
So it happened. A date night. These are pretty rare for us and a lot of fun! So we decided to give another ramen joint a try. Tonight, it’s Jinya Ramen Bar in Bellevue, Washington.
Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002

So it happened. A date night. These are pretty rare for us and a lot of fun! So we decided to give another ramen joint a try. Tonight, it’s Jinya Ramen Bar in Bellevue, Washington.

This one was sent by a person named Shoffee in Malaysia – my thanks! This is truly something I’d never be able to review without a reader sending it in. From what I’m getting on the package, it looks to be much like the popular fire noodles. At the very least, it’s definitely influenced by them. Let’s give them a try!

Here’s one that was sent by James B. – thank you very much! What have we here? Well, it’s Thai flavor noodle cup action from the Netherlands! Thom Khakai is coconut chicken flavor. Let’s have a look!

Well, it finally happened. Samyang Foods originally released their 2x Spicy Buldak Bokkeummyun in South Korea a while back – for a limited time. In fact, it was supposed to be for a limited time everywhere. Well, it was in South Korea. But as of December 3rd, 2018 they brought it back. The original 2x was 8,706 SHU. This one is 10,000 SHU. This would then be 2.25x Spicy as the original version was 4,404 SHU. But one could round it up to 2.3, and if we’re rounding up I suppose one could round 2.3 up to 2.5. Regardless of how you look at it, it is indeed spicier. Let’s take a look!

After searching during four – count them FOUR – trips to Canada looking or them, I finally found them with the help of a reader/viewer from YouTube – THANK YOU! So you may know these as dumplings, gyoza, or potstickers – thy’re all the same thing. Just call them dumplings, please.

The second review in this series was the bowl version of this one. Steeping vs non-steeped. Let’s take a look!

Well, here we are again. I goit one of these bowls a long time ago and guess what happened? I opened the retort pouch and spilled it all over my leg and on the floor! Was crushed; hard to find this one and I had only one of them. Egad! Luckily, TTL sent all of these for Meet The Manufacturer (thank you again!) and now I can give it another go. I should note I didn’t spill anything this time – let’s give it a go!

I thought I ought to start at the beginning. I’m pretty sure this and the rice wine spring chicken varieties are the first that TTL shared with the world and it just made sense to go with those to begin Meet The Manufacturer. Here’s a little about Shaoxing wine, featured in this variety from Wikipedia –

When I think of rice wine, my mind immediately goes to sake from Japan. I was surprised to find that there are many different kinds of rice wine – here’s a pretty extensive list from Wikipedia –

I know a lot of people are really into Trader Joe’s. What I’ve seen is that they find brands and products they think would be good with their packaging and then get the company that makes it to do a private label for them and sells it under their name. I think that’s what it looks like here. In fact, maybe these should be known not as Trader Joe’s but Trader Mike’s – as everything looks about the same as this one. Yup – I’m pretty sure these are made by Mike’s Mighty Good. Anyways, let’s have a look and give it a try!

Here’s one sent by Daniel from Brazil – thanks again! A new brand I’ve never tried – Panco! So Galinha I have been told is kind of like a ‘young hen’ flavor. I’ve also been told it’s a little oilier. Anyways, spicy chicken is what I’m guessing here – let’s see what it’s all about!

This one was sent by Robert Z. over at www.dadbert.com – he’s a good friend of mine who has just entered the blogging world with his really technical and awesome cooking recipes – be sure to check out his site! Anyways, he found this one in Kentucky, and I suspect this is a test market for these. They’re not mentioned anywhere to speak of, and so I wanted to give these a try as soon as possible. This new line looks to have a LOT of meat in there! Let’s crack it open and take a look.

Here’s another of the Russian varieties that were found in Uzbekistan and sent by the kind folks at halalfoodblog.com – thank you! They’re in Singapore – so to sum up: Some nmice Singaporean folks visited Uzbekistan and found Russian instant noodles then mailed them to me here in the United States. Truly a well-traveled pack of noodles! Let’s take a look!

Here’s another one kindly sent by Artur of Illinois – thanks again! This is another Ukrainian variety – and again as I’ve said before, European varieties are VERY hard for me to come by. Let’s get to it!

