Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Big thanks toa reader named Cian for shooting these over from his trip to Brazil! I dunno, but South American instant noodles make me exceedingly happy. These are sabor frango – chicken flavor. I’m guessing that’s about all they will be, but they’re from Brazil! I don’t get Brazilian varieties incredibly often and when I do they’re really fascinating to me. Instant noodles are quite popular down that way. Well, let’s give them a try!
Well, here we go. In my group Ramen Junkies, Shin reigns supreme. Just a post someone did showing this pack had over a hundred comments real fast. Of course, I’m curious about this one – there’s also a mushroom tofu Shin Green to try as well.
Recently, I reviewed the pack version of this one and the nice folks at Samyang also sent me the cup version! I’m curious what the difference is going to be, if any. This one’s going to take a spin in the microwave. There should be a mukbang as well. Made in South Korea and packaged for US market sale. Let’s get started!
Here’s one that came from the folks at United Exchange Corporation – thanks! So, this is a big claim – restaurant quality ramen. These are made in Vietnam for the US market. I’m rather curious. Let’s find out what we have here.
You’ve probably seen the Daebak Ghost Pepper variety in a cup – very spicy. I’ve only had one thing that was Carolina Reaper pepper infused before – and that laid me out for hours on the floor. I’m going to guess this won’t be as hot, but I don’t know. It should be pretty strong – and I haven’t done a really spicy review in a very long time. I guess that’s about to change. There’s a mukbang video at the bottom of this post. I’m sure a lot of you will want to get this one, and while it’s available a limited time at 7-Eleven, that’s 7-Eleven in Malaysia. It can be got on Shoppee which is a popular shopping site over there, but I don’t know anything more than that. Let’s fire it up and see how spicy this is!
Here’s one sent by King David of China. They’re a big private label outfit; so say your name is Bob and you want to sell Bob’s Noodles. You call up King David and say hi, I’m Bob and they’ll make you instant noodles per your specifications and label them likewise. Pretty neat! Let’s give this non-fried lowfat variety a try!
This one hails from South Korea, but made in this packaging for the US market. They were sent to me by BNB Global – thanks! The mild was good – let’s see how spicy this one is.
Here’s another one I found over at S-Mart the other day. This one is made for export to the US – it’s kind of interesting – Acecook is a Japanese company with a factory in Vietnam, and Sanyo Foods (makers of Sapporo Ichiban) are distributing it. Looks interesting – let’s give it a try!
Thanks to BNB Global for sending this along! So this looks like a ‘king cup’ but I tend to consider them bowls. I’m thawing chicken in the sink right now for this one and the previous two as well. It’s hot – it’s about 8pm and 89 degrees (July 30th) and just been a tough go. We’re about to have a record for most 90+ degree days in the Seattle area ever. It’s gross. So, what do I do? I bake pizzas, cook ramen in boiling water. It’s a challenge. Anyways, hopefully when I do this up tomorrow it’ll be cool in the morning. Let’s hit it!
This is an interesting one. While it says it is a stir-fried chicken flavor, below that it mentioned it has artificial chicken and beef flavor. I’m very curious – it sounds interesting. I’m excited as I’ll be reviewing some more Paldo stuff soon. Let’s check this one out – I think I found it at S*Mart in Bellevue, Washington.
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Found this export pack over at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett. Let’s give it a go!
Well, once again, it’s pizza time. Time for a pizza party. If you like ramen and pizza, this is the place for you as the two worlds collide in this special post. So, why ramen infused pizza? Why the heck not? Anyone can make pizza, and the pizzas I’ve seen involving ramen in the past have sounded more like silly things rather than something intended to be delightful and somewhat gourmet-ish. Today dear friends, I rescue you from marinara atop uncooked noodle bricks! Today I bring you the Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup Pizza Party!
Over the last year or so, I’ve been experimenting with infusing bread with instant noodles and their seasonings and making pizza with instant noodles. What’s the next logical step? Well, ice cream of course! Perhaps not logical, but it seemed like something to try. This is the first of many different ice creams I’ll be making which include noodles and seasonings from instant varieties.
You know, I was surprised. Thought I’d reviewed the 2x Spicy cup before – but apparently, I hadn’t! Lucky me! I’m curious if this will burn my face off. While I thoroughly enjoyed my recent review of the Curry Buldak, it was less spicy than I’d expected. How will this one fare? I’m guessing it’ll light my mouth on fire! Let’s find out!
Yep! I know! Not ramen! But it was with the ramen, it’s from Hong Kong, and it’s something interesting. I’ve reviewed a few macaroni varieties in the past. Let’s give this one a try.
Okay yeah I know. ‘What? You’ve never had this? The hell kind of Ramen Rater are you?’ Fine. That’s a logical thing. Well, let’s see – that was over 4000 reviews before. This isn’t a re-review, this is a completely new review. Suppliers and sourcing changes throughout the years, and tastes change. here is the original review. #104! This is review @4300. God, that’s insane. Only 700 reviews until I hit 5000. What am I going to review for 5000? It better be absolutely fascinating. Well, let’s do this up.
