Here’s one of the ones sent by Marvin R. of Ft. Worth, TX – thanks again! It’s kind of interesting – these packs looks so similar to another brand. Curious how it’ll be… Let’s check it out!
Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch
Friday Video: TV Show About Top Ten
Found this video by accident yesterday – turns out a TV channel called MUCH runs a show called ‘Who Alone Tonight’ in Taiwan. It’s a variety show. Well, they decided to devote this episode to instant noodles and did an in-depth survey of my top ten list for 2014. Check it out and happy Friday!
#1580: emart Dare You! Habanero Ramen (New Edition)
This was sent to me by Anders E. from South Korea – thank you very much! For some time new, eMart’s Dare You! Habanero Ramen has topped The Ramen Rater’s Spiciest Instant Noodle Of All Time lists. There’s a really good reason for this too – it’s violently hot. Heat is measure in SHU – Scoville Heat Units. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about the Scoville test:
#1579: Curry Prince Penang Authentic White Curry Instant Noodle
Hooray for White Curry! What’s great is that there are so many new brands coming out and I like curry so much. This is Curry Prince – looks interesting! Let’s check out Curry Prince!
#1578: Nissin Gonbuto Tempura Udon
I thought today would be a nice day to deal with one I’ve been a little confused about. The instructions on this one have had me confused; drain it but it has soup? Hmmm… Well, a YouTube video I found helped with that and now it makes a lot of sense! In fact, it’s looking like a very easy one to prepare to be honest. Let’s have a look at this Nissin Gonbuto Tempura Udon and it’s unique preparation.
#1577: MAMA Pork Flavour Whole Wheat Noodle
Here’s an interesting one made in Thailand by Thai President Foods. Why’s it interesting? Well, aside from being a whole wheat noodle, it’s definitely for the Scandinavian market. I think it’s interesting how many companies have popular products both in their home countries and abroad, but especially in Scandinavia. Let’s have a look at this product from MAMA!
#1576: Maggi Authentic Indian Noodles Vegetable Atta Masala
I’ve seen Maggi Vegetable Atta noodles in a variety of forms throughout the years. This one’s a little different; usually there are import stickers and other things on them, but this looks to be for export. So, what’s masala? Here’s what wikipedia has to say:
#1575: Paldo Jjajangmen Chajang Noodle King Bowl
It’s still winter, so I thought something hearty would be a nice touch today. Jjajangmen is a Chinese-South Korean fusion dish. Ramyun noodles and Chajang sauce, rich and thick with black beans. Let’s have a look at this new bowl from Paldo!
Friday Video: Flashback Friday
I woke up today with this song in my head. It’s kind of weird – I got a bunch of hand-me-down audio cassettes from my sister Sue when I was a kid. All sorts of disco and soul stuff – I listened to them over and over and over – lots of Bee Gees and Spinners and O’Jays. It’s kind of like I went through the 70’s pop thing even though I was 5 when 1980 came around. Thought I’d post this one today – my sister and I will be visiting Thailand in May and I’ll have more info about that soon. Some things I can say now is that it’ll have instant noodles, rice, and factory touring involved! Happy Friday to all!
New Varieties For Vegetarians From Hao Way
Wow – a big box of stuff from Hao Way of Malaysia! Let’s peek inside!
Looks pretty well packed!
A New Product From Mom’s Dry Noodle Of Taiwan
This little box showed up today!
This is their new Vegan Spicy With Sesame flavor, as well as a little brochure and some of their delicious spicy sauce! There’s also a sheet mentioning my Top Ten Taiwanese list from last year – Mom’s Dry Noodle made the first place spot as well as third. Thanks! Looking forward to trying!
#1574: Chering Chang Steam Vegetarian Flavor Noodles
In last year’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2014 Edition, Chering Chang was second place with their Curry La-Men – excellent stuff! What is interesting is that that was the only variety they make that I’d tried. I’m very curious how this one fares – vegetarian. Vegetarian instant noodles can be all sorts of different things; bland, bitter, full of vegetables, focused on mushroom; it’s such a broad flavor that can be interpreted masterfully or poorly. I have high hopes that this will be another excellent offering from Chering Chang. Without further adieu, let’s have a look inside.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition
The Ramen Rater’s top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time made it’s debut last January and I thought this would be a good day to release the new one for 2015! South Korean instant noodles (known as ramyun) are characteristically thicker and chewier than most instants. Spiciness is a common trait as well as beef flavors. Here are my top picks of the South Korean varieties I’ve reviewed of my 1,573 reviews to date.