Here’s the last of the three new Big Bowl varieties Samyang Foods sent me. As you can see, they are big bowls. Also, you might be thinking ‘hey – this doesn’t look like a very South Korean variety!’ Well, this is what is called an export variety. Let’s take a look!

Okay – guess where I got these? Yeah – Canada. At the Real Canadian Superstore. These are made in Bangladesh. So, are they a Bangladesh product, or something geared this way for Canada. This is always a tricky thing for me to figure out and ultimately, I have to just pick. The pack mentions that it’s a product of Bangladesh and has many languages, however the Nutrition Facts are designed for Canada – in English and French. So I’m going to go with this is an export product and labeled just for Canada, but it’s not made in Canada. One thing also to note is the absence of Canadian mentions – made by so-and-so for insert Canadian company here. Usually, this would make it Bangladesh, but then there’s the bar code – it’s a 12 instead of 13 digits. Leaning Canadian again. But then if you look at the commercial at the bottom, this package is in English instead of the local language. I’m slapping a Bangladesh label on it. Let’s check it out.

Found this one at the Real Canadian Superstore in Richmond, BC. Was impressed – ended up with a ton of varieties from there. Kind of like a super Walmart but real and Canadian! Well, these are called No Name so that’s kind of funny. Let’s check ’em out!

I took a look in the closet the other day and boom – hey look a six pack of these cups! Forgot about these ! You have to understand – I have a lot of noodles to review – hard to find space for them! But here they are ready to go! Thanks to Paldo for sending them along! Let’s check out these super spicy noodles from South Korea!

This pack comes by way of Artur P. and his kids Vincent and Xavier of Illinois – thank you again! This is the first Ukrainian instant noodle I’ve ever reviewed! I know there are a lot of different varieties from Ukraine but just like other European varieties, they’re very hard to come by for me. Let’s open this spicy chicken pack up and have a look inside this РОЛЛТОН (Rollton) variety!

Alright here’s one of the ones sent by the University student working on her Master’s thesis paper. It’s getting closer to her deadline at the time of writing this, so I am busting out the last three. So – three cup chicken – here’s some info from Wikipedia –

On August 25th, 1958, Momofuku Ando’s mission of creating the instant noodle was complete. Today we mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of its invention.

Here’s another one that was sent by a University student working on her master’s thesis. She asked me to review a set of six instant noodle varieties by Vedan. Sure! I’ve tried this before in an export version and really didn’t like it. Let’s give this local variety a try.

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 and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one –

This is one I found at RT-Mart in Taipei, Taiwan. That place was so amazing – I mean, that was the biggest instant noodle aisle I’ve seen in my life – it was epic and beautiful. If I could, I’d go there right now a do a strange dance. Anyways, let’s crack this one open and have a look inside!

Yesterday, I needed a new pair of pants. I’m not into ultra fashionable stuff – like paying $100 for jeans, so we went to Walmart. Walmart is an interesting place – you’ll see some interesting people there – especially at the one in Lynnwood, Washington. When we got out of the car, there was the sound of some guy at the other side of the parking lot screaming obscenities at someone or some thing – unsure. But that was entertaining. In the store, we g ot to see a lady with a very small dog barking at everyone and every thing ( apparently, if you have an ’emotional support’ dog you can bring it with you, but this dog needed emotional support and was definitely not providing it for anyone). I did get some new pants, and they were extremely cheap. $16 for pants. It’s been a while since we’ve been to Walmart so I thought a trip down the domestic instant noodle aisle might be in order. Surprisingly, they had a very small amount of them, however they did have this pack. Creamy Chicken has been one of my absolute favorites for a very, very long time. I am curious to see whether or not they’ve changed the recipe as that seems to be a popular thing to do in the US instant noodle market right now. Let’s crack open this new package design and give it a try!

Found this one up at Osaka market at Yaohan Centre in Richmond, B C. I’ve always been a fan of Chikin ramen – it quite literally was the second instant noodle I tried as a kid. I’ve never had it like this, though! So this is an instant rice, but it has chikin ramen flavor. Let’s take a look at this crossover.

Okay so this one was found up in Canada at China World. It was apart from the instant noodles and looked really odd where it was sitting to be honest. So let’s crack it open and give it a try.

