Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

Paldo’s Rabokki Comes Out West

Wasn’t expecting this one today – what’s inside?

One of my favorite Korean foods is tteotbokki (pronounced tah-bocky or tah-pocky). They’re like little tubes made from rice and thick and chewy. Usually it’s accompanied by a spicy sauce, egg, fish cake and more. Well, this is rabokki – ramyun with tteotbokki sauce! I had this a few years back and was really bummed it wasn’t available here in the United States. When I got this package in the mail I contacted my friend at Paldo and found out that indeed it will be on shelves here soon! Awesome! ...see full post

#1640: Long Jun Hang Tainan Yi Mien With Onion Oil Sauce

These tend to be a little hard to figure out; what flavor? What brand? Luckily, I had help from Bobby Y. on the first of these I found, and knowing some of the standard flavors of Taiwanese instants, the translation I got of a page that came up from the bar code on Google was logical. Anyways, Let’s try this onion oil flavor Taiwanese noodle offering. ...see full post

#1639: Pama Bihun Creamy Tom Yam Flavour

Bihun (or beehoon) is basically rice vermicelli. Pama is a brand by President Rice Products of Thailnd and looks to be for sale in Malaysia. Make sense? Okay now on to the flavor: tom yam. Tom yam (or tom yum) is a very standard Thai variety – spicy, lemon/citrus, spicy, and usually shrimp. I was told that the creamy isn’t from dairy but from the boiling of shrimp! Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#1638: A-Sha Veggie Noodle Tomato Noodle With Vine Ripened Tomato Sauce

Got this sample recently and been really wanting to try it. Well, today’s the day. They told me that it has a very strong tomato flavor and is ‘robust.’ I have been asked by people quite a few times ‘so whatever happened to the tomato flavor instant noodles? They were really good!’ I’ve never really figured out what the heck they were talking about, guessing that they were referring to a domestic brand most likely. Well, let’s check out A-Sha’s take on tomato! ...see full post

#1636: Shan Shoop Instant Noodles Masala Flavour

Been curious about this masala from Shan for a while. Shan makes a lot of different seasonings as well as the Shoop line of instant noodles. I remember when I first found it and that it was made in Pakistan – I was really excited. Why? Well, I’d only reviewed one instant noodle from Pakistan before, and strangely enough, it was pizza flavored! Anyways, Let’s check out this masala flavour Shan Shoop. ...see full post

#1632: Cintan Mi Segera Mmm… Perisa Kari

Another one I got during our trip to Malaysia in October! I’ve heard Cintan was the first instant noodle company in Malaysia. This one looks to be fortified with protein – something I think is pretty cool. Adding some vitamins and protein to instant noodles can help make instants a little more healthy. Let’s check out this curry by Cintan! ...see full post

Re-Review: Mamee Chef Gold Recipe Mi Kari Seribu Rasa

I woke up this morning in the mood for something curry. I was looking in my stores of instant noodles today and found this Mamee Chef Gold Recipe. I’ve reviewed it before, but I thought it would make a good breakfast and would be neat to re-review. I really liked the name of this one – seribu rasa means a thousand flavors, which immediately makes me think of thousand island dressing. Of course, this isn’t anything like thousand island dressing. Let’s have a look inside and see what makes this instant noodle tick. ...see full post

#1630: Nongshim Korean Clay Pot Ramyun

This is one you probably won’t find in the United States (I got it up in Canada). It’s made by Nongshim’s Chinese plant in Shaghai. I’ve found that sometimes the same product can taste a little different in different regions. This one’s interesting in that the packaging look is very much like Nongshim Ansungtangmyun, but the characters are very different. Let’s have a look at this Nongshim Korean Clay Pot Ramyun! ...see full post

#1628: Azami Kimchee Flavour Noodle Soup

Here’s one I got from Justin M. from Winfield, BC up north of here in Canada! Thanks! Let’s see here: the instant noodle cup was invented in Japan. This one is sold in Canada under the name Azami and sold by Loblaw’s, a supermarket chain. It’s manufactured in China. The flavor is of kimchi, which is South Korean. Wow. I’ve got hopes that this will be a good one! Let’s check these Azami noodles. ...see full post

Re-Review: Prima Taste Singapore Curry La Mian

I thought it was about time to review this one again. Prima Taste Simgapore Curry La Mian has been on my top ten lists for the last couple of years – it’s really great stuff! I remember when I first tried it tell my friends and colleagues that it was ‘a real game changer.’ I hadn’t seen but sachets like the ones found within before and though it was really neat stuff. I just found out about a couple new videos Prima Taste has made to prepare them as well – check them out here! Let’s have another look at Prima Taste Singapore Curry La Mian! ...see full post

