Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Two days ago, I got a big box full of really nice gifts and product samples from Prima Taste of Singapore. Well, yet another box showed up today. I had an idea of the product samples that might be in the first, but not sure on this one – let’s open it!
On a recent trip to the Uwajimaya in Bellevue, WA I spotted this one. This is made in the United States and sounds really good. Tonkotsu is characterized by a milky white broth – usually pork, but this one is chicken! It sounds really good and seeing this is my wife’s Friday, I thought I’d surprise her by making her a bowl. Let’s check it out!
Well, this is embarrassing… From time to time I’ve accidentally pasted the watermark twice and one ends up in the middle of the image. Sorry about that! About a month or so ago my wife and I were at the Edmonds 99 Ranch Market and she noticed a whole bunch of varieties and asked if I’d tried them. I’m legally blind, which basically means my eyesight is there, but so poor that it’s hard for me to cross the street, would be a menace behind the wheel, and miss a lot of instant noodles that my wife catches at the store! Let’s check out this Tom Yam flavored mi goreng!
A big box came today! I was expecting one from Prima Taste of Singapore – they have a couple new varieties I’ve been curious to try – let’s see what’s inside!
The last one from the trip we took to Canada for my birthday. This is a Taiwanese variety I found up there. I see a picture of a chicken on the package, but that’s as far as it goes as the serving suggestion doesn’t look very ‘chickenny.’ Let’s see how it goes!
Here’s yet another one I got from the 7-Eleven next to our hotel from last May’s Bangkok trip. Like some others, this one got banged up pretty good, but still made it through in good enough condition to review. What’s a trip about this one is that it’s showcasing Manchester United. I’ve seen a few products with Manchester United footballers on them. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one I got from Casey in Hong Kong – thank you! This one’s going to be interesting – not only because I like Hakata varieties, but because I’m videotaping the creation of this review. There’ll be a full video of the beginning to end of my review, editing and presentation process! Hope you enjoy! Let’s have a look at Itsuki Hakata Ossyoi!
Here’s a neat one. During my trip to Thai President Foods’ Agent Meeting in Bangkok last month, I went to a seminar for a large group of European distributors. There were a couple guys who were there that I met from the Thai President Foods Hungary factory, and I was able to obtain samples of many of the products that are manufactured there, this being one of them. I noticed that on the label, an Austrian company is distributing this one. Let’s have a look!
Here’s another one James B. sent me from The Netherlands – thanks again! I’ve reviewed these varieties in cup form, but not the packs and I’m really pleased to be able to. These come from Nissin Germary! Let’s have a look!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! Today it’s a tonkotsu variant, Kumamoto style! It’s known for a blending of two different kind of garlic which are fried in something called mayo oil which bring out a black color – sounds interesting! Let’s check it out!
The next to last variety I found while in Thailand – there was a Seven-Eleven next to our hotel which we visited countless times; so different from the ones we have here! Slurpee machines in the back as always, but you make a 180 degree turn and boom – a huge assortment of instant noodles. It was amazing and burned into my mind! Some companies do special partnerships with Seven-Eleven all over Southeast Asia and have special varieties only available there – this is one of them. Let’s check it out!
Here’s the last I have of the new packaged varieties of MyKuali products. Before, this was called Hokkien Prawn, but now it appears they’ve gone to a more streamlines title and packaging. Prawn Mee as it’s known in Southeast Asia is a spicy and prawn filled extravaganze of flavor and wonder. If you like prawn, this is definitely something you should enjoy! Let’s look within!
Here’s another one I received after the trip to Thailand I took in May. Thanks again! This one hails from Myanmar! Let’s look within!
I got some new samples from Nissin USA a few weeks ago (thank you!) of some varieties of Nissin’s Raoh from Japan that are now available in the USA. Raoh (meaning King( is a premium line. At this point, you can only get them on Amazon. Not sure if that will change though. So Umami. This is something interesting – first, let’s have a look at what wikipedia has to say about umami –
NOTE: I assumed that all of the Sichuan Baijia Broad Noodle series were supposed to be drained. This was apparently was NOT supposed to be drained, hence the review score of 0 stars. It will be re-reviewed soon! Thanks to Bundi R. for bringing this to my attention.
For awhile now, people have been asking if I’d reviewed Ibumie’s Always Mi Goreng. Well, no – that’s because I’d never found it or received a sample or donation from a reader. I’ve seen it around for years on the Internet. About a month or so ago my wife and I were at the Edmonds 99 Ranch Market and she noticed a whole bunch of varieties and asked if I’d tried them. I’m legally blind, which basically means my eyesight is there, but so poor that it’s hard for me to cross the street, would be a menace behind the wheel, and miss a lot of instant noodles that my wife catches at the store! So, if you’re one of the folks who have messaged me about this one, you can thank Kit for her keen observation! Let’s check out Always Mi GOreng!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by James B. from The Netherlands – thanks! First off, this one is groene curry, which translates to green curry. These are from The Netherlands and made by Unilever. Let’s check ’em out!
Got an email a couple months ago from Casey P. in Hong Kong. He’s been following the blog for years and wanted to send some things for me to review and this is one of them – thanks again! Today, we have a pasta style Cup Noodle. There are a lot of instant in Japan that have a kind of Italian skew to them – tarako spaghetti, napolitan and peppercino are popular variants. Let’s check out this pasta style Cup Noodle!
