Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I had some leftover chicken and thought it’d be a good idea to make use of it. I reviewed the old version of this one quite a while back. This is the one with the new premium label on the package. It sounds good, but how does this Nissin Chow Mein taste? Let’s find out!
We heard the news about QZ8501 last night – very sad news indeed. We flew from Penang to Langkawi during our Malaysia trip on a bright red AirAsia jet. Today the red is gone. We send our hopes to the passengers crew and their families. Here is a live blog on news of the flight.
Here’s another one my wife got me during my annual birthday trip to Canada this year – thank, Kit! So this is the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein. There are a couple differences between this and the version for sale in the United States packaging wise, but does it taste different? I’m guessing it’s going to be about the same but it could be different. Let’s find out as I tear into the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein!
Here’s an interesting one. Now ‘easy’ is English, ‘fideos’ is Spanish. Fideos means noodles. It looks like if you had it in reverse, with the first word Spanish and second English, you’d end up with ‘Fácil Noodles.’ I think Easy Fideos sounds a little better. Anyways, I’m hungry – the big posts I’ve been doing recounting my trip to Malaysia have been taking a long time every morning before I get to noodles! Let’s check it out!
Here’s a new one and it’s made here in the United States. Yep – there’s a Nongshim plant here in the US! I was able to visit them a couple years ago and it’s really neat – if you get a chance, you should check out their plant tours! Tonkotsu is a very standard variety of Japanese ramen, however this one’s got a spicy twist to it. Usually tonkotsu broth is made with pork bones that are boiled for a long time and this one does in fact contain pork. Let’s have a look!
After two weeks of Thai reviews, I thought I’d bring it on home. This is a new line by Nissin Foods USA – Easy Fideos! Fideos is Spanish for noodles and the flavors are designed to appeal to the Hispanic market. Anyways, let’s check it out!
I want to send a special thank you to Craig Y. over at Maruchan for facilitating the process of getting Instant Lunch California Vegetable into my hands! Much appreciated! I hunted high and low for these and couldn’t find them! There are lots of products sold around the United States – and some do better in some areas than others. A good example would be the King Cake. Most people where I live don’t know what a King Cake is, however folks in Louisiana definitely do – it’s a special cake enjoyed around Mardi Gras. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about King Cakes:
The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan, but since that time, they’ve expanded in popularity all over the world, including of course, the United States. Seeing this, instant noodle companies thought it wise to start building plants here in the 1970s. Since then, many brands operate factories here in the US, mostly in southern California. This is a list of my favorite varieties produced here, encompassing my 1,461 reviews to date. With that, here’s your top ten, America!
If you like it hot, you’re in for a real treat here. These are the spiciest instant noodles you can get that I’ve reviewed from my 1,446 reviews thus far. If you can’t handle spicy foods, these definitely aren’t for you – these are serious! Many of these were so hot, I couldn’t finish the bowl – and I can handle a decent amount of heat! I used to review hot sauces! Anyways, Hope everyone is having a great summer and here are the spiciest instant noodles of all time for 2014!
Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking for a couple varieties by Maruchan for a while and this is one of them. I want to thank Craig Y. and all the nice folks at Maruchan for getting this one in my hands! I’m sure someone out there is going to say ‘Hard to find? It’s at every store around me!’ One thing though is that not every product is marketed or distributed to every area. One example of this kind of thing is a soda called Cheerwine. It’s quite popular and easily found in the southern United States, but it’s relatively unknown on the west coast. Anyways, Jalapeno Cheddar noodles sounds pretty neat! Let’s have a look at this one.
Here’s a new one from Nongshim, and it’s definitely unique. It’s a stir noodle, which means that there’s no broth, but a sauce that it stirred in to coat the noodles. Another unique thing is that it can be served hot OR cold! I was thinking of using a special divided bowl I have, but one side is bigger than the other and so I came up with an idea: since they sent a few packs, I’ll make one hot, sample it and then make one cold and sample it – easy enough. Something else I found interesting was on the right and left sides of the package. It says “NONGSHIM BLACK CLASS NOODLE DISH.” The final interesting this about this one is the inclusion of chipotle. Chipotle? Now that’s different – don’t think I’ve come across that being used in an instant before. Well, let’s open this one up and see what’s inside!
