Seven years ago I first heard about Momofuku Ando Day. I was curious about it and very happy it existed – so much so that I decided that since I devote so much time to instant noodles and reviewing them, I ought to pay homage to their creator.
Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch
#2694: Nissin Cup Noodles Batchoy Flavor
Found these while up in Canada. So my wife found a show a while back called 90 Day Fiancee where two people either meet online or when one is on vacation in a foreign country and think they want to be married. It then follows their process of getting a visa to spend 90 days in the United States and then whether they indeed are married or not. There’s a new show called Before The 90 Days before a proposal has been made. So on this show, we were watching and they follow a man who goes to the Philippines and meets a girl he’s been talking to online. Well, she picks him up at the airport and the next day brings him to her family’s home and they put on a big spread and cook up Lechon. Lechon is a roast pig, turned over a fire pit for hours and hours that’s been stuffed with chicken and vegetables like spring onion. Long story short, her family is far from wealthy and they came together to make this big feast and he turns his nose up at it.
#2693: Qicaiyuan Liangpi (Shaanxi Cold Noodle)
Been forever since I tried Shanxi cold noodle. I think perhaps I cooked them wrong. Regardless, I know how to cook them correctly thanks to the nice folks at Snackoo! Snackoo is a subscription box service startup in San Francisco. They’ve got a lot of neat products – many I’ve never seen before – check ’em out!
#2692: KOKA Creamy Soup With Crushed Noodles Mushroom Flavor
I could be wrong but I think I might be done with all of the KOKA varieties they sent – wow! So these ones have been a joy to review – a thick soup with bits of noodle – less of a noodle soup, more of a soup with noodles. Let’s have a look!
#2691: Nissin Demae Ramen Straight Noodle Shoyu Tonkotsu Flavour Instant Noodle
I believe this is the last of the new Straight Noodle/Bar Noodle Demae Ramen range from Nissin Hong Kong – really sad that I’ve tried them all! So let’s look at shoyu and then tonkotsu – Wikipedia if you please –
Unboxing Time: A $15 Single Pack Of Ichiran Fukuoka Ramen
I read an article posing the question ‘is $8 ramen worth it?’ and decided I’d better find out. Well, I went to eBay and found no $8 ramen because it was $14.98. Let’s take a look.
#2690: Village Vanguard No Men
These came by way of Snackoo – a company that supplies you with great snack boxes, containing all sorts of fascinating things as well as ramen noodles. Why not check them out?
#2689: Maruchan Instant Lunch Udon Style Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup
Well, this is something completely different. Definitely a departure from their usual line . Maruchan’s Instant Lunch range is very popular in the United States. The flavors are generally in the domestic flavor profiles ranging from your standard chicken to California Vegetable to Cheddar Cheese.
#2688: KOKA Silk Laksa Singapura Instant Rice Fettuccine
Yet another leftover from the KOKA Meet The Manufacturer series. I’ve still got a bunch more! Wow! So this one should be really great – I love KOKA’s Laksa Singapura every time I try a different version. They make it in quite a few – rice, wheat, fried, non-fried. Let’s crack into this bowl and see what’s within.
#2687: Nissin Yakisoba With Mayonnaise
Alright – bring on the confusion, the shock and the WTF’s. Yes, mayonnaise is very popular as a topping in Japan. Why? Well, it’s freaking awesome – it’s tasty and works very well. Yakisoba without it is just not as good.
#2686: Sapporo Ichiban Coriander & Chicken Noodle
Once you get outside the United States, cilantro is known as coriander. This is actually the second coriander variety I’ll be trying from Japan. Didn’t expect that to be a popular flavor for Japan, but hey, why not. I really like coriander. This one comes from Zenpop.jp. They have monthly ramen boxes that are a really great deal – definitely, check them out! Okay – let’s crack this one open.
The 0.5x Spicy Mala Fire Noodle Challenge
Here we are again with the Fire Noodle Challenge. This is the Samyang Foods Mala Buldak Bokkeummyun. So, all over YouTube, people are wincing and screaming as they choke down packs of Mala – why? Well, for some reason, they are under the impression that it’s 4x spicy. Don’t get me wrong – it’s quite spicy – it’ll kick your butt. But it is a far cry from the 2x Spicy Nuclear Fire Noodle, that’s for sure.
#2685: Nissin Cup Noodles Veggi Manchow
This is one we found at an Indian grocery in Pleasanton, California this Summer. I really like the fact that India has so many different instant noodle varieties and that I’ve not tried so many of them – like every one that I find is a little precious gem. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Manchow –
#2684: KOKA Instant Noodles Mushroom Flavour
Here is another one of the KOKA varieties I have left over from their Meet The Manufacturer of earlier this year. So as I said yesterday – not a particular fan of mushroom. But also as I said today, I’m hoping today will be a day of mushroom goodness. Let’s have a look!
