Tag Archives: zenmarket

#3152: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen – Japan

#3152: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen - Japan

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 – ‘QTTA (kuu-ta) gives your stomach a satisying feeling because it means ‘I ate enough.’ The curry soup with wavy noodles coming in the golden packaging is nice and spicy. Contains meat, potato, onion and green onion, too, which will make you shout ‘QTTA!’ when you finish the meal.’

Sounds like a plan – let’s attack!

Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen – Japan

#3152: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen - Japan

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains pork. To prepare, add boiling water to fill line and cover 3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!

#3152: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen - Japan

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

#3152: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen - Japan

The noodle block.

#3152: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen - Japan

Loose seasoning.

#3152: Maruchan QTTA Curry Ramen - Japan

Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft egg with habanero togarashi, baked chicken (garlic pwder, pepper, NuTek Salt For Life), Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, pepper flakes, crispy onionm and sesame seeds. Noodles came out superbly – nice gauge and mouthfeel. They picked up the broth which was a hearty and lightly spicy affair. Pieces of potato in there seemed a little weird at first but worked. Onion and mince pork was really good. A full and well rounded cup. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4901990360098.

Maruchan QTTA 2.8oz 2Type × 4pcs Fried Chicken And Hamburger Japaneese Instant Noodle Cup Ramen Toyosuisan Ninjapo

Watch me cook on Instant Noodle Recipe Time!

Zenpop December 2018 Instant Ramen Subscription Box

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Zenpop December 2018 Instant Ramen Subscription Box

Here’s the latest and greatest box from www.zenpop.jp! Use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Let’s have a look.

Zenpop December 2018 – Unboxing Time With The Ramen Rater – Japan

#2985: Myojo Charumera Shio Ramen – Japan

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“Charumera is a musical instrument that used to be used by street ramen vendors. The savory soup is given an extra umami of…can you tell? It’s scallop. Though ojisan means ‘an old man,’ the ‘orisan naruto look really cute.’

I’m not sure who the girl is – possibly someone from AKB48? Anyways, let’s check out this neat looking cup!

#2885: Myojo Charumera Shio Ramen – Japan

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains shrimp, pork, chicken and fish. To prepare, open lid halfway and add boiling water to line. Cover for 3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

The noodle block.

Loose powder from the cup.

Loose solid ingredients from the cup.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added soft boiled egg, spring onion, chashu pork, sesame seeds, shichimi togarashi and Salad Cosmo organic mung bean sprouts. The noodles were good – nice gauge and chew and hydrated well. The broth had a very good shio flavor and a nice bit of scallop and seafood taste as well. Included garnish was comprised of wonderful cabbage and little fishcakes with character images on them which was nice. Very good! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4902881400893.

myojo charumela ramen tonkotsu shoyu (3.52ozx5packs), 17.64oz

Watch me cook this up!

August Box From Zenpop – Unboxing Time

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August Box From Zenpop - Unboxing Time

So another month, another great box from Zenpop.jp, purveyors of Japanese neat things. They have ramen boxes, they have candy boxes, they have ramen and candy boxes, they have stationery boxes too! Lots of neat stuff to check out over there. Check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Let’s crack this box open and see what’s inside!

August Box From Zenpop – Japan

I did this video while I’ve got a cold. Pretty gnarly one too – and now my wife and two children have it too! Not fun. But this box was fun to open up and check out – thanks again!

#2911: New Touch Classic Shouyu Ramen

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Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘Simple, classic shouyu ramen will never be boring. Flavorful vegetables, roasted garlic, and black pepper boost the savory taste of shouyu based chicken soup. The toppings include chopped roasted pork, shrimps, scrambled eggs and green onions.’

This particular one came from a ramen and sweets mix pack, one of the boxes Zenpop has to offer. Let’s check it out!

New Touch Classic Shouyu Ramen – Japan

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains pork, chicken and fish. To prepare, add in sachet contents and boiling water to fill line. Cover for 3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

The noodle block.

A dry base sachet.

A light powder.

A vegetable sachet.

Not just veg but scrambled egg and bits of pork.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, spring onion, hard boiled egg and shichimi. The noodles come out pretty good – nicer chew than many instants – some backbone there. The broth is really good – has some of the best shoyu flavor I’ve found in an instant. Included bits of pork, egg and veg work perfectly. A really nice surprise. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4903088009537.

