
Got an email from Blount Fine Foods the other day about a new product they’ve got – Beef Pho! It was packed on ice and sent overnight – so I had to open it as quickly as possible. Let’s check it out!
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Got an email from Blount Fine Foods the other day about a new product they’ve got – Beef Pho! It was packed on ice and sent overnight – so I had to open it as quickly as possible. Let’s check it out!

I thought it would be cool since I got a set of those Egglettes things to make soft boiled eggs and I also have chashu and all my veg to make something from the cold case. I’ve been eyeballing these Myojo refrigerated varieties for quite some time now and thought hey – let’s get one and cook it up! So, that’s what I’m doing and here we go!

Hey look at this! A Tapatio instant noodle! I’ve seen people douse their instant noodles in this stuff for years on Instagram. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia –

Yesterday, I needed a new pair of pants. I’m not into ultra fashionable stuff – like paying $100 for jeans, so we went to Walmart. Walmart is an interesting place – you’ll see some interesting people there – especially at the one in Lynnwood, Washington. When we got out of the car, there was the sound of some guy at the other side of the parking lot screaming obscenities at someone or some thing – unsure. But that was entertaining. In the store, we g ot to see a lady with a very small dog barking at everyone and every thing ( apparently, if you have an ’emotional support’ dog you can bring it with you, but this dog needed emotional support and was definitely not providing it for anyone). I did get some new pants, and they were extremely cheap. $16 for pants. It’s been a while since we’ve been to Walmart so I thought a trip down the domestic instant noodle aisle might be in order. Surprisingly, they had a very small amount of them, however they did have this pack. Creamy Chicken has been one of my absolute favorites for a very, very long time. I am curious to see whether or not they’ve changed the recipe as that seems to be a popular thing to do in the US instant noodle market right now. Let’s crack open this new package design and give it a try!

Well would you look at that! Top Ramen. An American original. You might be thinking ‘aww that’s Japanese,’ but this stuff is as American as it gets. The flavor is made to appeal to the local market. What bums me out is when I say ‘an American original’ all I can think about is my favorite political show which is no more. My dad used to watch The McLaughlin Group for years and I finally hit an age after he was gone that I checked it out and got hooked on it. I’d torture poor Andy and make him watch it all the time. But Dr. McLaughlin died a couple years ago, and they ended the series long run. I would be curious how it would have been if he would have stayed alive longer – how the show would be these days. Anyways, I’ve gone way off track. So soy sauce is known as Shoyu in Japan. This is a kind of Shoyu ramen. Let’s check i tout!

When the Very Veggie line came out, my first thought was that it would just be varieties for Vegans and Vegetarians. Surprisingly, there was no option for this crowd. Well, it seems that that has changed! This one was sent to me by Robert Z. from Kentucky – thanks man – go check out his cooking blog www.dadbert.com! He found this at a local grocery store – nothing about this and the other new Cup Noodles he found and sent on their site or mentioned on Instagram. This has led me to think that perhaps he’s in what’s called a ‘test market.’ In some areas, a product will be introduced to meter how it’s received by the public – if it sells really well, it’ll go nationwide. If not, it might be pulled. Let’s pop the lid and look under the hood.

Well this is very nice to see. This is a popular variety in Japan. Cup Noodle Seafood has been around for some time. Well, Nissin USA has brought it here to the United States in a microwave form with no added MSG and no artificial flavors. Here’s a little tidbit from Wikipedia about Cup Noodle –

Here’s one of the two new flavors of Nissin Foods’ domestic Cup Noodles range from the United States. I’m very curious about this one and the other (Teriyaki Chicken). Let’s crack it open and have a look around!

Alright o as you all know (at least I think you all do), I do a Top Ten Spiciest list every year. I used to review hot sauces (did 250 of them on Saucerater), and do a series of YouTube videos called Spicy Noodle Mukbang on YouTube. So when a variety with a pepper gauge and mention of being XXtra hot crosses my desk, I’m interested. So let’s see if this one is truly as spicy as it certainly looks like it’s going to be.

Well, this was something that upon hearing about, made me extremely happy. Curry. From Nissin Foods America. I mean wow – this is something now made and available in the United States! How awesome is that? Not only this one, but the Seafood Cup Noodle is available too. They’ve changed the recipe a little and now have no artifical flavors and no MSG. Plus, you CAN MICROWAVE IT! Wow – pretty awesome! The lid says these are the #1 curry cup noodles in Japan. I’m going to go out on a limb and say these are the same for the United States as I do believe they’re the ONLY curry cup variety in the United States. So let’s see if these are good – I really, really hope they’re going to stick around for a while!