Hey look at this! This came by way of Hobby Link Japan, a great site that has all sorts of amazing Japanese things including instant noodles! Thank you very much! Here’s what they had to say about this unique variety on their website –

Here’s one of the two new flavors of Nissin Foods’ domestic Cup Noodles range from the United States. I’m very curious about this one and the other (Teriyaki Chicken). Let’s crack it open and have a look around!

I remember when I was at the Taiwan International Food Expo 2017 and seeing the Wu-Mu booth. Two gentlemen were sitting and talking and I came over and introduced myself. They gave me a sample of this product and I haven’t had the chance to review it yet – which works perfect as it’s now being reviewed in a Meet The Manufacturer series./ Here’s what they have to say about this variety:

Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one -‘Dashi is essential for most Japanese dishes including udon. This healthy udon is low in sodium and moreover, it contains GABA which helps lower the blood pressure, reduce the stress, and make you relaxed. Of course, it’s super tasty too.’ Alright – let’s crack it open!

Today we finish this MNeet The Manufacturer with the newest variety to be born of this range, the white chicken broth tonkotsu. It’s been quite a week of reviewing here! I did two on Monday, four on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday, four on Thursday and one on Friday. I’ve found that running through a series with a lot of varieties goes better when I do them in a shorter period of time as I don’t get any kind of burn out on doing the same brand, although I don’t think I could have this time. This was a very nice stroll through memory lane as I’ve reviewed all of these before. So today, we bid a fond farewell to Sanyo Foods and their wonderful Sapporo Ichiban range! Let’s give this one a try!

Here’s the one that everybody’s got – chicken. Very few instant noodle companies don’t have a chicken noodle soup on the market. I can think of a few, but they’re kind of far and few between. Chicken is kind of a universally accessible flavor and meat (well, except for Vegans). I think this probably will be a pretty good one. I gave it 4.0 out of 5.0 in May of 2015 when I re-reviewed it back then. I kind of remember people asking me to give them another look and so I did. Anyways, Let’s get to it!

Alright, so I reviewed this one back in October of 2011. This was review #529- well over 2000 reviews ago. Just saying 2000 reviews ago seems crazy. Anyways to be blunt, I really didn’t like this one back then., My wife said it smelled like cooked asparagus. I’m curious whether it’s not going to be something I enjoy; about 7 years later. Hope I do! Let’s take a look.

Time for some chicken! Actually, there are quite a few chicken varieties in this range and they’re about to start showing up in this review series. Today,m we’re going to start off with their chicken instant ramen cup. Sounds like a plan – just so you know, the last time I tried this was way back at review #405! Let’s get to it and give it a try!

Here’s one my wife spied at FoodyWorld supermarket up in Richmond BC! Wow – what a find, eh? This one’s from China and it has some kind of corrupted chicken who’s into metal wearing a leather jacket with spikes (punk rock chicken?) – I quite honestly must say that this is most likely one of the most interesting instant noodle product packaging ideas ever. Little sayings here and there connote a seedy underbelly – ‘devil’s hotness,’ ‘screaming soul,’ and finally ’30SecondsOpen the hot fantasy life.’ I dunno – does it really get any weirder than this? Maybe? I really hope so – I like weird! Well, let’s check this one out – looks hot…

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 – ‘The soup has a condensed umami of chicken, which matches perfectly with the onion-garlic flavored noodles. Additionally, delicious wontons are included to make your empty stomach happy. Like in many other ramen bowls, sesame works as a hidden hero which brings a balance to the dish.’

Here’s one I found up in Canada that I was going to show during the Momofuku Ando Day #7 video, but it was already running way too long and so I skipped it. This looks to be a regular chikin ramen with soy sauce flavor – let’s look inside and see what we have here.

Last time it was fried garlic chicken and this time it’s just chicken. Let’s give it a try!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Usually, the first instant product a noodle company will put out will be chicken flavor. In fact, the first instant noodle product that was ever produced was chicken flavor. Chicken is just about universally palatable, and most don’t have a religious rule against it. A chicken instant noodle is the beginning and so that’s where we will start today. Fried garlic chicken sounds really good, and on the package, it promises an ‘insanely rich broth.’ Alright – the proof is in the noodle – let’s give it a try!