Wow check this big sucker out! Nissin’s Souper Meals are exactly that – super sized! This was sent over by the nice folks over at Nissin Foods USA the other day – thanks! Let’s peel the lid off of this one and have a peek inside…
Came home from the store yesterday to see this on my doorstep – samples from Nissin USA! Let’s open it up!
Hey here are some noodle made here in the USA! Interesting – spicy Szechuan… I’m curious how spicy it will be. I’ve had many different takes on Szechuan before – I’m hoping this one is good as usually I don’t tend to like Szechuan variants so much. Actually, I like the ones like this usually more than the ones actually made in China! Let’s see how this one comes out.
Here”s something new from Annie Chun’s! It was sent a little while back and ended up at the bottom of my noodle hamper… I’ve been going through everything lately as we’re moving and found it! It sounds really good – very curious… Let”s see how it comes out!
Found this in a local grocery store the other day. It’s definitely made of the United States market, but made in Thailand, which seems kind of funny as it’s Singapore Laksa Curry. Any way you slice it, it’s a Singapore Laksa Curry that made for the United States market which is something that truly piqued my interest. What’s different here also is that it uses rice noodles instead of wheat, so it’s gluten free. I’ve only had a Laksa that used rice noodles once before. Let’s have a look at this one.
I’ve been asked about these low calorie noodles for a long time. Miracle Noodle is more widely known for it’s Shirataki Miracle Noodle. Those are made from yams. These are Kanten Miracle Noodles. So let’s see Wikipedia has to say about them:
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.
Here’s something new and different from Nongshim. The name might seem a little odd, but it’s a play on the name of a traditional South Korean beef soup called Seoulleongtang, which has a broth which is simmered for a long time with ox bones. I’ve liked non-spicy South Korean beef noodle soups in the past – let’s see how this one fares!
Maruchan Instant Lunch is one of those products you see everywhere in the United States at grocery stores. Maruchan makes these cups as well as packs of ramen. They’re popular in Mexico as well – people refer to soup a lot of the time as ‘maruchan’ as it has become so popular and intrinsic to daily life. A month or so ago, I saw a post on Instagram. This guy was saying how he could eat these Instant Lunch cups (this flavor in particular) for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. I thought to myself, ‘have I reviewed this one?’ Well as it turns out I had – but it was way back in June of 2011. I’m always on the hunt for instant noodles that cannot be found within the United States – the more exotic the better. This guy’s enthusiasm about this little cup that can be found virtually everywhere here in the USA piqued my curiosity; is it worth another try? So when out grocery shopping, I decided to get one. After two weeks of enjoying varieties from Southeast Asia, I think this should be interesting. Let’s check it out!
Today’s the last day of this awesome Meet The Manufacturer, and I wanted to save the one I found most curious for the end. I’ve NEVER seen anything like this before. These noodles are dark – almost black! They’re made from Lotus Foods’ Forbidden Rice – something I’ve enjoyed for a long time. Forbidden Rice was originally served to Chinese emperors – who resided in the Forbidden City.
Here’s the second of three varieties of this new ‘Rice Ramen.’ This one is a bit different than the last as it boasts a red miso and uses millet and brown aspects for its noodle. What’s really great about these new products is that they’re Vegan friendly and gluten free – lots of people have asked me about gluten and vegetarian instants and I’m thinking these might be a nice one for those folks to try. Let’s check this one out!
A box came today!
A box of product samples – wow these looks interesting…
These are all different kinds of rice that Lotus Foods sells – I’ve had the Forbidden Rice before, but didn’t know they made this many!
I’m sure you’re gonna say it – this looks familiar. Well, it’s part of a really neat coincidence that happened recently. I reviewed this one by Takamori Kosan of Japan the other day. Well, it was actually made by Sakura Noodle in Los angeles, California for the US market under their name! This one here is also made by Sakura Noodle but under the Shirakiku name. Are they different? Yep! If you look at the ingredients and nutrition facts on eacvh, there are some subtle differences. What’s interesting is that I contacted Takamori Kosan about doing a Meet The Manufacturer with them and they seem quite receptive, so keep an eye out for it coming soon! A day or so later, I was contacted by Sakura Noodle. I looked at their website and noticed this chow mein and asked if perhaps Takamori Kosan had contacted them, but they hadn’t – neat coincidence!