Unboxing Time: Zenpop ‘Toshikoshi’ Box
Happy New Year! This is a new box from Zenpop.JP – they do a few different kinds of boxes but this one’s just ramen. Nine varieties – pretty impressive! Use coupon code RAMENRATER to receive a discount at http://bit.ly/2TPTca5 ! Let’s have a look inside to see what’s going on!
#2683: Nissin Cup Noodles Champignons (Mushroom)
So here’s one I got up in Canada in July. So Nissin Japan does regional varieties – there are tons of Nissin branches all over the world – Nissin Germany is one of them. This is one for the Japanese market and looks a lot like the German Cup Noodles varieties.
#2682: JML Instant Noodle Artificial Spicy Hot Beef Flavour
I’ve been doing a lot of spicy noodle videos on YouTube recently. There’s a particular one that I tried and just couldn’t handle. The main reason for this is that first off, it’s ultra spicy. The second was that I attempted it when I was sick with the flu. I mean hey – it was from Japan and I thought I should be able to handle it; never run into any spicy noodle from Japan that I found too spicy to eat.
#2681: TableMark Homerun-Ken Vegetable Tanmen
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
#2680: Samyang Foods Carbo Buldak Bokkeummyun
Yay! Another new variety of the popular Buldak Bokkeummyun ‘Fire Noodle Challenge’ series. This one’s called Carbo. At first, I saw the name and the heart and thought low carbohydrate, but that’s definitely not the case here.
#2679: MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle
This is the MyKuasli Penang White Curry Noodle variety that comes from Singapore – rather it’s made for Singapore. I don’t believe it’s different except for the packaging, but to be honest, any chance UI have to review another MyKuali pack is worth it to me to do so. It’s just a no-brainer; I love their stuff. So let’s have a look.
#2678: Maggi Hot Heads Barbeque Pepper Noodles
Here’s another from the spicy Hot Heads series from Maggi India. From the picture, it certainly looks tasty – although the picture doesn’t show a barbeque pepper but an onion or shallot. Regardless, I would have to say the onion is my favorite vegetable. I could eat onions on anything – Well, maybe not pie. Unless it’s a meat pie. I’m talking a dessert kind of pie – yeah, I wouldn’t prefer onions on that. But who knows. Alright, enough of this – let us have a look!
Unboxing Time: Samyang Foods Carbo Buldak Bokkeummyun + More
Got this big box of fascination and had to wait a whole day before I had the chance to do the video unboxing! This was a serious struggle but that’s what I do for you – you get to see what’s in the boxes I do the videos of at the same time I do! Let’s tear into it!
#2677: Nissin Hokkaido Miso Japanese Ramen
Sp here’s one I haven’t tried before from a nice premium series by Nissin Singapore. They have a Kyushu Black and a Tokyo Shoyu as well. A couple days ago I tried a different one – Nissin Hong Kong’s Bar Noodle Hokkaido Miso Tonkotsu. A little further west we have this one! So here’s a little refresher on miso ramen from Wikipedia –
#2771: Nissin U.F.O. Fried Ramen Japanese Sauce Flavour
Here’s a pretty well known variety from Japan but actually made in Indonesia for Singapore and Malaysia. This one was sent to me by Nissin Singapore (thank you!) and has some big differences when you compare to it’s Japanese cousin – spicy mayonnaise to start with. Let’s unwrap this yakisoba and have a look inside U.F.O.!
#2676: Maruchan Bowl Taste Of Asia Tom Yum Ramen Noodle Soup
When I saw this one I was extremely interested. I’ve had tom yum soup many times in Thailand and in Malaysia as well. I’ve reviewed tom yum instant noodle varieties from throughout Southeast Asia – tons of them. I’ve NEVER had one however from the United States. Not only that, this one is a microwavable tom yum. I must admit these are definitely uncharted waters. I’m really hoping this is good. With an open mind and palate, I delve into this bowl.
Unboxing Time: Zenpop Ramen + Sweets Mix Pack
Was stoked to find another box in the mail – this time a box from Zenpop.jp, a company that sells Japanese themed boxes with all sorts of different things in them. Haven’t seen a rfancy box like this one from them before – also wasn’t sure how they were going to fit a lot of varieties of instant noodles in here like the others contained. Let’s crack it open and look within!