New touch Sugomen Taiwan ramen 123g ~ 12 pieces Nagoya

I really need to start doing this as I just ran out of chashu yesterday…

Zenpop June 2018 Instant Ramen Box – Shio Sampler! – Unboxing Time

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Zenpop June 2018 Instant Ramen Box - Shio Sampler! - Unboxing Time

Zenpop Japan Shio Sampler Pack – June 2018 – Japan

Awesome – lots of great things in here to check out! Thank you very much for sending this along!

Unboxing Time: Zenpop Japan Ramen Tour Pack – May 2018

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Zenpop Japan Ramen Tour Pack – May 2018 – Japan

Thanks to Zenpop for sending this along!

Unboxing Time: Zenpop March Box!

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Unboxing Time: Zenpop March Box!

This is a new box from Zenpop.JP – they do a few different kinds of boxes but this one’s just ramen. Nine varieties – pretty impressive! Use coupon code RAMENRATER to receive a discount at http://www.zenpop.jp ! Let’s have a look inside to see what’s going on!

Zenpop March Box – Japan

What’s inside? Check out the video! Lots of neat stuff – thank you very much!

#2671: Acecook Mochi-Mochi Yakisoba

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Here’s another interesting one from Zenpop.JP – thanks! So Zenpop is doing monthly boxes of all sorts of things Japan-related including instant ramen of course. This one looks particularly interesting in that it’s an instant yakisoba made with noodles made from… Mochi? Here’s a little about mochi from Wikipedia –

Mochi (Japanese: 餅, もち) is Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki.^[1] While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time.

Mochi is a multicomponent food consisting of polysaccharides, lipids, protein and water. Mochi has a heterogeneous structure of amylopectin gel, starch grains, and air bubbles.^[2] This rice is characterized by its lack of amylose in the starch and is derived from short or medium japonica rices. The protein concentration of the rice is higher than that of normal short-grain rice, and the two also differ in amylose content. In mochi rice, the amylose content is negligible, which results in its gel-like consistency.^[3]

You might be wondering ‘how do they get the ice cream in the noodles, but mochi isn’t ice cream. I’ll say though I love the mochi-covered ice cream, but yeah – mochi is that chewy, doughy stuff on the outside. These noodles should be very interesting – let’s check this one out!

Acecook Mochi Mochi Yakisoba – Japan

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains pork chicken and makerel. To prepare, add boiling water to line and cover 5 minutes. Use spout to drain. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge). Note the spout (flap C).

The noodle block.

The loose bits of pork and cabbage from inside the cup.

A liquid sachet.

Smells like yakisoba sauce.

A smaller sachet.

Furikake.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts and spring onion. The noodles were good – I didn’t expect them to lack the chewiness I expected though. Maybe they’re from the same ingredients but just didn’t scream mochi to me. Regardless, they paired very well with the yakisoba sauce they included as well as the meat, cabbage and furikake (which kind of tasted like bacon). 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4901071222253.

The Acecook Vertical drink one cup Seabura pork ramen 70gX12 pieces

An older Acecook TV commercial

#2595: TableMark Cantonese Shouyu Ramen

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Here’s one I got from ZenPop, a company that’s producing ramen boxes in Japan. They have a new box just about every month with 9 different varieties – a pretty impressive amount!

Here’s what they had to say about this one – “The oyster sauce added to the soy sauce based soup is the secret of the appetizing flavor. The thick soup matches well with the noodles and veggies. The chunks of vegetables include cabbage, corn, green onion, qing-geng-cai and red pepper.’ Sounds interesting – let’s get to this one from TableMark.

TableMark Cantonese Shouyu Ramen – Japan

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains pork, chicken and fish. To prepare, add 350ml boiling water and sachet contents (except liquid sachet) and cover for 4 minutes. Add in liquid sachet. Finally, stir and enjoy!

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

The noodle block.

The dry base sachet.

A light powder.

The liquid base sachet.

A dark liquid.

A large vegetable sachet.

The aforementioned vegetables – good size and quantity.

Finished (click to enlarge). The noodles are thin and a little slippery but quite good on the gauge and chew. The broth is very greasy – and it works well. It definitely leans more towards the oyster sauce than the shoyu side of things. The vegetables are all over – something I like a lot. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4901520400577.