#7261: Earth Instant Noodles Natural Flavor

I thought today I would try this interesting variety. A lot of people are very health conscious these days and are looking for something that is also ‘Earth friendly.’ Well, here’s an option. This is a new brand I’ve never heard of before. There’s really no information about them online and their packaging has no information about where it’s made, nor a website to check out their company. Hmmm… Well, let’s have a look at this one – I’m really curious! ...see full post

#1625: MAMA Instant Rice Noodles Soup Spicy Shrimp Flavour

I often get asked ‘can you make a top ten gluten free list?’ My answer unfortunately is always no. Since I’m not someone who’s a doctor and not having to modify my diet for gluten intake, I would be afraid of telling people ‘oh yeah – eat this!’ and then they get sick, file a lawsuit against me, and I end up so poor I can’t evern afford instant noodles! But there’s a however coming up! I have been thinking I may start an annual top ten rice noodles list. Why? Well, my top tens probably will never include rice noodles or rice vermicelli; instant noodles are more of the wheat flour kind of thing. Rice noodles however do appear to be mostly gluten free as this variety is, so a top ten list of rice varieties might be a great place to start if you’re looking for something that you can have if gluten isn’t on your personal menu. Let’s have a look at these gluten free spicy shrimp noodles by MAMA! ...see full post

#1623: MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle (New Improved Taste)

MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle was the number one instant on the 2014 top ten list. So what do they do? They’ve changed it to make it better. This is pretty fascinating, but not at all surprising. What I heard again and again while visiting MyKuali in Penang last year was that the hawkers will change their recipes all the time; improving them and refining them. It looks as though that’s what MyKuali is doing here with their product line. Let’s see what’s different about their Penang White curry Noodle! ...see full post

#1622: Nongshim Quick2 Hot & Spicy Noodle Soup With Habanero & Lime

Quick2 is a new one from Nongshim America. The 2 has to do with the cooking time of two minutes. I find this one interesting; kind of a departure from their more premium lines and if you notice the color and lines, it more resembles a pack version of a Nongshim Bowl Noodle in graphic design. Let’s have a look at Nongshim Quick2 and see what’s inside! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater Logo In Malaysian TV Commercial

This is really neat – so on the cups and packs of Mamee Chef’s Laksa Kari, they’ve got my logo. The cup was #1 on my annual cups list and the packs made my top ten for 2014. In the commercial, you can see the logo twice – once when he holds up the cup towards the end and on the package at the very end in the upper right corner. Pretty neat! ...see full post

#1621: Myojo Men White Creamy Tonkotsu

A while back I reviewed the Myojo Men Black Seafood Tonkotsu. Well, this is the white creamy variety. Tonkotsu is usually made from pork bone broth – pork bones and boiled for quite a while to pull out the flavor, and it gets a milky color. This one’s manufactured in the United States by Myojo, and so pork products are present. Let’s see how this creamy tonkotsu variety stacks up/. ...see full post

#1620: Premiere Gold Penang Asam Laksa Bihun

Another new Malaysian variety! It seems like the Malaysian instant scene has really caught fire these days – and no complaints from me! This is asam laksa – asam means tamarind, so it has a sour taste to it. Couples with seafood flavors, Bihun is also known as rice vermicelli! Let’s have a look at this Premiere Gold Penang Asam Laksa! ...see full post

#1616: Unif-100 Instant Noodles Artificial Spicy Beef Flavor (New Package)

Last month at the Chinese New Year celebration I went to hosted by the Seattle Singaporeans Meetup Group, I was talking to Clement, one of the event organizers. Og course, the topic of conversation was instant noodles (I will happily admit I rarely talk about anything else) and he had mentioned that there are these Chinese sausages that are good in beef instant noodles. I’d been wanting to give that a try, and today was the day! Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#1615: Hankow Shanghai Kaiyang Noodle

This is the first review here in our new apartment. It’s been
frustrating; the only Internet I have currently is via tethering
my cell phone to the desktop, and I’m hoping I don’t go over the
data allowance. So I’ve got Still have 6 days until they install
– which is a long time… Kit picked this one out for me a couple
of weeks ago. There are a couple other ones in this line, but she
picked this one because it showed shrimp and knows I like shrimp.
Let’s have a look! ...see full post