 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 6925303773915.
Here’s one I got at 7-Eleven in Taipei, Taiwan in November of last year. I’ve been wanting to review these bowls for a very long time, but never have been able to get any through – nobody’s ever tried though. So what is this ‘Man-Han Feast’ anyways? Here’s some info from Wikipedia –
Manhan Quanxi, literally Manchu Han Imperial Feast was one of the grandest meals ever documented in Chinese cuisine. It consisted of at least 108 unique dishes from the Manchu and Han Chinese culture during the Qing dynasty, and it is only reserved and intended for the Emperors. The meal was held for three whole days, across six banquets. The culinary skills consisted of cooking methods from all over Imperial China.[1]
It is said that there were “Thirty-Two Delicacies”, referring to the more exotic ingredients used for the banquet. The “Eight Mountain Delicacies” includes such dishes as camel’s hump, bear’s paws, monkey’s brains, ape’s lips, leopard fetuses, rhinoceros tails and deer tendons. The “Eight Land Delicacies” includes several precious fowls and mushrooms, and the “Eight Sea Delicacies” includes dried sea cucumbers, shark’s fin, bird’s nest and others.
Some of the individual names of the dishes within:
To prepare, add in everything but the retort pouch. Add boiling water to fill line and cover for 5 minutes with large retort pouch on top. Add contents of retort pouch. Stir and enjoy!
Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion and Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts. The noodles have a nice gauge and chew. A little nicer than your average instant – slightly more chewiness and a broader shape. The broth has a nice spicy beef taste to it which is very good. The included beef and sauce is of excellent quality and very tasty. The included vegetables really added a nice touch. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4710088832078.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2017 Edition is a list of the best bowls I’ve tried of the over 2400 reviews posted to date. Bowls are interesting insofar as they often contain extra things, since there is more room for sachets, spoons, fork, etcetera. As always, I implore instant noodle manufacturers to contact me – I would love to review your products and all it costs is sending some samples and your time! So sit back, grab a bowl, some hot water, peel back the lid, stir – and enjoy!
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2017 Edition
A video presentation of the list.
#10 – JML Spicy King Bowl Noodle Spicy Chicken Noodle – China
The noodles as usual plumped up nicely as they engorged themselves on the broth. good gauge, good chew. The broth is definitely strong and worthy of the top ten spicy list – it means business! Sichuan chilli heat is abundant. The oiliness is great and the hydrated vegetable bits are good as well – a tasty spicy bowl. Original review
#9 – Seven & I (Nissin) Gold Sumire Ramen – Japan
The noodles are thick and chewy – very premium. The broth has a very rich miso flavor that had a little thickness and a nice oiliness. The vegetables and bits hydrated perfectly – nice bits of ground meat and menma float happily about and are of good quality. Original review
#8 – Tokushima Seifun Yakibuta Ramen – Japan
The broth has a nice saltiness and soy flavor with just a little touch of sweetness. The pork flavor finds it’s way into the broth as well which is spectacular. The pork has a nice sweetness and ‘fall off the bone’ texture to it which is pure delicacy. The army of decent sized slices of narutomaki were amazing, and the spring onion and bamboo shoots were perfect. A bowl of amazing taste and quality. Original review
#7 – Nissin Raoh Rich Soy Sauce Flavor – Japan
Raoh’s noodles are great – premium and chewy. The broth is thick and rich with a strong shoyu taste which satisfies. The garnish includes a nice slice of chashu pork. Original review
#6 – 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
#5 – Uni-President Man Han Feast Super Hot Pot Beef Flavor Instant 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
#3 – Choripdong Hurricane Rice Cake Topokki – South Korea
It’s red. It’s got a thick spicy and sweet sauce. Chewy ramyun noodles. It’s got topokki. This was a real find – Just looking at the picture makes me want some right this instant. One of the most wonderful bowls of noodles I’ve ever had. Slipping from first place last year. 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. Original review
Here’s one I picked up during my November 2016 trip to Taiwan. So I found this one at 7-Eleven I believe. Indeed for years I’ve been told by people from Taiwan to give this one a try. They’ve been downright exclamatory about it, but nobody ever sent me one to try. Moreover it took me actually bringing one home from Taiwan to get it and so here we are. This is part of Uni-President’s Man Han Feast range. Here’s a little about Man Han (short for Manchu Han) Feast from Wikipedia –
Manhan Quanxi, literally Manchu Han Imperial Feast was one of the grandest meals ever documented in Chinese cuisine. It consisted of at least 108 unique dishes from the Manchu and Han Chinese culture during the Qing dynasty, and it is only reserved and intended for the Emperors. The meal was held for three whole days, across six banquets. The culinary skills consisted of cooking methods from all over Imperial China.[1]
The meal was prepared comprising six banquets over three days with over 300 dishes. Altogether there are said to have been 196 main dishes and 124 snack dishes, for a total of 320 dishes sampled over three days. Depending on how the dishes are counted with the samples, at the absolute minimum there were 108 dishes.[1] The Emperor, after previewing the dishes, gave the feast its present name. The feast was divided into inner-palace and outer-palace banquets; only the imperial family and meritorious officials, including Han officials above the second rank, were invited into the inner-palace banquets. A book from the Qianlong era gives a detailed description of the feast and the dishes and ingredients.
More on this can be found here including the dishes served – one of which is called Golden Eyes and Burning Brain which is bean curd simmered in chicken, duck and cuckoo brains. I’d love to see an instant noodle version of that one for sure! So let’s crack into this hot pot beef variety!
Uni-President Man Han Feast Super Hot Pot Beef Flavor Instant Noodles – Taiwan
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Contains beef. To prepare, add everything but the large pouch and boiling water to fill line. Cover with large pouch on top and let steep for 3~5 minutes. Add in contents of the large pouch. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
A dry base sachet/.
A light powder with flecks of vegetable.
An oil sachet.
Thick stuff!
A large retort pouch.
Chunks of beef in a sauce.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts. 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. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4710088412089.
Here’s one I picked up at 7-Eleven in Taipei, Taiwan in November of 2016. So snack noodles are popular in Taiwan – very popular! They eat them kind of like westerners eat potato chips (I should note that chips are also popular in Taiwan as well).
Also popular is baseball. I’m a San Francisco Giants fan. You might ask ‘but hey, you live in Washington – why aren’t you a Seattle Mariners fan?’ Well, I used to be. For years. But they never got anywhere or did anything. When I met my wife, I found out she’s a San Francisco Giants fan. I hadn’t followed baseball in a couple years so thought hey I’ll check them out. I found they’re pretty awesome and in that first year of following them, they won the World Series. Two years later they did it again, and two years after that as well. So yeah – I’m a convert! What’s kind of sad around here is that all people seem to care about is the Seattle Seahawks. It’s pretty insane; they’ve got to be making a ton of money on the licensing of official gear – everything is plastered in the crap. I hate football, so it’s annoying. Opening day is coming soon, thank god. Let’s check out this instant snack noodle from Uni-President of Taiwan!
Uni-President Baseball Snack Noodle – Taiwan
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, hit the bag a few times to break up the noodle block into snack size pieces. Open the bag and add in the seasoning sachet contents. Hold bag shut and shake. Open and enjoy straight out of the bag as a snack!
The noodle block.
The seasoning sachet.
A light powder with fleck of herbs.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added some Chex Mix and cashews (both of which I saw in Taiwan by the way). The noodles have a nice crunch to them – not too hard at all, but light and brittle. You’re not going to break your teeth on these. The flavor is a kind of salty and peppery taste. It’s great stuff. For a snack noodle, I’m giving it 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4710088410214.
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