Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#2636: Acecook Tonkotsu

#2636: Acecook Tonkotsu - Japan - The Ramen Rater - instant noodle soup

Here’s one of those ‘dilemma’ noodles. I don’t know what the heck it is called and the bar code yields absolutely no results which are annoying. Luckily, I do have the resource of my readers and asked on the Facebook page for The Ramen Rater. A few people got they were tonkotsu, which is very helpful, although usually, ones like this are some kind of tonkotsu – like a little more detailed. But people were of the belief this was just their standard tonkotsu. Thanks for the info! Let’s dig in ...see full post

#2634: Samyang Foods Ramen Bokki

#2534: Samyang Foods Ramen Bokki - South Korea - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles ramen

Oh hey, ramen bokki! So this is a fusion of two foods: South Korean ramyun and one of the words I would say I’ve seen spelled about a zillion different ways, tteokbokki. Tteokbokki are big chewy tubes made from rice flour and they’re really good. Usually, it’s made with a spicy and sweet sauce, egg, fish cake, etc. Good stuff! So this is that but instead of with the rice tubes, you get the noodles. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

Unboxing Time: Discovery Of Ramen Children’s Book

Unboxing Time: Discovery Of Ramen Children's Book

Today a combo – an unboxing and a book review!

Unboxing Time: Discovery Of Ramen Children’s Book – United States

Let’s Have Unboxing Time

I heard about this book a while back. They emailed me and mentioned The Discovery Of Ramen was on Kickstarter. I thought hey – I would like to check out a kid’s book on ramen – so I did a post about it. That was months ago and they’d said they would send me a copy once it came out. Well, they did! I should note I did the video before reading the book – here are my thoughts on it. ...see full post

#2630: Myojo Udon Hot & Spicy Flavor

#2541: Myojo Udon Hot & Spicy Flavor - United States - The Ramen Rater

So today is the first review I’ve done in a month! This was the first time since 2010 that I thought I’d take a little time off of reviewing. The main reason being that I’m so far ahead of myself – 110 reviews ahead in fact. I must say it’s nice to have such a buffer. Anyways, here we have a Myojo Udon bowl – honestly I can’t remember where it came from – someone either sent it (thank you) or I got it at the store. Myojo Udon sounds pretty good. Here’s a little information about udon from Wikipedia – ...see full post

#2626: Nissin Cup Noodles Mazedaar Masala

#2626: Nissin Cup Noodles Mazedaar Masala - India - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Found this one at New India Bazar while in Pleasanton, California this summer. Probably the biggest Indian grocery I’ve been in which was pretty cool. I spent a little time searching for mazedaar but really didn’t find anything, so if you know what makes this ‘mazdaar masala,’ let me know – that would be great. Anyways, let’s check out this mazedaar masala! ...see full post

#2620: Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun Stew

Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun Stew - South Korea - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

This is the only variety of Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun series to have a broth. Spicy chicken stew sounds good, and it is – at least the pack version was really good. There are usually some differences between packs and bowls. Mainly, bowls are almost always steeped, so the noodles may come out a little different than being continuously boiled. Also, bowls sometimes have extra ingredient sachets. Let’s give this one a try and check out this super spicy variety! ...see full post

#2619: Liu Quan Authentic Snail Rice Noodle

#2619: Liu Quan Authentic Rice Noodle - 正宗柳州壮品螺蛳粉桶装 - China - The Ramen Rater

First off, special thanks to a reader from Malaysia who helped with translation. This one just says ‘spicy rice noodle’ on the distributor label, but it seems to be a non-spicy variety and it mentions snail. I don’t know if it actually is but hey you never know.But I’m pretty sure this is the regular version and not the spicy I reviewed previously by the same company. Actually after getting some comment from a couple friends in Canada and Taiwan, indeed it is snail! Here’s a little from Wikipedia about this variety – ...see full post

#2614: Samyang Foods Chacharoni

#2614: Samyang Foods Chacharoni - South Korea - The Ramen Rater

Chacharoni is a play on words. Jjajang kind of sounds like ‘cha cha’ and the roni calls to noodles. There are other plays on words in the South Korean industry when it comes to jjajangmyeon. So basically what you have here is a thick noodle with a black bean sauce – also known as jjajang. Here’s a little about jjajangmyeon from Wikipedia – ...see full post

#2612: Meet The Manufacturer: Nona Lim Laksa Rice Noodles + Thai Curry & Lime Broth

NL8: Meet The Manufacturer: Nona Lim Laksa Rice Noodles + Thai Curry & Lime Broth

Laksa noodles paired with a curry broth – I can’t really think of anything so well matched. Although I usually think of Laksa a little further south of Thailand in places like Malaysia and Singapore, all the flavors from that area of Southeast Asia play very well together. Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

#2609: Meet The Manufacturer: Nona Lim Pad Thai Rice Noodles + Vietnamese Pho Broth

Meet The Manufacturer: Nona Lim Pad Thai Rice Noodles + Vietnamese Pho Broth

So Pad Thai might immediately come to mind as that noodle dish with lots of thick peanutty sauce and some meat and veggies popular here in the United States. But you might not know it but pad Thai simply means Thai noodles, and they’re able to be used in anything. Today I’m going to juxtapose them with a Pho broth, broth from Nona Lim. Let’s get started. ...see full post