During my vacation I found quite a few of these at ‘The Market At Anacortes.’ I’ve reviewed one in the past and been interested in doing the rest. Here’s some of them – Asian Vegetable flavor. Here we go…
One packet – feels very full… Wonder what is lurking inside?
Okay some weird looking seasonings going on here – kinda clumpy… Some veggies too.
Click image to enlarge. Finished product – added an egg during the oiling. This is something of a dilemma. The packaging called for 1 1/3 cups of water. I also added an egg. It also called for 4 minutes of cooking. After just over two minutes, the noodles had sucked up all of the liquid. Very strange. I think that 1 1/3 is just not enough water for this package. This left the noodles very dry and sticky. The seasoning tasted somewhat decent but not all that great. As for broth, there really wasn’t any to speak of. I’m bummed. 1.5 out of 5.0 stars. Get it here.
Here’s something from Japan – looks interesting…
They have since changed the packaging on this product, since there is no picture of the back I’m unsure if the ingredients have been changed. It still only calls for 1 1/3 cups water, I’m a fan of brothy ramens so I understand your frustration. I have had this several times, each time I’ve tried diffrent add-ins trying to give it some flavor… to no real success. The baked noodles have a pleasant enough texture, the flavor is just bland. 2**
well, basically my stance on salt is this: i dont mind the high salt content – I absolutely love salt and have been known to literally eat sea salt out of the package as a snack. regarding this ramen, i wish they would add MSG, and disodium flavor enhancers, which cut down on the sodium. MSG is partly sodium but it does enable you to use less sodium CHLORIDE overall. (im not a believer that MSG is bad for you). in this particular ramen, they could have easily cut the sodium in half by using MSG/disodium 5 nucleotides, with the same flavor.
when a ramen is loaded with salt yet ive had comparable ramens that taste just as good or better that have less salt, then it loses a few stars in my book. sort of like a chef who can make their food taste good without using 10 sticks of butter. i just think the companies who can make their soups taste better without large amounts of sodium should get kudos.
trust me, im no salt complainer – i like coating my goldfish in salt. but its a recent health condition thats gotten worse recently thats forced me to restrict my salt just a bit.
i dont know how much you know about msg/disodium flavor enhancers but i think it would be interesting to make a page on it, and maybe health of ramen in general. i do believe that ramen can be part of a balanced diet. i mean, with some added protein (like you usually do) and a reasonable amount of sodium (varies), its healthier then most restaurant options out there and frozen meals. ramen has got a bad rap.
sorry if i rambled a bit but i hope all that makes sense!
Instant ramen honestly for the most part eserves a bad rap as far as healtiness goes. But its just fine as long as you eat other things too. It’s kind of like everyone though if you were on the Atkins’ diet that all you eat bacon and cheese all day; people think I only eat instant noodles.
– The Ramen Rater
Im a little curious – whats the ramen rater’s favorite foods? What does your wife like to eat? I know she occasionally tastes your ramen but does she eat ramen also on a regular basis?
Also, heres a video on the (not) dangers of MSG which I found very interesting (i love this guy’s youtube channel): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLxxnk5MI74
Personally, I think the people who have a “reaction” is simply because they just ate a very high fat, high sodium, oily meal that had thousands of calories, but theres zero evidence that MSG made them feel that way. Once MSG is dissolved in your mouth (or water), it becomes two things – sodium, which we all commonly know as salt, and glutamate, which is the same stuff that occurs naturally in everything;
Glutamates are found naturally, from mushrooms to tomatoes to chicken. Parmesan cheese is almost %10 free glutamate! So if you are supposedly allergic to MSG, you’d better avoid all those foods too. Ever wonder why anchovies are often added to flavor a sauce? Anchovies are naturally high in glutamates (just like other ingredients in dashi stock – seaweed, mushrooms, etc..)
Unagi (freshwater eel sashimi), panko breaded tilapia, nachos, chimichangas, pizza, ice cream. Of course, Slurpees are high on my list as well.
– The Ramen Rater
i agree with you on this one. i thought it was decent, especially considering the noodles are baked, i actually thought the noodles were pretty good, but the broth was lacking. i still had more broth then you in the picture w/ 1 and 1/3 cup water, but it did soak up quite a bit, and thus was less satisfying. i definitely notice the missing MSG. however, i think a little chili powder, and a dash of soy sauce really improves this dish, as well as some protein to make up for the broth. im actually looking for a soy sauce that has MSG and those disodium flavor enhancers that most ramens have. would make the flavor in these non-msg ramens a lot better.
Hmm you complain about salt and then want salt – kind of confused by this.
– The Ramen Rater