Well, hello there! You know, if I’m not mistaken, we’ve met here before. Oh yeah – multiple times on the top ten list back in it’s infancy! To be honest, this has been one I’ve loved for ages – perhaps decades. Boy, that makes me feel old… I think I should just let this variety speak for itself – let’s have a look at the contents and give it a try!

Here’s the one that everybody’s got – chicken. Very few instant noodle companies don’t have a chicken noodle soup on the market. I can think of a few, but they’re kind of far and few between. Chicken is kind of a universally accessible flavor and meat (well, except for Vegans). I think this probably will be a pretty good one. I gave it 4.0 out of 5.0 in May of 2015 when I re-reviewed it back then. I kind of remember people asking me to give them another look and so I did. Anyways, Let’s get to it!

Hey cool! I’ve been really looking forward to reviewing this one. You might not know, but this is the background for The Ramen Rater logo! It was review #652 – posted February 1, 2012. Six years ago! I really liked how the picture came out and thought hey – let’s make a new logo! But only recently have I said what the background was – didn’t think anyone would be interested. Anyways, now you know! Here’s a little about Shio ramen from Wikipedia –

Here we have the cup version of the flavor we started this Meet The Manufacturer series with – original flavor. This is soy sauce flavor, aka shoyu. Here’s a little about shoyu ramen from Wikipedia –

Today, we head to the second half of this series with the shrimp pack version. Cups and packs, packs and cups. As you may remember, I was pretty impressed by the cup version. I’ve tasted shrimp flavor instant noodles in a few different ways. Sometimes, it’s kind of like as buttery broth which doesn’t taste like shrimp, but one that shrimp may go well in. – kind of the way that oyster sauce doesn’t taste like oysters. The cup version with this brand has a nice sweetness that you find in shrimp. Let’s see how it translates to the pack version.

Alright, so I reviewed this one back in October of 2011. This was review #529- well over 2000 reviews ago. Just saying 2000 reviews ago seems crazy. Anyways to be blunt, I really didn’t like this one back then., My wife said it smelled like cooked asparagus. I’m curious whether it’s not going to be something I enjoy; about 7 years later. Hope I do! Let’s take a look.

Time for some chicken! Actually, there are quite a few chicken varieties in this range and they’re about to start showing up in this review series. Today,m we’re going to start off with their chicken instant ramen cup. Sounds like a plan – just so you know, the last time I tried this was way back at review #405! Let’s get to it and give it a try!

Beef flavor isn’t usually something I think of when I think about ramen. I generally think of pork, chicken, fish, seaweed, etc. Beef leads me more towards ramyun to be honest. But these are varieties catering to the taste of the United States – and beef is definitely a western kind of flavor as well. Let’s see how a beef noodle goes in this variety. Looks like I did a re-review ion 2017 and the first time I reviewed it was #205 in 2010! Okay – let’s get to it!

Here’s one of the four fancy varieties from Sapporo Ichiban – their miso ramen variety. Miso is a fermented soybean paste. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia

Sapporo Ichiban offers four standard pillow pack style noodles, four special varieties, and four cup varieties. It makes it easy to do a different one every day during this Meet The Manufacturer series. I have, however, reviewed them all before, but it was a very long, long time ago. I usually don’t like to do re-reviews, but I think in this case I’m very happy to make an exception. I’ve been wanting to do a Meet The Manufacturer with Sanyo Foods America for years and getting the chance to has been a lot of fun!

Was really happy to get samples directly from Sanyo Foods Corp Of America for this Meet The Manufacturer series. As I said previously, one of my goals has been to do Meet The Manufacturer series with all the instant noodle companies in the United States. Let’s see what’s inside!

Hey look – Top Ramen got a facelift! They’ve been changing recipes all over their ranges – getting rid of artificial flavoring and MSG. They’ve also been changing names. This used to be picante beef. To be honest, I haven’t had the first variety in years and it’s nice to be able to have it again fresh. Let’s give it a look!

Today is the last of this great series! I want to thank the mighty nice folks at Mike’s Mighty Good for facilitating this Alright it’s beef pho. Very curious about what this one will be like. Let’s find out!

