This one came in a special ‘First Taste Club’ box from Nissin Foods USA – pretty snazzy. So, what’s the big deal? Well, it’s Top Ramen, in a bowl. It also comes with vegetables. It also comes with… teriyaki sauce? I’m very curious about this one – let’s cook it up and ruminate on this…
Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor Bowl – United States
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains chicken. To prepare, add powder and vegetable sachets into the bowl along with room temperature water to the fill line. Microwave uncovered for 3 minutes at 1000W. Let sit in the microwave an additional minute. Add in wet sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
Finished (click to enlarge). Added baked chicken, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, carrot, sesame seeds, and shichimi togarashi. Noodles worked well and had a nice character to them. The broth smelled very much like homemade chicken broth – until the teriyaky liquid went in. It eradicated all taste of chicken in there. Vegetables were prevalent. I’m not saying it’s bad – in fact it was quite good – just when I see chicken I expect a chicken flavor. 3.5 out of 6.0 stars. UPC bar code 070662026038.
Here’s the second of the three refrigerated bowl sent by Nona Lim – thanks again! This one contains ‘Beyond Meat,’ a meat substitute that sounds interesting. I know I liked Dan Dan Noodle so let’s see how this measures up!
Nona Lim Dan Dan Noodle Bowl – United States
Detail of the cardboard outer sleeve (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, cut a slit in the noodle pouch and microwave for 1 minutes. Add into bowl along with sauce. Microwave 30 seconds. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle pouch.
The broth.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion, cucumber, and carrot. I should note I didn’t realize the instructions on this one differed from the previous bowl, but I think everything came out as it should. The noodles were very good – nice chew to them and a rustic kind of texture. The flavor was nice; a little hint of spice, a lot of the Beyond Meat – it kind of came together like a nice microwavable Hamburger Helper though – didn’t make me think of Dan Dan Noodle so much. That’s not to say that it wasn’t delicious – I really wanted to eat this whole bowl! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 859792002194.
This is an interesting one and took a little research. Is a plant based diet same as a Vegan diet? Well this video explains that they’re two different things. This is a fresh bowl which requires refrigeration. I really like green curry – let’s give it a try!
Nona Lim Green Curry Noodle Bowl – United States
Detail of the cardboard outer packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add contents to the bowl and microwave for 2~3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!
What you see under the cardboard outer packaging.
Gluten free laksa rice noodles.
A container of broth.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, fried tofu, basil, and pepper flake. The noodles has some oomph to them no doubt which was nice. The broth was very hearty and the inclusion of the vegetables was appreciated. However, the flavor was muted and could have used some salt. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 859792002699.
I’ve gone to a couple ramen restaurants and hotten something mentioning spicy. Well, it hasn’t impressed me in flavor or spiciness in the past and been, well, bitter. I’m really curious about this one, though. Ramen Hero is based in the Bay Area and serves a few surrounding states at the time of this post – check their site for current service area. You pick your ramen, pay, and they’ll overnight you a set of ingredients to make a bowl of ramen at home – including garnish! Not bad. Let’s give this one a try – they send four and since they’re perishable, I’m going to do them over the next couple days.
Ramen Hero Spicy Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen – United States
Here are the front and back labels (click to enlarge). Contains pork. To prepare, boil the large soup pouch for 10 minutes. when there’s 2 minutes left, boil your noodles in a seperate pot, stirring often. Also at the 1 1/2 minute point, drop the bags with the garnish in with the soup pouch to let them thaw (if needed). Finally, drain your noodles, add them to a bowl, empty the pouch of broth into your bowl, garnish, and enjoy!
Fresh ramen noodles.
The large broth sachet.
Pork belly chashu!
Menma (pickled bamboo shoots).
Narutomaki (fish cake).
Seaweed.
Finished (click to enlarge). In addition to the garnish above, I added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, black sesame seeds, soft egg, spring onion, and habanero togarashi. Noodles came out perfectly yet again. They work so nicely with the broth which is rich, tasty, sinfully oily and spicy. Not only that, it’s not bitter. This was just great stuff to try on a rainy spring afternoon. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.
So I’m stoked – Chef Ron shot over a big box of samples! Things have changed though – these days the drink is missing, as are the vegetables. He promises that this is still an amazing product and I will still love it. Let’s find out!
Mama Pat’s Chicken Taco Flavor Instant Ramen Noodles – United States
Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, cook noodle block 3 minutes in 2 cups water. Add in sachet and stir over heat for an additional minutes. Finally, enjoy!
The noodle block.
A dry sachet.
A fine powder.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added grilled chicken, cheese, soft egg, baked flour tortilla, green onion, cilantro, crispy fried onion, and Cholula hot sauce. The noodles came out nicely and work well. Broth has a nice roast chicken flavor to it which I enjoyed, however the lack of vegetable makes it really just a chicken instant noodle; any semblance of taco flavor that was there before is completely gone. 2.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 728028430929.
