Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#2983: Nongshim Spicy Zha Wang Noodle – United States

#2983: Nongshim Spicy Zhawang Noodle Dish With Roasted Bean Sauce - United States

Here’s one that was sent by Exotic Noods – a company that sells subscription noodle boxes. Thanks! This one is a spicy take on Zha Wang, a popular product from Nongshim – this one’s their spicy version. Zha Wang might sound a lot like Jjajang – that’s no accident. Zha Wang is basically jjajang but with a different name. Let’s give it a go! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten American Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

The Ramen Rater's Top Ten American Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

In the past few years, I’ve noticed some shifts in the domestic instant noodle world. Shifting towards a little more healthy being the main thing, but also playing with more exotic flavors and ideas. Here are my favorite varieties out of the reviews up to #2,943 that are made in the United States. What you should also know is that if you live in the United States, these aren’t too hard to come by. If you’re a manufacturer or just a reader who has a variety you’d like to see reviewed, please contact me using the CONTACT form. With that, here’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten American Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition! ...see full post

#2979: Maruchan Curry Nama Yakisoba Stir Fry Noodles With Seasoning Sauce Base

#2979: Maruchan Curry Nama Yakisoba Stir Fry Noodles With Seasoning Sauce Base

I’m pretty sure this has been in existence for decades and decades. One thing I truly enjoy is fresh yakisoba and making it for friends and family. I’m having a visitor today who has been hit with some rough times and thought I’d hook him up with some of this stuff. Think I might do a cooking video along with it. done a ton of live cooking vids lately so maybe it’s a good idea – we’ll see… Let’s hit it! ...see full post

#2977: Vedan Wei Wei Premium Braised Pork Noodle

#2977: Vedan Wei Wei Premium Braised Pork Noodle

Here’s one of the very last varieties I found in Taiwan during my last visit in November, 2017. Big thanks to Kyle K. for help translating this one! So braised meats from Taiwan are some of the most amazing flavors – anywhere. I’m telling you – find a Taiwanese restaurant and get some braised pork – it’ll blow your freaking mind. Alright – let’s crack this bowl open and get this going. ...see full post

#2974: Itomen Bansyu Ramen

#2974: Itomen Bansyu Ramen

Here’s another one I got from a box I wasn’t expecting a while back. This is part of that box which was sent by the Itomen distributor in Taiwan – thank you again! Not sure how they got a hold of my address, but they did and sent me noodles so that’s pretty nice of them. This variety is Bansyu Ramen which they explain as, “Soy sauce and Salt from Banyu. Bansyu is famous for its soy sauce and Salt in Japan since 17th century).” Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

#2973: MAMA Oriental Kitchen Shrimp Stir Fried Tomyum Sauce Noodle

#2973: MAMA Oriental Kitchen Shrimp Stir Fried Tomyum Sauce Noodle

Here’s a new variety sent by the nice folks over at Thai Foods in Thailand – thank you! I’m really excited – my son Miles and I haven’t done a spicy noodle challenge with anything from Thailand thus far and I think this might be the one we’ll try. For those of you who haven’t tried before, tom yum is a spicy, citrussy and tasty flavor from Thailand usually in a soup form, but here is a dry noodle. Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

#2972: Bowlfull Vegetable Flavour Instant Noodle Soup

#2972: Bowlfull Vegetable Flavour Instant Noodle Soup

Oh yeah are you ready? Are you? Man, you’re going to think I’m nuts, but I’m a huge fan of store brand instant noodles. Why? Simple – I love the hunt. I really like to go somewhere and say ‘ah ha – I haven’t tried this one,’ put it in the handbasket and move on. Well a few weeks ago we went to Lansdowne Centre, a neat mall in Richmond, BC. We keep finding different places to visit up there which totally rocks. In the mall, there’s a bunch of store of course. The mall really is kind of a blast from the past – very Canadian and looks like it was built in the 70’s – lots of mirrored things abound. What got us there was that we saw this sign saying ‘Dollarama’ when we’d go up to Richmond every time and I thought ‘hmmm… A Canadian dollar store sounds interesting…’ So we check it out and they had their own store brand. They’re made in China for the chain of Dollarama stores and called Bowlfull. Sounds interesting. Yeah – if it sounds interesting, I’, all in. I don’t care if I like it or not – it’s something new, and that’s what my whole instant noodle journey has been about. Let’s crack open this 25 cent pack of noodles and see how things turn out. ...see full post

#2965: Ajinomoto Oyakata Soy Sauce Ramen Soup

#2965: Ajinomoto Oyakata Soy Sauce Ramen Soup

This is one that was sent to me by the Butlers from Illinois – thanks again! They got this and a few other varieties during a trip to Italy. Ajinomoto is the company that is best known for producing MSG. Check out the video at the bottom. This variety hails from Poland actually – kind of a surprise! Let’s crack it open and see what a Polish shoyu is like! ...see full post

#2962: Canton Instant Noodles Chicken Curry Flavour

#2962: Canton Instant Noodles Chicken Curry Flavour

Okay – guess where I got these? Yeah – Canada. At the Real Canadian Superstore. These are made in Bangladesh. So, are they a Bangladesh product, or something geared this way for Canada. This is always a tricky thing for me to figure out and ultimately, I have to just pick. The pack mentions that it’s a product of Bangladesh and has many languages, however the Nutrition Facts are designed for Canada – in English and French. So I’m going to go with this is an export product and labeled just for Canada, but it’s not made in Canada. One thing also to note is the absence of Canadian mentions – made by so-and-so for insert Canadian company here. Usually, this would make it Bangladesh, but then there’s the bar code – it’s a 12 instead of 13 digits. Leaning Canadian again. But then if you look at the commercial at the bottom, this package is in English instead of the local language. I’m slapping a Bangladesh label on it. Let’s check it out. ...see full post

#2958: Rooster Kimchee Flavour Noodle Soup

#2958: Rooster Kimchee Flavour Noodle Soup

Here’s another one we found at the Real Canadian Superstore in Richmond, BC. The last one was found in the more domestic area while this one was found with the more Asian food varieties. They have tons of this Rooster branded stuff in bowls, packs, cups – singles, multi packs and cases. It’s pretty impressive. they did also have a nice selection of other things. Cool store! Let’s check this kimchee variety out! ...see full post

#2956: Paldo Curry Volcano Chicken Noodle

#2956: Paldo Curry Volcano Chicken Noodle

I took a look in the closet the other day and boom – hey look a six pack of these cups! Forgot about these ! You have to understand – I have a lot of noodles to review – hard to find space for them! But here they are ready to go! Thanks to Paldo for sending them along! Let’s check out these super spicy noodles from South Korea! ...see full post

#2955: Rollton Spicy Chicken Instant Noodles

#2955: Rollton Spicy Chicken Instant Noodles

This pack comes by way of Artur  P. and his kids Vincent and Xavier of Illinois – thank you again! This is the first Ukrainian instant noodle I’ve ever reviewed! I know there are a lot of different varieties from Ukraine but just like other European varieties, they’re very hard to come by for me. Let’s open this spicy chicken pack up and have a look inside this РОЛЛТОН (Rollton) variety! ...see full post