Such a classic – almost as American as it is Japanese! Actually, this packet was made in California. Just like rival Nissin, Maruchan has a huge southern California factory. Here’s a re-review of this standard that probably everyone has had once in their lifetime.
My son, Andreas gave me this one, along with a beef and a pork flavor pack! He’s been quite a noodle eater – he really likes Top Ramen Chicken flavor, but I got him to try the Indomie Special Chicken flavor and he really liked it – gotta keep trying new things! Thanks for the noodles, Andy!!!
Back of the packaging (click image to enlarge). At the bottom you can see – Irvine, California.
Here’s the block in all of it’s glory. It’s ready to join two cups of water.
A single packet. A lot of these end up in kitchen drawers or half used. As always, I say use the whole thing. Don’t be a wuss! Don’t hate on ramen while that fast food meal has twice the sodium.
Behold, the spice! It might not help you evolve into a space folding Guild navigator, but it makes the broth and noodles tasty!
Finished (click image to enlarge)! Two egg omelet with some Tabasco Buffalo Style Hot Sauce, garlic salt, and a light sprinkle of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning within. I added some Kizami Shoga (pickled ginger) on top. First, the noodles. They’re surprisingly chewy and of good character; not eternally stalwart, but there for you during a cold snap. Decent noodles. The broth and its flavor are interesting; almost like a shoyu. I like this one – not my favorite of the Maruchan line, but I think it deserves praise for its simplicity and surprisingly complex flavor. 3.75 out of 5.0 stars. UPC barcode 041789002144 – Get it here.
Maruchan TV ad.
Andy’s new Crasyola Color Dome – trippyness!
Maruchan: Ramen Noodles
I came upon this product as a child because my mother had bought multiple cups for me to eat from and I was intrigued by the taste. For me the product was salty yet full of flavor. What was most interesting to me as a child though was the fact that it was in a cup.
The main strengths of this product are the flavor, the simple packaging, and the instant gratification. For example, each cup of noodle has a distinct flavor and spice to it, giving a variety to the product and what you eat. In addition to this, the flavor is just right for the amount of noodles within the cup. The next strength is the simple packaging. The noodles are just inside a white cup; not flashy or overdone. Easy to open and easy to look at. The greatest factor of both is the instant lunch aspect. The noodles can be made in 5 minutes and can be eaten immediately. This is a very important aspect of the product and should not be dismissed.
Apart from all the positive things of this product, there are some things I feel that the product needs to fix. These issues are, the styrofoam packaging, and the amount of sodium. The greatest fear I have about eating large quantities of this product is the fact that the styrofoam cup causes cancer. In occasion I’m in a rush and I have to put the cup into the microwave. This is very risky and I suggest that the company should switch the packaging. The next thing is the amount of sodium in the cup, this can be very deteriorating to one’s health and I feel that the amount of salt should be reduced.
My overall opinion of this product is positive and I use it from time to time with my busy schedule. I do recommend this product to people that need to eat something fast before work or school. I give this product a B because of the packaging situation, but overall, it fulfills my needs in terms of hunger.
Alan-
The two positive changes would affect he cost of the product greatly. Their main competitor made an eco-friendly cup that could be microwaved it, but it caused the price to go up alot and stores didn’t want to stock it. It’s unfortunate as it was quite nice. As for sodium, it’s a noodle soup. Instant noodles get a bad rap, but if you look at many soups,m you’
ll see th sodium is quite high. This is due to the fact that water dilutes flavor, so lots of salt needs to go in to make it taste good.
Regardless, m,y mother was the one who introduced me to instant noodles as well – she would cook them al dente, drain them, fry them and add scrambled egg. It was really good and what started me on this journey of instant noodle reviewing.
– TRR
i might have just over looked them but i didnt see the Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup for Picante Beef or Mushroom(although ive only seen plain mushroom 2 or 3 times)
Yeah I’ve had the Nissin Top Ramen Picante Beef but never seen it in the Maruchan. Also, I’ve had Maruchan Chicken Mushroom, but never seen the mushroom. Hmmmm. If you find em and wanna send, I’d review them!
– TRR