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Here’s one I got a couple weeks ago on my birthday trip to Canada! I’ve had a few varieties by Vedan before but this one sounds really good. Hot beef is always a good bet. I think I’ll try it with some Chinese sausages in the mix! Let’s check out this Vedan Wei Wei A Hot Beef flavor!
Last month at the Chinese New Year celebration I went to hosted by the Seattle Singaporeans Meetup Group, I was talking to Clement, one of the event organizers. Og course, the topic of conversation was instant noodles (I will happily admit I rarely talk about anything else) and he had mentioned that there are these Chinese sausages that are good in beef instant noodles. I’d been wanting to give that a try, and today was the day! Let’s check it out!
This one came from Anders E., a reader in South Korea – thanks! He mentioned that this variety is often enjoyed on Korean New Year, and since that was a couple days ago, I thought I’d have it today. Here’s a little info about how it fits in with Lunar New Year celebrations from wikipedia:
Recently, I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Thai President Foods, makers of MAMA brand instant noodles. They’re located in Thailand and have a quite enjoyable range of products. Well, I’m happy to announce that I’ve been invited to visit their factory and visit ThaiFex, a big fhood expo in May! I’ll have more on that soon. Very exciting! I’ll have more info about the trip soon, but for now, let’s check out this cup from Thailand!
Before you go crazy and say ‘what you’ve never reviewed Shin Ramyun before,’ just listen for a second. So this is the new packaging they rolled out recently. I thought it was worth as whole new review as they’be had the old packaging on this one for eons and eons.
Another one sent to me by a nice reader in Sweden – thanks! I thought today would be great for some spicy beef noodles from China. It just sounded good for some reason. I’ve got a sore tooth which is driving me crazy… Dunno why but spicy beef noodles from China just sound nice. Anyways, let’s dig in!
Here’s one I got from Justin M. from Winfield, BC up north of here in Canada! Thanks! This one’s rather fascinating to me as the brand name is literally ‘no name.’ It’s made in China for Loblaw’s, a Canadian grocery store chain. I’m crossing my fingers here; Canadian instant noodles haven’t really been my favorites – but this is a new one so we’ll have to see. With an open mind, let’s delve into No Name Beef Flavour Oriental Noodles And Soup Mix!
After going through the big noodle hamper the other day and getting rid of some ancient ones that had expired, I noticed this one that I needed to get to quickly. There’s a urban myth that instant noodles last forever, will survive all forms of apocalypse and deliver great flavor for the next hundred years. While frying noodles extrudes moisture and makes them shelf stable without refrigeration for a much longer time than their fresh counterparts, they do go bad. I also take into account that as a reviewer, it’s only fair to review them if they’re all not expired, hence the culling of the old. Luckily, I have scads of non expired instants to go through! Anyways, let’s check out this rice vermicelli from Nissin – Demae Beef Flavour!
Here’s the last one sent by Charles, a serviceman in Afghanistan – thanks! It’s really strange to know that since my last KOKA review that I’ve been in Singapore; never did I expect to visit Asia in my lifetime and now I have. Albeit a short visit (out experience of Singapore consisted of running through Changi airport from travelator to travelator and transferring our luggage from carrier to carrier), it was a truly fascinating blur! Anyways, got some fresh beef yesterday and needed to package it up so though I’d do a beef noodle review. Let’s check it out!
I keep looking at this one in my noodle hamper and then curse at myself for not getting shallots… I mean, they’re cheap and taste really good – why didn’t I get shallots? Well, I kept forgetting to. But fear not shallot lovers! I now have shallots. Beef and shallot lovers, your day has arrived. Let’s delve into the insides of this Unif-100 Artificial Shallot Beef flavor pack from Unif of China!