T a b l e M a r k Station cafeteria salt ramen ~ 12 pieces

An older Japanese TV commercial

#2583: Daikoku Kaisen (Seafood) Shio Noodles

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#2583: Daikoku Kaisen (Seafood) Shio Noodles - Japan - The Ramen Rater - rmane - instant noodles

Here’s one I got from ZenPop, a company that’s producing ramen boxes in Japan. They have a new box every month with 9 different varieties for $29.50 – a pretty impressive deal as they include the shipping in the price.

Here’s what Zenpop had to say about this one – “This rich shio (salt) based soup has a mild taste of seafood and is topped with seaweed, egg, cabbage and imitation crab. Travel the seven seas of flavor aboard the decks of this delicious ship!” Here’s a short blurb from Wikipedia about shio –

Shio (“salt”) ramen is a pale, clear, yellowish broth made with plenty of salt and any combination of chicken, vegetables, fish, and seaweed. Occasionally pork bones are also used, but they are not boiled as long as they are for tonkotsu ramen, so the soup remains light and clear. Chāshū is sometimes swapped for lean chicken meatballs, and pickled plums and kamaboko (a slice of processed fish roll sometimes served as a frilly white circle with a pink or red spiral called narutomaki) are popular toppings as well. Noodle texture and thickness varies among shio ramen, but they are usually straight rather than curly.

Well, this sounds good to me! Let’s give this Daikoku variety a try.

Daikoku Kaisen (Seafood) Shio Noodles – Japan

#2583: Daikoku Kaisen (Seafood) Shio Noodles - Japan - The Ramen Rater - rmane - instant noodles

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Conjtains seafood. To prepare, add 300ml boiling water and cover for 3 minutes. Finally, stir and enjoy!

#2583: Daikoku Kaisen (Seafood) Shio Noodles - Japan - The Ramen Rater - rmane - instant noodles

Detail of the lid – hue changed for ease of viewing (click to enlarge). I’m legally blind so when colors are hard to see for me, I tend to attempt to make them easier to see for you.

#2583: Daikoku Kaisen (Seafood) Shio Noodles - Japan - The Ramen Rater - rmane - instant noodles

The noodle block.

#2583: Daikoku Kaisen (Seafood) Shio Noodles - Japan - The Ramen Rater - rmane - instant noodles

Loose seasoning and garnish from the cup.

Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion, Salad Cosmo mung bean sprouts, fishball, carved squid, 31-44ct shrimp, crabstick and La-Yu chili oil. The noodles came out very nicely – hydrated to a T. The broth has a great buttery and seafoody flavor I very much enjoy. The included crabstick, scrambled egg, seaweed and cabbage hydrated perfectly and everything married together just right. A very well made seafood cup. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4904511006055.

Three Gunma chan fried noodles 119g x

Vintage Japanese TV commercials

#2574: Acecook Spice Deli Tantan Men With Cilantro

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Here’s how they describe this variety: ‘This miso based soup is spiced up with cilantro. It’s hot and spicy, but is absolutely savory! Don’t forget to keep a towel and a cup of water at hand. You’ll be dripping in sweat and get thirsty!’

Alrighty them – let’s give this a look!

Acecook Spice Deli Tantan Men With Cilantro – Japan

Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains pork and chicken. To prepare, add 440ml boiling water to fill line. Let steep covered for 3 minutes. Stir. Finally, add oil sachet and dry sachet and enjoy!

Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).

The noodle block.

Loose bits and seasoning from the cup.

A dry sachet.

Looks like cilantro and chilli powder.

The oil sachet, which is affixed to the lid.

A deep colored oil.

Finished (click to enlarge). Noodles were of a standard gauge although straighter than most if that makes sense. The broth was really interesting. Juxtaposed with a strong cilantro (coriander) flavor throughout was this spiciness – Sichuan pepper. It really was the last thing I would have expected from a Japanese instant noodle yet there it was. Very curious and interesting – they just keep coming up with more and more new flavors. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4901071239251.

Acecook noodle vermicelli Tanita cafeteria supervision ‘S’S noodles flavor 41gX6 pieces

An Acecook TV commercial