Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#2694: Nissin Cup Noodles Batchoy Flavor

#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. ...see full post

#2689: Maruchan Instant Lunch Udon Style Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup

#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. ...see full post

#2688: KOKA Silk Laksa Singapura Instant Rice Fettuccine

#2688: KOKA Silk Laksa Singapura Instant Rice Fettuccine - The Ramen Rater - Singapore

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. ...see full post

#2686: Sapporo Ichiban Coriander & Chicken Noodle

#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. ...see full post

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. ...see full post

#2682: JML Instant Noodle Artificial Spicy Hot Beef Flavour

Re-Review: 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. ...see full post

#2679: MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle

#2679: MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle - Malaysia - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

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. ...see full post

#2678: Maggi Hot Heads Barbeque Pepper Noodles

#2678: Maggi Hot Heads Barbeque Pepper Noodles - India - The Ramen Raster - instant 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! ...see full post

#2677: Nissin Hokkaido Miso Japanese Ramen

#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 – ...see full post

#2771: Nissin U.F.O. Fried Ramen Japanese Sauce Flavour

#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.! ...see full post

#2676: Maruchan Bowl Taste Of Asia Tom Yum Ramen Noodle Soup

#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. ...see full post

Unboxing Time: Zenpop Ramen + Sweets Mix Pack

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! ...see full post

#2675: Myojo Hyobanya Kakitama Udon

#2675: Myojo Hyobanya Kakitama Udon - The Ramen Rater - Japan

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! ...see full post

#2674: KOKA Oriental Instant Noodles The Original Chicken Flavour

#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. ...see full post

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. ...see full post

#2673: Nissin Demae Ramen Bar Noodle Hokkaido Miso Tonkotsu Flavour Instant Noodle

日清 出前一丁 #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 – ...see full post

#2670: Nongshim Kimchi Ramyun Noodle

#2670: Nongshim Kimchi Ramyun Noodle - China - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

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. ...see full post

Travels: Taiwan 2017 Day 1 & 2: Travel, Arrival & Exploration

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. ...see full post