Yeah – The Ramen Rater is international now! Thanks go to Stefan Meeuws for making this happen! Check out the article below- if anyone would be kind enough to email me a translated verion that would be great! You can click on the Chip logo if you want to buy a copy of the magazine!
UPDATE! Thanks go to my sister Susan Lienesch for translating the article! See below!
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Blogs come in all shapes and sizes. They range from very personal to very strong or surprising. But who is hidden behind these online journals? This month:
Hans Lienesch is 36 years old, an abstract artist who lives near Seattle in the United States. He is engaged to Christine and has a 6 year old son, Andreas. Since 2002, he has sampled over 400 instant noodles (ramen soup) and reviews them at www.ramenrater.com.
A Whole Lottta Noodles
Lienesch began his Ramen Rater project in 2002. First it was a simple table, and then later he changed it into a blog with photos and sometimes videos. “By blogging I can better express myself. I love writing and have a passion for noodles that began when I was a child. When my favorite type was no longer made, my family took me to a huge Asian supermarket in Seattle. There we found the noodles that were the most like them. When years later I still was interested in them, I then began my site.”
Noodles offer plenty of inspiration. “There are more types than you would think; therefore they are not difficult to find. The worst noodles I ever tasted were Instant Sweet Potato Noodle: Spicy Fei-Chang Flavor. They were greasy and dirty. The craziest noodles I ever had were by Super Bihon. On the package there is a heart with a small bomb on it. Maybe it refers to the heart attack you’d get from so much sodium? It was not clear to me, but it was good to eat!” Lienesch has a special page for his Top 10 favorite noodles. At the moment, the Indomie Mie Keriting Goreng Special Fried Curly Noodles from Indonesia is in first place.
Slightly Eccentric
The Ramen Rater is an at-home IT tech. His work on his blog gets different responses. “Some people find me a bit eccentric, other people see me as a zealous enthusiast. To put a good blog website together, you must make sure that you can easily find your way around on it. I love websites that are somewhat Spartan in appearance. I now read other’s blogs a bit more because I myself have written other blogs. foofoomayo.com is about the experiences of my family. I also did hot sauce ratings at saucerater.wordpress.com, but I stopped after I created my own recipe.
Reactions
Although it seems a bit like Lienesch can be seen as an authority in the noodle area, he has not received comments from noodle makers. “I have been submitted interview questions, but I think my reviews are honest discussions. However, I do get lots of questions and comments from visitors. The last inquiry I received was someone from South Africa wanting to buy noodles
It looks unlikely that Lienesch will stop testing noodles. “I love it; I’ll buy no more only when no more new kinds to find. I am well on the way to the 500th review. My son Andreas is now also very much into noodles, and therefore makes trying new kinds of noodles more fun.”