Bulalo sounds interesting – a beefy soup. I think I need more info though – here’s what wikipedia had to say:
I think a lot of people will say that Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef is one that they’ve seen many times when visiting an Asian grocery in the USA. Beef, like chicken, is one of those flavors you see about every instant noodle manufacturer out there making. Everyone knows what beef and chicken flavors taste like (well, maybe not everyone – hi vegetarians!). The weather here is quite cold and rainy lately and nice beef flavored broth sounds really good. One thing though; the Philippines isn’t a place known for it’s chilly climate. Would a beef instant translate well for colder places that’s been made there? I think I’ll have to see! Let’s revisit Lucky Me! Beef Na Beef!
Lucky Me! Spicy Beef Mami is a newer product I’m pretty sure. A couple neat things about this one is tyhat they use Labuyo pepper. It’s also known as Bird’s Eye chilli as well a cili padi (chilli paddi) in Indonesia and Malaysia. What’s more, this is another instance of instant noodles being referred to as ‘mami.’ As far as I know, this in a purely Filipino thing; never seen instant noodles called mami anywhere else (although there is a Malaysian company called Mamee, (a play on mee and MAMA) and a Thai brand called MAMA (for the same reason). I thought I’d see what Wikipedia has to say about the various meanings of mami and got this list:
I’ve always thought La Paz Batchoy sounded interesting, but really never dug in to figure out what it’s all about. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:
On Friday, I conducted a little experiment: let’s have a look at what happens when we look at 6 months of images from instagram that have the hashtag #topramen. What I found were many comparisons of instant noodles to hair, mentions of poverty and many images of what people liked to pair with their instant noodles.
Here’s another one sent by a kind reader in Sweden – thanks again! Also want to thank Bobby Y. of Canada for his great help with translating! He’s always been a great help and I truly appreciate it! With all the recent Chinese readers, I thought I’d review a Chinese instant noodle today. These Master Kong varieties are usually quite good. This one’s really big – calls for 700ml water! That’s definitely on the higher end of broth. The noodle block is also quite large with a different gauge than other I’ve tried – looks to be thicker. It also mentions that it’s a ‘cooking’ noodle as opposed to an instant. Cooking noodles require time spent on the stove while instants can either be cooked on the stove or simply put in a bowl and boiling water added, covered and let sit for 3 minutes or so to be done. Let’s have a look at this one from Master Kong – really hoping Master Kong contacts me soon – wouyld love to do a Meet The Manufacturer with them!
Here’s one of the ones sent by Marvin R. of Ft. Worth, TX – thanks again! So he originally asked me about identifying there. They look a lot like another Vietnamese brand, but the info on the back seems to show that it’s definitely not them. This is a pretty neat review – the cusp of my 1,500th. Let’s check this one out!
This Sogokimyun is a bit interesting. It looks to be a re-branding of another one. I just looked through everything and found this one from September of 2010 – that’s one old review! What I remembered was seeing the windmills on the packs. The difference though is that this version and the older one – this one doesn’t include a vegetables sachet, only the powder one. Wow – 1,378 bowls of noodles ago. I guess if you do something every day, it does tend to add up! Just about to the 1,500th review; I knew I’d hit it at some point. Next will be the big 2k. Anyways; let’s check this one out!
Here’s yet another one from a trip to Canada. This company is particularly interesting – they always include a big sachet of seaweed in their packs and bowls of instant noodles. What’s more, their bowl have two noodle blocks instead of just one – they sport some of the largest instant noodle meals I’ve ever seen! This one’s mushroom and beef flavored hot and spicy – which you find out by reading the back of the packaging. Anyways, sounds like an interesting one – let’s give it a try!
Before this Meet The Manufacturer, I really hadn’t known that Thai President Foods made so many different lines of instant noodles. I thought they made MAMA and that was about it – I was definitely wrong about that! Here’s another line for export to Europe, Bamee. This one has quite a few languages on it, more than the Thai Chef I reviewed a couple days ago which looked to be more for the German market. Anyways, beef! Beef sounds like a good one for today – it’s cloudy outside and a bit cooler. I’m wishing we could skip fall and go straight to winter – I really like snow and fireplaces and all of that comfy stuff. Summer is great, but it’s been a pretty hot one here. Beef soups are some of my favorites during winter, which is what made me go on that tangent there. Anyways, it’s still summer but time for Bamee beef noodle soup! Let’s go!