I’ve reviewed Mama Pat’s products in the past, however there have been some changesto the packs (no more drink sachet and no vegetable sachet either) and now there are cups (which I’m reviewing for the first time). I think these are neat ranges – very unique varieties Chef Ron is bringing to market. Let’s check out this cup version!
Mama Pat’s Seafood Gumbo Flavor Instant Ramen Noodles – United States
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains seafood/crustaceans. To prepare, add sachet contents and fill to line with boiling water. Cover for 3~5 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!
A dry base sachet (watch Instant Noodle Recipe Time episode below to see contents).
A dry sachet of vegetable matter.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added shrimp, barbecued pork, spring onion, chili flake, hot sauce, fried garlic, and fried onion. The noodles were disappointing to be honest – they ended up with a kind of sponginess I didn’t like and just didn’t work. Broth flavor was overwhelmed by the vegetable sachet which was mostly herb. It just seemed to be thrown together quickly and not of the quality I’m used to from this brand. 1.25 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 757170500204.
This is the last of the four varieties sent to me by Ramen Hero – I will say I’ve asked if they want to send more. I really love working with this product – it’s a lot of fun for me. Not only that, they’re really quite good. Hopefully it’ll pan out – and I’ll also find out how that fancy seaweed is done up!
I got an email asking if I was interested in trying overnight delivery ramen. Hey – why not, right? So, here we are! Ramen Hero is based in the Bay Area and serves a few surrounding states at the time of this post – check their site for current service area. You pick your ramen, pay, and they’ll overnight you a set of ingredients to make a bowl of ramen at home – including garnish! Not bad. Let’s give this one a try – they send four and since they’re perishable, I’m going to do them over the next couple days.
Ramen Hero Classic Tonkotsu Ramen – United States
Here are the labels from the front and back of the packaging (click to enlarge). Contains pork. To prepare, boil the large soup pouch for 10 minutes. when there’s 2 minutes left, boil your noodles in a separate pot, stirring often. Also at the 1 1/2 minute point, drop the bags with the garnish in with the soup pouch to let them thaw (if needed). Finally, drain your noodles, add them to a bowl, empty the pouch of broth into your bowl, garnish, and enjoy!
The noodles.
The large pouch of broth.
Pork belly chashu!
Seaweed.
Kizami shoga (pickled ginger).
Kikurage (wood ear mushroom).
Finished (click to enlarge). In addition to the supplied garnish, I added spring onion, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, shichimi togarashi, and sesame seeds. I forgot to add the seaweed on the last one (shrug) so used it on this one. The noodles – great chew, firmness and mouthfeel. The broth was rich, although a little on the saltier side. Nonetheless, in concert with the included pairings (the kikurage was particularly nice), things were quite good. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.
I got an email asking if I was interested in trying overnight delivery ramen. Hey – why not, right? So, here we are! Ramen Hero is based in the Bay Area and serves a few surrounding states at the time of this post – check their site for current service area. You pick your ramen, pay, and they’ll overnight you a set of ingredients to make a bowl of ramen at home – including garnish! Not bad. Let’s give this one a try – they send four and since they’re perishable, I’m going to do them over the next couple days.
Ramen Hero Classic Miso Ramen – United States
Here’s the labels from the front and back (click to enlarge). Contains pork. To prepare, boil the large soup pouch for 10 minutes. when there’s 2 minutes left, boil your noodles in a seperate pot, stirring often. Also at the 1 1/2 minute point, drop the bags with the garnish in with the soup pouch to let them thaw (if needed). Finally, drain your noodles, add them to a bowl, empty the pouch of broth into your bowl, garnish, and enjoy!
Fresh ramen noodles.
A large pouch of miso ramen broth.
Chashu pork belly!
Neato seaweed!
A special ground beef.
Pickled bamboo shoots (menma).
Finished (click to enlarge). Aside from the included garnish, I added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, corn, soft egg, and black sesame seeds. Noodles are great – definitely nice to have fresh ones here – and thy come out just right. The broth is a tasty miso – just rich enough. The included garnish was great – especially that ground beef which added a little sweetness. Bamboo shots were crisp, chashu was tasty too. I really loved the seaweed having the print on it – that was really fun to work with. Putting everything together was pretty simple too. 4.75 out of 5.0 stars.
So when Yamachan contacted me about a gluten free ramen, I was interested. Really? How does that work? Well, only one way to find out! One thing is these are konyak noodles. I’ve had thick gauge konyak and really disliked it. I have to admit though seeing the gauge of these I’ve got hope. Let’s check it out!