#1572: Master Kong Artificial Seafood Flavor Instant Noodle
Far and few between are the Master Kong varieties I find locally. This is one of them I got a couple months ago – a real surprise. I don’t know why so many of them aren’t available in the United States; I’m guessing possibly that many of their products contain chicken or beef, and import of chicken or beef into the United States from Asia is very hard if not impossible. Luckily, fish products are generally accepted for import quite easily and here we are. Let’s check out this Master Kong Seafood instant noodle!
#1573: Hao Way Penang White Curry Instant Bowl Noodles
I’m sure everyone has been noticing – I’ve been reviewing a LOT of Malaysian instant noodles lately. The reason for this is that I have a ton of different varieties with more on their way – but this one’s a first! This is the first Penang White Curry bowl variant I’ve tried. Let’s have a look!
#1571: Econsave Choice Instant Noodles Curry Flavour
One thing that tends to baffle a lot of my readers is my fascination with ‘store brands.’ I often get ‘it nothing special’ and thoughts like that. To me however, any instant noodle I’ve not reviewed before is definitely fair game and believe it or not, store brands tend to be much harder for me to source than any others. The reason for this is that large supermarket chains are mostly regional and don’t distribute their instant noodle varieties to anywhere other than their own stores. This one is particularly special – I got this one on my trip to Malaysia, and got it at the Econsave grocery store in Butterworth, Penang!
South Korean Varieties From A Kind Reader
Lots of boxes lately! This one comes from South Korea from reader Anders E. Thanks! He’s a reddit guy who offered to send me some stuff from South Korea that I’ve been wating to get for a while now!
#1570: Maruchan Big Cup Ramen Corn, Salt & Butter Flavor
Once in a while, I get something a little different – something that contains something I’ve not seen before. This is one of those times. So it was kind of difficult to translate this one – it’s basically salt Butter and Corn flavor, although the translation I ended up with didn’t mention the corn. I decided to go ahead and add corn in the title anyways. Also, I saw lots of translations mention the word circle, although I’m not sure if that was just Google translate being weird.Anyways, this is a big bowl of noodles and I’m very curious to try them. Without any further adieu, let’s open this thing up and look inside!
Friday Video: Japan Introduction – Instant Noodles
So today’s Friday Video. This is actually a pretty good one – a few interesting little tidbits of knowledge are gained, so enjoy. Happy Friday!
#1569: Maggi Mi Goreng Perencah Kari Ori
The last of the batch of different Malaysian noodles sent to me by Annie T. over at MyKuali a while back – thank you again! This sounds good – curry mi goreng. I know that’s it’s curry from the word ‘kari,’ but I can’t figure out the ‘ori’ word. If anyone knows, please impart your fine wisdom! Let’s give these a try!
Curry Prince Samples From Malaysia
Saw this brand called Curry Prince on facebook and thought maybe they’d like me to sample their noodles. They did!
#1568: MAMA Instant Noodles Cup Beef Flavour
Recently, I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Thai President Foods, makers of MAMA brand instant noodles. They’re located in Thailand and have a quite enjoyable range of products. Well, I’m happy to announce that I’ve been invited to visit their factory and visit ThaiFex, a big fhood expo in May! I’ll have more on that soon. Very exciting! I’ll have more info about the trip soon, but for now, let’s check out this cup from Thailand!
4th Annual Momofuku Ando Day Photo Contest: And The Winner Is…
I am pleased to annouce that we have a winner! Check it out!
Cindy S. submitted this one of her son – he’s a big fan of Nissin top Ramen Oriental Flavor and his dad’s hooked on Cup Noodles! Congratulations! Check your email! Yay!
4th Annual Momofuku Ando Day: Good Cook Instant Noodle Maker
My sister got me this for Christmas (thanks, Sue!). She called when she was at a grocery store and asked if I wanted it and of course since it has to do with instant noodles, I said yes. Let’s check it out!
Nissin Foods USA Samples For Momofuku Ando Day Review
Got a box the other day. I’d been talking with Nissin Foods USA about the photo contest and other things and they wanted to send some samples for one of today’s reviews involving Cup Noodles.
4th Annual Momofuku Ando Day: #1567: Nissin Emergency Cup Noodle
Having an emergency? Well then, hunker down in your shelter and boil some water! This is a fine dinner for two of Nissin Cup Noodle in a neat metal can, sealed for long life.
#1566: Nissin Cup Noodles Tomato Enjoy Noodles With Hot Soup
This one I got at a large Indian grocery in Bellevue a month of so ago. I had a couple from this line waaay back – a Pani Puri and a Manchurian one. This one sounds pretty good to me – also curious how must of the hot sour I’ll enjoy as I’m going to bet this sucks up almost all the liquid. Anyways, let’s see!