So this is the second pork tonkotsu variety offered by Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen – this being the non-spicy version. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about this style of ramen –

Here’s another vegetarian friendly variety from Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen. This one’s inspired by Korean kimchi. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia –

Last time it was fried garlic chicken and this time it’s just chicken. Let’s give it a try!

So today’s variety is one I’ve been curious about. This is a pork tonkotsu from the United States – something I don’t usually think is going to be great. But if it does as well as everything else has, I think it’s going to be good. Here’s a little about tonkotsu from Wikipedia-

Alright so today it’s a Vegetarian variety. To be honest, I used to enjoy a lot of condensed soup and this was my favorite flavor. So, I suppose it has a bit to live up to as far as the name. Let’s have a look inside this cup and see what lurks within!

Okay now I’m seeing a pattern. The cups exclaim that they have rich broth while the packaged versions contain insanely rich broth. All I can say is in the last two, I liked the broth. Now to the topic of miso – here’s a little from Wikipedia –

So Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen also comes in cups. Spicy beef sounds good. I’ve been a spicy fan for a long time. I just noticed on the pack reviewed yesterday it mentioned ‘insanely rich broth’ whereas today we have ‘rich broth.’ With a slightly mellower tone, let’s pop the lid and look within.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Usually, the first instant product a noodle company will put out will be chicken flavor. In fact, the first instant noodle product that was ever produced was chicken flavor. Chicken is just about universally palatable, and most don’t have a religious rule against it. A chicken instant noodle is the beginning and so that’s where we will start today. Fried garlic chicken sounds really good, and on the package, it promises an ‘insanely rich broth.’ Alright – the proof is in the noodle – let’s give it a try!

Interview With Mike’s Mighty Good * Product Samples From Mike’s Mighty Good * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Fried Garlic Chicken Flavor Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Spicy Beef Flavor Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Savory Miso Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Vegetarian Vegetable Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Spicy Pork Tonkotsu Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Chicken Flavor Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Vegetarian Kimchi Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Pork Tonkotsu Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Beef Pho Ramen Soup

So what we have here is something from the United States I haven’t really delved into much. I reviewed their Cup-A-Soup on review #2544. I thought this was a Cup-A-Soup, however, it’s a Soup Secrets variety. It’s getting cold outside – better eat your soup! Wait I shouldn’t have told you that because it’s a secret… The soup secret. Don’t tell anyone… Let’s have a look.

So this is one that the company sent to me – thanks! So this is one of the new Taste Of Asia series, a range that has some really great varieties. I really liked the Sukiyaki Beef from their first three kinds and then they came out with this one and also a Tom Yum which I would say is my favorite so far.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve had a version of Neoguri to review. Actually, wait – not that extremely long – they came out with the Neoguri dry stir noodle one recently. So this is one I got up in Canada a couple of months ago.

Well, this is something completely different. Definitely a departure from their usual line . Maruchan’s Instant Lunch range is very popular in the United States. The flavors are generally in the domestic flavor profiles ranging from your standard chicken to California Vegetable to Cheddar Cheese.

When I saw this one I was extremely interested. I’ve had tom yum soup many times in Thailand and in Malaysia as well. I’ve reviewed tom yum instant noodle varieties from throughout Southeast Asia – tons of them. I’ve NEVER had one however from the United States. Not only that, this one is a microwavable tom yum. I must admit these are definitely uncharted waters. I’m really hoping this is good. With an open mind and palate, I delve into this bowl.

So today is the first review I’ve done in a month! This was the first time since 2010 that I thought I’d take a little time off of reviewing. The main reason being that I’m so far ahead of myself – 110 reviews ahead in fact. I must say it’s nice to have such a buffer. Anyways, here we have a Myojo Udon bowl – honestly I can’t remember where it came from – someone either sent it (thank you) or I got it at the store. Myojo Udon sounds pretty good. Here’s a little information about udon from Wikipedia –

I thought maybe a whole wheat ramen noodle might pair well with Szechuan flavors. These look really interesting and to be honest, I have a partiality to whole wheat noodles. Let’s have a look!

So Pad Thai might immediately come to mind as that noodle dish with lots of thick peanutty sauce and some meat and veggies popular here in the United States. But you might not know it but pad Thai simply means Thai noodles, and they’re able to be used in anything. Today I’m going to juxtapose them with a Pho broth, broth from Nona Lim. Let’s get started.