Today is a good day for spicy noodles. I just did my big walk of the day – something I’ve not been able to do for a week or so – it’s been raining alot here just north of Seattle. A lot. In fact, there was a weather alert for landslides due to so much rain… Sheesh. Walk was good and now I’ve got the pre-season baseball audio going – Giants vs Royals today. I’m a Giants fan – my wife converted me from being a Mariners fan when we got together as she used to play softball and got quite a few trophies. The first year I started following the Giants was 2010, and lo and behold, they won the world Series! Then again in 2012. I think as long as we win the even years, we’re good to go. Anyways, spicy udon sounds really good today and I think I know just what to add to it – Fresno chilli peppers! They’re playing the game today in Scottsdale, AZ, and a lot of their minor league players get a chance to get a chance to be in the roster. Many of them are from the Fresno, CA AAA team. Let’s check these noodles out!
Here’s one my wife got for me for Christmas! Thanks, Kitten! There are a myriad of these noodle trays in the US market that I’ve not reviewed and this is one of them. Let’s have a look!
Here’s one I’ve had lurking in the bin for a while – I figured it was time to haul it out and give it a try. Let’s check it out!
Here’s one of the new varieties from Annie Chun’s that they sent! It’s 22 degrees outside – very cold! This looks appropriate for such a cold day – let’s check it out!
Here’s one my wife got for me at a drug store a while back. It’s made in Thailand but for sale in the USA. Let’s check it out!
Man I’m beat and my feet hurt. Maybe Birkenstock sailboat deck sandals aren’t the best choice for walking 2 miles. This sounds good though – I really like sweet and sour! This one’s made in the United States, too! Let’s give this one a peek.
Here’s another one from Scott A. over at Nissin Foods USA – thanks! This is a straight chicken flavor bowl – a new product. My son Andy really likes chicken noodles – I’ll steal a taste of it and let him demolish it! 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:
Really? I haven’t reviewed this? Nope! Wow – who’dathunkit? Well then, without further ado, let’s check out these chow mein noodles – with shrimp!
A friend of mine told me about these chocolate bars with ramen noodles in them a while back and finally I made it to the store that has them locally. I know this isn’t my normal thing to review, but hey, thar be noodles in this sucka! Let’s have an up close and personal look at this unique bar.
The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan, but since that time, they’ve expanded in popularity all over the world, including of course, the United States. Seeing this, instant noodle companies thought it wise to start building plants here in the 1970s. Since then, many brands operate factories here in the US, mostly in southern California. This is a list of my favorite varieties produced here, encompassing my over 1,100 reviews to date. With that, here’s your top ten, America!
Spicy and shrimp sounded good for breakfast today. Let’s check this one out!
Here are the side panels (click image to enlarge). Contains meat. Also contains wheat, soybean, egg, milk, shrimp and krill.
This year, we’ve got some new fiery additions to this list of spicy and burning hot varieties. If you can find them, you’ll be feeling quite the burn! If you think you’ve found anything hotter or noteworthy of being on this list, please comment below or send me an email. Without further adieu, here’s the 2013 picks for the spiciest instant noodles I’ve found after 1,128 reviews!
Here’s another I got up at T&T Supermarket in Canada! Shio is one of four main categories of ramen in Japan (Tonkotsu, Shoyu and Miso being the others). Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Shio:
Cups were the second instant noodle innovation that really took the world by storm. Nissin founder Momofuku Ando of Japan decided that a cup would be a really handy way to have instant noodles on the go. His creation came to the market in 1971. Forty-two years later, the instant noodle landscape is filled with many different cup designs and contents – some all inclusive only needing hot water,m and some requiring a little more with packets – and some even with forks! Of all the varieties I’ve tried to date, here are my favorite ten.