Ultra Spicy Megah Sari Sambal Bakso Samples
In my spare time, I like to search hashtags on Instagram – and one day I decided to look up sambal. Sambal is a spicy mix which is a very popular condiment in Southeast Asia. I found a company I’d never heard of and asked if they could provide a sample for me to use in reviews.
#1565: Oyatsu Baby Star Snack Noodle Chicken Flavour
Here’s one of the ones I got when we went up for my annual birthday trip to Canada! So snack noodles are very popular around the world – Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan have quite a few companies making different varieties. They’re usually basically an uncooked instant with a seasoning to add or are pre-seasoned. Let’s check out this one from Japan – Oyatsu Baby Star!
Noodles & Snacks From Paldo
My friend Moses over at Paldo America offered to send some new snacks my way to try. I figure hey – I like South Korean snacks as well as noodles – why not!
Friday Video: Get Ready For Momofuku Ando Day!
This is one of my favorite videos about instant noodles – it’s long and goes in depth. From Momofuku Ando to the science behind the fried noodle. Check it out! Monday is Momofuku Ando Day!
#1564: A-One Mì Ly Instant Noodles Mì Thịt Xào Pork Flavor
Last spring, I remember my son and I took a walk to the local Asian grocery when we were living in Edmonds, WA. We were getting something for my wife for Mother’s Day I believe! Anyways, as always I like to take a stroll down the instant noodle aisle (no big shock, right?). I found a few different varieties of these A-One cups and got them. This is a pork flavored one – from Vietnam. Let’s check out what’s inside!
#1563: Nongshim Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup (New Edition)
Before you go crazy and say ‘what you’ve never reviewed Shin Ramyun before,’ just listen for a second. So this is the new packaging they rolled out recently. I thought it was worth as whole new review as they’be had the old packaging on this one for eons and eons.
#1562: Koka Purple Wheat Noodles Soy & Vinegar Flavor
I must admit that in the past I haven’t been entirely fond of noodles with different colors. Not because I dislike the color (actually I find that fascinating), but because they tend to have an off taste to them and just seem kind of ‘gimmicky.’ It’s been about 300 or so reviews since I tried the Aglio Olio variety of this line. Let’s see how this Soy & Vinegar one goes!
The Ramen Rater App – For Android & iPhone
For Android
Developed by Mike Koval, a reader of the blog for a long time, this app will let you browse and search the site easily. What’s more, by using the bar code scan option, you can scan the bar code of an instant noodle at the grocery store and get results (provided I’ve reviewed it of course). Enhancements will be coming soon as well! best of all, it’s free! Check it out now!
#1561: Uncle Sun White Curry Noodle
Most of the instant noodles from Malaysia have been just that – sent to me FROM Malaysia by manufacturers. What’s kind of cool is that now I’m seeing more of them start showing up in the United States. I found this Uncle Sun White Curry a few miles north of here in Everett at a newer Asian grocery simply called Asian Grocery (great name). It’s actually a great place – they have two varieties of this one – the one you see here and one that looks identical but says it’s extra hot! They also had Milo, a popular drink from Malaysia – kind of like chocolate milk, but like dark chocolate milk. Anyways – sweet – more white curry! Let’s check it out!
The Ramen Rater Logo On Mamee Chef Products
Well, here it is! I have been waiting for this package for a while now and it’s here! Check it out!
New Hao Way White Curry, Laksa Bowl Samples
Got another package from Hao Way this week!
They’ve adapted their Penang White Curry and Penang Laksa varieties into bowl form! I’ll be reviewing these soon – thanks!
#1560: Kin-Dee Instant Rice Noodle Spicy Seafood
Here’s one I got up in Canada. Been kind of a spicy week and so spicy seafood fits the bill. In my last post, I mentioned having a sore tooth. Let me say that it got bad – really bad! The only relief I could find was to keep something cold next to it – my wife went out and got a bag of ice and I kept a little piece of ice in my cheek last night. I ended up pulling the tooth myself after taking a pain pill – take that, dentist bills! Anyways, your humble instant noodle reviewer is doing much better today! On with the show!
#1559: Master Kong Spicy Beef Flavor Instant Noodle
Another one sent to me by a nice reader in Sweden – thanks! I thought today would be great for some spicy beef noodles from China. It just sounded good for some reason. I’ve got a sore tooth which is driving me crazy… Dunno why but spicy beef noodles from China just sound nice. Anyways, let’s dig in!