Today’s the next to last review of the Nissin Singapore Meet The Manufacturer. This is the 14th review! There have been an interesting array of different varieties that have been really quite good! Today, I’m trying the package version of their spicy beef flavor. I reviewed the bowl version pretty early on. Anyways, let’s have a look at this one!
My son’s favorite instant noodles of all time are (drumrolls please), Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor. It’s about as domestic as you can get. I’ll admit I like it a lot too – basic noodles and decent chicken broth. He does let me make him stuff that’s a little more adventurous from time to time. Today’s going to be one of those days.
Looks like we’ve got some hot weather coming to the northwest this week. One weather report is saying it will get into the 90’s which is pretty darn hot for these parts. My wife and I were talking about it the other day and she mentioned that the last time we had a summer with such hot temperatures, the winter was equally as extreme – got lots of snow! I hope that it turns out the same way this year because I really like snow quite a bit. Granted, there are quite a few challenges getting around being legally blind, but it’s neat stuff all the same.
This looks like a good one! I like how it mentions on the front in the little text: with ‘top-notch Secret Roasted Beef Paste Recipe’ – that definitely has me interested. This is part of their Premium line – let’s have a look under the hood and see what makes this instant noodle tick.
I’ve reviewed quite a few instant by this brand. They’re made in Taiwan and they come with four of everything; four noodle blocks, four of each sachet. The Interesting twist with this one is that it doesn’t use broth; it’s a stir noodle! I don’t think I’ve found one of those yet. Let’s check it out!
These little cups always are a nice surprise. I usually expect that they’ll be funky and gross but they usually have been very good! This one sounds interesting – I’m curious what ‘brown sauce’ means; like brown gravy? The pic on the front looks like wide rice noodles too. Well, it looks like fun to me – let’s crack this one open and see what’s going on inside.
As with many instant noodle companies, Nongshim has plants all over the world. Usually, these factories produce flavors that are popular in the countries they are located in, as well as well known favorites. This one is a variety made in China and I found it up in Canada. It seems that many of the ones made in China are available up in Canada, although I’ve never seen them here in the USA – curious. Let’s have a look!
Hey look – it’s the return of the happy little cheese guy with the sign! He looks so happy that he will be eaten – after having been reduced to a powder mix! I wonder how he would look if he really knew he would be eaten?
Wow so I am really happy to say that our move is done. A lot of work is an understatement, but it was well worth it! All the noodles are in their new spot and seem to be quite ahppy. This will be the first review here! I got this one earlier this year on my birthday trip to Canada. Never seen this brand before! Let’s check it out!
Pulmuone is a South Korean company that makes products using their LOHAS philosophy. They really like the sustainable agriculture/green/etc thing over there. There’s a video at the end of this post that extolls their virtues. I thought I’d reviewed this one before but noticed that there were a couple minor changes in the nutrition facts as well as new packaging, so thought maybe I’d give it a try today. It’s called Nature Is Delicious, but it doesn’t say it on the packaging like the old version does, which is kind of weird. Well, actually it says it in Korean, and the only way I could figure it out was by comparing the UPC codes from the original review and this one. I’m kind of curious about how they got the name Pulmuone… Hmmm… Anyways, let’s see how low calorie instant ramyun tastes!
Phở is probably the most well-known dish of Vietnam. It’s also the most commonly incorrectly pronounced culinary item in the world – at least that’s my guess! It’s not pronounced like the word ‘foe,’ but f in ‘foe’ added to the o in ‘of.’ For Jersey folks, one could say it’s like the ‘fuh’ in ‘fuhgettaboutit.’ Phở is usually best when got from one of the zillions of Phở restaurants around. There”s a broth that’s cooked for hours and hours with beef, star anise, cinnamon and other spices. It’s then accompanied by different thinly sliced cuts of beef or chicken or meatballs. The Bò in Phở Bò translates to beef. You usually also get bean sprouts, sweet basil, jalapeno , and onion. Condiments can include sriracha, fish sauce and hoisin sauce. Lots of ingredients and lots of fun to eat! Let’s see how this instant version is and have a look under the hood.