#2675: Myojo Hyobanya Kakitama Udon
This one took a lot of digging on Google and trying various translations and I think I have the name right. I think this may have something to do with egg drop soup? I really am unsure; the ones I see that sound like this one is only cooked 3 minutes and mention the calories on them. I’m completely lost. So I pushed out an ask on The Ramen Rater facebook page so we will see what that brings. In the meantime, let’s continue!
Special Report: 4x Spicy Fire Noodles Do Not Exist
fter seeing multiple posts and videos and online stores advertising for a 4x version of the popular Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun hot chicken noodle, I felt it required me to make a statement.
#2674: KOKA Oriental Instant Noodles The Original Chicken Flavour
It is truly amazing I still have quite a few KOKA varieties to review! Can’t complain, that is for sure – having my hampers stocked well is a good thing and lets me be at ease about not running out of varieties to try. Today its chicken and I got up at 4 am and cooked some chicken in the oven to go into this one. Let’s have a look.
Travels: Taiwan 2017 Day 7: Departure And Arrival
Day 1 & 2 *
Well, finally it was the day to depart. I really love Taiwan – all the sights, sounds, smells… But I definitely was really missing my wife and kids. That was the hardest part of the trip. Being a stay at home dad is so rewarding – not seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces was really killing me.I packed everything up and met Kyle to go out for some dim sum.
#2673: Nissin Demae Ramen Bar Noodle Hokkaido Miso Tonkotsu Flavour Instant Noodle
Here’s yet another of the Demae Ramen Bar Noodle series. These have not failed to impress since the first Straight Noodle Demae Ramen varieties I tried last year. This sounds really good and I like seeing the corn in the above image. One might be surprised, but butter and sweetcorn really go incredibly well with miso ramen. This promises to be bumped up by being a tonkotsu miso – wow I’m definitely curious about this one. Here’s a little about miso as well as tonkotsu from Wikipedia –
Travels: Taiwan 2017 Day 6: Of Soup Dumplings And Steamy Seafood
#2672: Wei Lih Roast Beef Stew Noodle
Woot, woot! This one comes by way of Jay from Taiwan – thank you! This is a meaty one! Big retort pouch inside. These things actually have some heft to them (they weigh a bit).
Travels: Taiwan 2017 Day 5: Eating Out Of Toilets, Coffee & Pizza
#2671: Acecook Mochi-Mochi Yakisoba
Here’s another interesting one from Zenpop.JP – thanks! So Zenpop is doing monthly boxes of all sorts of things Japan-related including instant ramen of course. This one looks particularly interesting in that it’s an instant yakisoba made with noodles made from… Mochi? Here’s a little about mochi from Wikipedia –
Travels: Taiwan 2017 Day 4: Saturday @ The Food Expo
#2670: Nongshim Kimchi Ramyun Noodle
I picked this one up on a recent trip to Canada. Ok, so you might be wondering about this one. It’s made in Shanghai, China. Nongshim has factories all over the place and I’ve found that the different factories have slight variances in flavors. In the USA, this product would probably be coming from their Nongshim America factory in California. Hop the border though and most of the products up there come from China. It’s funny because they also have ones from the United States there as well. Anyways, Kimchi time! Let’s check it out.
Travels: Taiwan 2017 Day 3: Taiwan International Food Expo
#2669: KOKA Silk Instant Rice Fettucine Chicken Pho Flavor
Here’s another left from the Tat Hui Meet The Manufacturer from earlier this year. I’ve had a lot of pho instant varieties over the years and to be honest, I’ve liked only a couple of them, so I’m really hoping this is one I’ll like.
Travels: Taiwan 2017 Day 1 & 2: Travel, Arrival & Exploration
Day 1 & 2 * Day 3 * Day 4 * Day 5 * Day 6 * Day 7
Taiwan 2017 Day 1 & 2: Travel,. Arrival & Exploration
Off I Go
On November 14th, 2017, my wife drove me to Seattle International Airport. My main impetus for the trip was to do an awards show at the Taiwan International Food Expo – the first food show I’d ever been invited to. They asked if I’d come and do a little awards ceremony for the top three from The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2017 Edition list that came out in September. I was definitely all in for doing this for sure – after visiting Taiwan last year I was keen on visiting again. This time was different – it was my first time travelling alone. I was a little pensive about this (I’m legally blind) but I have flown to Taiwan 3 times previously and so thought hey – I can do this. Oh – and a week before I broke my pinky toe. That was really annoying but broken toe be damned – I was going! So I got to the airport around 11pm, went through security, grabbed some drinks and snacks and headed to my gate. Hopped on the plane just after midnight.