It’s been a long time since I reviewed a Buldak variety, that’s for sure! I have tried the curry before, but it’s been a very, very long time. The packaging is new, and I’m guessing the recipe is slightly different as well. Below you can see everything about this including my review, a video of cooking it, and then of course, a mukbang. This is the version for export to the United States. Let’s give it a go – hope I can handle it!
The last one of these I tried was really quite good. It had a ton of noodles, and an excellent chicken flavor which was perfect for Western palates. I’m curious how the spicy element will go with this one. Shall we find out? I should add that if you look in the ingredients, it mentions habanero!
Here’s another one of the Ramen Bowl varieties from Maruchan here in the United States. This is one of those varieties I figured I’ll leave as they’re so easy to find and save for a rainy day. Well, it’s raining – I’ve kind of hit a low amounts of instant noodles slump – happens from time to time. So, let’s get our chicken on.
A number of years ago, I thought I’d see what would happen if I cooked up some noodles and ran a camera as I did it. It’s kind of funny – a lot of the large projects in my life have started with ‘let’s see what happens.’ I had thought for years the idea of shooting video while I cooked noodles for reviews was a purely idiotic idea; I would have to edit every video, which would take so much more time than the way I did things. Well, I found a way around that.
This was one of three my lovely wife Kit found at Whole Foods a while back. These are really large noodle bowls – as you’ll see below, they have two noodle block in there. I just baked some chicken for the review so it should look somewhat nice. Let’s give it a go!
First, off a huge thanks to Kyle over at Mom’s Dry Noodle for help in translating this. According to him, this is a special dish – here’s what Wikipedia had to say about it –
It’s time for something different in this series – something a little spicy – but wait. I think the next two will be spicy as well, so be prepared! Let’s get the guinea pigs on their treadmills and fire up the ‘ol microwave and give this puppy a try! NOTE: we don’t actually make the guinea pigs run on treadmills to power the microwave. Yet.
Say what? What. This is what. What is it? Well, it’s noodles but it changes color; kind of. There’s food coloring in the noodle block, and so once you introduce boiling water or microwave and stir, it changes to either pink or blue – at least so far. There might be green as well – I really don’t know. Purple? Mauve? Chartreuse? Taupe? Taupe is not magical. Remember that. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of anything like this and that’s saying something. Very cool and unique! Let’s check it out!
Here we are at the end of the line of three varieties from Thailand – chicken flavor. What’s Khao Soi though? I looked it up on Wikipedia –
Here’s an interesting one from Japan found in a Zenpop box – check out zenpop.jp and use the coupon code RAMENRATER for a discount!
Fiery Korean chicken? Well, I think we all know where this is headed. I must say thgough, I’m intrigued. These are the same folks that brought us the almighty! The Pumpkin Spice Cup Noodles! I must admit, I figure this is going to be interesting. Bring on the spice!
Thank you to James of Lakeside, California for sending this. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I heard about this stuff and have really wanted to review it for a couple months after Stumpy of N Little Rock, AR told me about it. He wasn’t a fan and by the looks of things, I probably won’t find this to be the second coming either. But the thing is for me, my favorite instant noodle is the one I haven’t tried yet – and this is not only one I’ve not tried, but a brand I’m completely unfamiliar with. This is made in China. Let’s check it out!
You might not know, but there have been huge lapses in my reviews lately. I usually don’t review every day, however I do a few reviews on days when I do. Well, it’s Saturday night and I’m setting up reviews right now to do tomorrow. I’ll have done three reviews a day since last Monday. It feels good – especially since I’ve been able to get out and do my walking and everrything. Anyways, this sounds like an interesting variety, so here we go.
These I’ve been going through slowly – I think this one came by way of James from Lakeside CA, but it may have come from Nissin Foods USA – either way, thank you! Last time I messed with a Stir Fry cup I took 4 of the Korean BBQ flavor ones, pulverized them into powder, cooked them in the microwave, and added them to a pie crust to make a savory Christmas pie. Yeah I know – that’s weird. Well, let’s try this one without trying to make a dessert out of it, as fun as that might be…
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
This one came by way of the fine folks at Asha Dry Noodle USA – interesting! When they mentioned it to me, I knew who would be fascinated by this – my daughter. Mimi is into Hello Kitty. Anyways, she’s in the episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time – so check it out! Let’s give this stuff a try!
It was a year ago that my good friend passed. I thought it would be fitting to repost this variety he sent from across the pond. He was a fascinating person who traveled the world and really made an impression on me. He is truly missed.
Here’s the second of two products from Soupply containing retort pouches. This is really quite awesome – something I’ve wanted to see for a long time. Retort pouches are like flexible cans that can contain meats, vegetables, broths and more. This gives a serious boost to noodle soups that are shelf stable. Let’s check it out!
This is something new – an upgraded version of Maruchan’s popular Instant Lunch. I’ve tried the non Hot & Spicy in the past and been meaning to try this one. Let’s give it a go!
Here’s another one sent by James from Lakeside, CA – thanks again! This one’s made in Vietnam, but for the US market. Chicken instant cup noodles. Sounds pretty basic to me and should be alright – let’s find out!
Definitely not ramen, but something interesting from a domestic company known for ramen. Found this at Uwajimaya in Bellevue, Washington when I was picking up some narutomaki. Let’s check it out!