Yamachan Ramen Z Miso Flavor Ramen – United States
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). To prepare, rinse noodles. Add noodles and miso paste to 6oz of water and microwave 3 minutes. Finally, sir and enjoy!
One of two servings of noodles.
One of two wet sachets.
Miso soup base.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft egg, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, black sesame seeds, and habanero togarashi. The noodles are indeed unique. The gauge definitely works for this style though; while they have a gummy kind of texture, it works with the broth. The miso broth is strong and tasty which I enjoyed. Couple that with a 136 calorie per reasonably sized serving size too. I was surprised how much I liked this. 3.75 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 767921033608.
A few months ago I did a Meet The Manufacturer series on Vite Ramen, but the packs I tried were prototypes and not this, the finished product for version 1.0 (version 1.1 will be coming soon and I’ll be giving that a try when it comes out). It’s a neat concept brought to life by Tim & Tom Zheng.
A lot of people found the idea of a healthy instant noodle very compelling – so much so that they netted a quarter of a million dollars on their Kickstarter campaign. What we have here is the culmination of lots of work by them.
These packs have a myriad of benefits, including lots of vitamins and minerals, 30g of protein, low sodium, low fat, and is an excellent source of fiber.
It also has something that’s hard for people to get – potassium. You can a decent amount in a banana, but eating enough bananas to meet the goal of potassium intake per day is going to have some side affects aside from the amount of sugar.This pack includes 25 percent of that.
As many of you know, I’ve been on a diet. I’ve been overweight most of my life. My doctor told me on October 18th, 2018 that I had high cholesterol, and pushed me to change my diet and exercise; something I’ve been told by doctors many times before. But I guess it was just the right time to do something about it. We got a jogging stroller and I started walking my daughter Miri on days my son has all day preschool. I also started using a fitbit and the My Fitness Pal app to track my intake and calorie burn.
I started slow; trying to get my step goal and trying to stay under the recommended calories for the day. It was hard at first, but I put myself in a good mindset and pushed forward. I started at 365lbs. I go back to the doctor on April 26th, 2019 – about 6 months afterwards for another blood test and cheup to see how I’ve done, and I think my doctor is going to be shocked. I haven’t weighed myself, but I’ve gone down 6 pants sizes. I had to skip walking a couple days after last week too – Monday I walked 9.5 miles, Tuesday 10.5 miles, and Thursday I walked almost 15 miles and hit 30,000 steps. I guess I need to get some walking shoes that are better than the ones I get at Walmart in Richmond BC for $30CAD! I really jacked up my feet…
But in a couple weeks, I’ll find out how much I weigh at the doctor and report on that. I’m pretty stoked – I’m down to around 1200~1500 calories per day and it’s no problem at this point. As far as when I review, I have the tiniest amount of noodles and broth to sample – the rest goes down the drain. But I think today I’ll figure one of these packs into my regime and see how it goes. Let’s get started.
Vite Ramen Soy Sauce Chicken Instant Noodle Soup – United States
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). Take a look at the nutrition facts panel – it’s pretty monumental. Contains chicken. To prepare, add noodle block to 2 1/2 cups boiling water and cook 2 1/2 minutes. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
A dry sachet.
The soup base.
A second dry sachet.
This is the ‘noodtrients’ powder. This is where the vitamins, minerals, and protein come into play.
A wet sachet.
Canola oil.
A clear garnish sachet.
A vegetable mixture with 8 different varieties.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft egg, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, baked chicken, black sesame seeds, and spring onion. I’m definitely seeing a difference in this from the prototype. The noodle has a nice chew and texture – a unique one which worked well. The broth is on the light side; it’s not a salty bomb, however it has a good thickness and gives a taste of actual chicken broth that I liked. Very happy with the changes in addition to all the protein, low sodium, fiber, and vitamin benefits. Innovative and fresh. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. No bar code.
This came by way of Robert over at www.dadbert.com – thanks! I’ve never seen hide nor hare of this variety ever before – anywhere. Test market in Kentucky? Perhaps. It looks like these are a meat version of the Very Veggie really; lots of meat instead of vegetables. My thought – screw it – I mean put lots of meat AND vegetables in there. In fact, screw that – do a retort pooch with meat and vegetables – now you’re talking! Nissin – you’re here in the United States already – use real meat! Retort pouches are the salvation – they shall bring a whole new age to the domestic instant noodle industry in America! At least that’s my vision. Let’s check it out!
Nissin Cup Noodles Soup’D Up Zesty Chicken Flavor – United States
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains chicken. To prepare, . UPC bar code.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft egg, spring onion, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, and grilled chicken. The noodles came out pretty well. The broth was very thin and could have used a little more zestiness. Vegetables did well, however chicken chunks while of a decent size weren’t completely done in the center. 2.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code
Watch me cook it up on Instant Noodle Recipe Time!
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