Here’s one I’ve been waiting for just the right day to try. Iga Penyet is a dish which is extremely popular in Jakarta, Indonesia. But, exactly what is it? Well, from looking around, I found that it translates to Smashed Beef Ribs ala Jakarta. I’ve also seen it referred to as Fried Beef Ribs. Either way, beef ribs and a spicy sambal sauce are involved, as well as garlic. I didn’t have any beef ribs to cook alongside, but I’ll figure something out – let’s check out this Indomie Iga Penyet!
Well, we’re almost to the end of this Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been a really fun journey through all of these Japanese flavors. Today, I’m going to review a beefy sukiyaki udon stew! But what is sukiyaki? Let’s ask Wikipedia:
British noodles! Thought maybe this would be a good one to let my son try today. Not spicy (at least I don’t think it will be) and pretty mellow. Right now he’s knee-deep in LEGO blocks and listening to a video game documentary. A good day! Let’s check this one out.
Here’s something new and different from Nongshim. The name might seem a little odd, but it’s a play on the name of a traditional South Korean beef soup called Seoulleongtang, which has a broth which is simmered for a long time with ox bones. I’ve liked non-spicy South Korean beef noodle soups in the past – let’s see how this one fares!
I’ve always found these quite interesting. Why? Well for starters, they seem to always have a pack of seaweed with them, and not a small one but a decent portion. Also, the noodle blocks are unique as well. How? Well, read on and you’ll see. This one is from Hong Kong – let’s check it out!
Maruchan Instant Lunch is one of those products you see everywhere in the United States at grocery stores. Maruchan makes these cups as well as packs of ramen. They’re popular in Mexico as well – people refer to soup a lot of the time as ‘maruchan’ as it has become so popular and intrinsic to daily life. A month or so ago, I saw a post on Instagram. This guy was saying how he could eat these Instant Lunch cups (this flavor in particular) for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. I thought to myself, ‘have I reviewed this one?’ Well as it turns out I had – but it was way back in June of 2011. I’m always on the hunt for instant noodles that cannot be found within the United States – the more exotic the better. This guy’s enthusiasm about this little cup that can be found virtually everywhere here in the USA piqued my curiosity; is it worth another try? So when out grocery shopping, I decided to get one. After two weeks of enjoying varieties from Southeast Asia, I think this should be interesting. Let’s check it out!
Here’s an interesting new one – bulgogi is probably one of my most favorite foods! Bulgogi, for those of you who haven’t experienced it, is Korean barbecued beef. What they do is marinate the beef in a nice sweet sauce and then barbecue it in thin strips. What are great are Korean barbecue restaurants. You are seated at a table with a little brazier in the center.
Here’s one that Joe B. and Sarah B. sent me from Nottingham, UK – thanks! I’m getting towards the end of the noodles that they sent – been a lot of fun trying all sorts of British varieties! I usually get some cues on what I’ll ad at the end from a picture on the front of a package, but this one doesn’t have any ‘suggested serving’ or anything like that, so I have to go with my gut. I looked around on Google for ‘peppered steak British’ and found quite a few leads. The peppered steak there looks to be basically steak with a decent amount of black pepper. Sound simple enough. Of course, things like a dash of brandy aren’t readily available, so I think pepper is going to be my friend for this one. Anyways, let’s see what’s within.
Well, today is the last day of the Meet The Manufacturer for Sakura Noodle Inc. It’s been interesting – I don’t think I’ve had udon so many days in a row – I was surprised how much I enjoyed it! One thing that was nice was that there’s only one gram of fat in these, which is a far cry from the amounts I usually have. Anyways, let’s have a look at this one – beef!