I rarely mention anything to do with the operation of The Ramen Rater blog, but I figured today would be a good time to do so and could help a lot of folks. I noticed that none of the videos on the blog were working after I upgraded to the newest WordPress 4.4. I used to do this:
This is yet another of the samples I received upon returning from my trip to Thailand to visit the MAMA noodles company in May. These are for the Cambodian market. MAMA’s Green Curry hit the top ten in this year’s annual list – excellent stuff! I should note today is the first review I’ve done in a few days. Why? Well, I should start by mentioning that this will come out a few weeks after today – I am way ahead, which is nice. A couple days ago, we had a huge windstorm here. Gusts up to 70MPH – in some remote areas they were over 100MPH! Trees fell not only from the wind, but from all the recent rain which made the ground soft. In my county, at one point there were over 200,000 people without electricity. We were without power for 29 hours – everything in our refrigerator has gone bad – including all of my garnishes! Luckily, I hadn’t gotten anything new and was due to get some things, but still a lot of food will be getting thrown away. The only plus of the event was that I got to haul out my shortwave radio and was able to pick up broadcasts from Slovakia, Cuba and Japan to name a few! Usually there’s so much interference that I can’t receive anything. Anyways, power came back on last night! Hooray!
Here’s a video of me reviewing an instant noodle for an upcoming review. I did it for a TV show in Japan, but they didn’t want to use it so I made them another one. This is the beginning to end of a review – I do this pretty much the same way every time, although it’s a little different when it comes to cups and bowls – I either take pictures of the sides if they’re not able to be removed or scan them, as well as the lid. Hope you find this interesting and enjoy it!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This is the last of the ones Javier sent me – it’s been a lot of fun reviewing these! Send more anytime! This one is wantan men – just think of wonton mein – wonton noodle! Let’s delve into this bowl!
Again, my wife has a keen eye for noodles. She saw these and asked if I’d tried them – I hadn’t! Don’t know what I would do without her! So these are very interesting – IbuRamen – sounds like Ibumie – in fact, on the back of the package it says it’s made in Malaysia. The Mi Goreng font looks like Ibumie’s as well (and Indomie’s, Salam Mie etc). Mi goreng is Southeast Asian , however Bento is Japanese. What’s more, there’s a Mexican reference; wait, where? Let’s look inside.
I reviewed the original version of this a long time ago and really liked it. This is a new version for export – has gotten quite a facelift since review #725! This was sent to me by Michael C. of Eastland Foods! Thank you! Let’s check it out!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No. It’s a superhero which is a leek. Leeks, negi and Welsh onion – they’re all the same thing. I got this one from my friend Shinichi – he’s working with Mr. Yamato of Yakantei, a purveyor of very unique instant noodles to bring the harder to find tastes of Japan to your door! Very excited to try these hard to find varieties! Thanks, Shinichi for bringing noodles over to my apartment! Everybody – go and check out Ramen Mania!
A tube! What’s inside?
An autographed poster from the folks at MyKuali HK! This will go into the Wall of Fame soon as it’s laminated! Thanks!
Here’s one from Myanmar. This looks unlike about everything I’ve ever seen by MAMA insofar as packaging goes. I notice I also have a Korean Kitchen one which also looks much different. Sounds interesting – let’s check it out!
Here’s another one that was sent to me from Thailand by the Thai President Foods folks. This is made in Hungary. Let’s have a look!
I found out about Box From Japan on Reddit recently and sent the guy who runs the service an email. Javier sent me a sample box and I reviewed the included varieties and they were really great! He was nice enough to send me yet another one – last box had some seriously great stuff inside! Let’s look inside this one!
My wife and I were at the grocery store the other day and she saw this series by Myojo. ‘Have you tried these yet?’ she asked. It’s funny – she finds lots of varieties for me that I never even notice – it’s pretty awesome! Since she’s a fan of udon, I thought I would make her some today. Let’s check ’em out!
Here’s one sent to me by Casey P. in Hong Kong – thank you! It’s not common that I have crab varieties. I think the majority of them have come from Singapore, so this Japanese variety is a real treat! Let’s check it out!
I got some new samples from Nissin USA a few weeks ago (thank you!) of some varieties from Japan that are now available in the USA. At this piont, you can only get them on Amazon. Not sure if that will change though. So Umami. This is something interesting – first, let’s have a look at what wikipedia has to say about umami –
Turns out I had one left from my trip to Malaysia in October 2014! This one’s made by the same company that makes MAMA noodles – just for the Malaysian market. I’ve had chand clear soup varieties in the past but this one just says it’s clear soup. Let’s check out this rice vermicelli!
So the number one on my annual Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list got some new clothes! Why do I like this one so much? Well, when I got to visit the island of Langkawi, Malaysia (which is a stone’s throw south of Thailand), I got to try all sorts of tasty foods. One was tom yum. I got to try it a couple of ways – check it out!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by James B. from The Netherlands – thanks! These are from The Netherlands and made by Unilever. Let’s check ’em out!
Here’s a new one that you should be able to find pretty easily in the store if you’re in the United States. Nissin has been coming out with a few new varieties lately and this is one of them – let’s have a peek under the hood of this tray!
Here’s one of the last I have from Bangladesh! Got these send to me after my trip to Thailand to visit the folks who make MAMA noodles! Thanks again! Shrimp sounds good today – let’s check ’em out!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! Today it’s one from Seven-Eleven in Japan. Seven-Eleven does partnerships with different companies (this on is made by Nissin) and has varieties they make only available there. This is Sumire Ramen, a miso variety. Let’s take a look!
I’ve been a huge fan of curry over the years. I’ve made all sorts of sauces and soups and this is one of my favorites – works great with leftover turkey and some easily found ingredients – check it out and if you try it, let me know what you think!
Today, we bid a fond farewell to another Meet The Manufacturer. Forest Noodles products all have one thing in common – they’re all dried in the sun. They also highlight nature which is pretty great as well. Let’s have a look at the last in this series, their sesame oil sauce variety with sunbaked noodles.
