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On the menu today is something I’ve been very curious to try – yaki-udon! As you might surmise, the yaki prefix means fried. Yakisoba are fried soba noodles, and so yaki-udon are fried udon noodles; simple! Anyways, it sounds really interesting – let’s have a look at this one.
Udon is a very popular noodle in Japan and around the world. It’s characterized by being really thick. My wife’s a big fan of udon – they’re her favorite noodles! But what is katsuo dashi? Well, katsuo is the Japanese name for Skipjack tuna, a variety which is popular all over Asia. Dashi on the other hand is a little less simple. Here’s what Wikipedia had to say
Thought a neat one to start with would be this. It’s kind of like a twist on yakisoba and spaghetti and sounded really neat. Let’s have a look!
A week or so ago, Yuji contacted me with a tracking number – samples were on the way! I saw the mailman drive by and ran outside and got this package.
Interview With Takamori Kosan * Product Samples From Takamori Kosan * Takamori Tomato Spaghetti Napolitan * Takamori Katsuo Dashi Udon * Takamori Yaki-Udon Mild Spicy Sauce * Takamori Yakisoba * Takamori Shio Yakisoba * Takamori Chanpon * Takamori Curry Udon * Takamori Hiyashi Chuka Lemon Sauce * Takamori Futomen Yakisoba * Takamori Hiyashi Udon Bonito Sauce * Takamori Yaki-Udon Roast Soy Sauce * Takamori Sukiyaki Style Noodle Stew * Takamori Red Pepper & Garlic Peperoncino
Today’s the last of the Mamee Double-Decker Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been really neat trying all these varieties – not a single re-review – really shows how few of their products I’d tried previusly. Today I thought I’d go with one of my favorite all time flavors in the world – curry. There are so many different takes on curry in the world – Malaysian, Singaporean, Japanese, South Korean, Indian and British to name a few. Let’s check this one out as we bid a fond farewell to this 15 day journey through some of Mamee’s products.
This Meet The Manufacturer has been a lot of fun. Over the last year, I’ve been finding myself enjoying curries and tom yum varieties a lot more, and Mamee makes some great ones. Thisd is the last of the Mamee Chef varieties I have to review – the pack version of the Creamy Tom Yam. I reviewed the cup version a week or so ago. Let’s see how this one fares.
Mamee Monster is a snack noodle. Snack noodles are instant noodles that aren’t cooked, but rather crushed into snack bits and enjoyed as a crunchy snack. I’d always wanted to review them and I got my first chance to try them a few days back when I reviewed the chicken flavor variety. First I’ll show your this, the ten pack and then the individual pack. Let’s check this one out!
The other day, I reviewed the pack version of this one and found it to be absolutely excellent. Today, I’m going to try the cup. I’m glad I had two different versions as I found something on Mamee’s page that I was really excited about.
I’ve tried a couple of laksa varieties now and thought I should have a look at this one. There are a few different types of laksa, this one being asam laksa – but what’s asam laksa all about? I consulted Wikipedia and here’s what it had to say:
This is the second of the two Mie Goreng Indonesia cup varieties Mamee Double-Decker sent me for Meet The Manufacturer. The first one was really good! This one sounds good too. Sambal is spicy stuff! I like spicy. Today before I do the review, I’m going to trek up to our local Indonesian grocery Waroeng Jajanan. They clued me in about a couple of great additions to mie goreng – Kerapuk Aci and BonCabe! Kerapuk Aci is a big round Indonesian cracker made with tapioca and other ingredients. It’s crunchy and goes really well with mie goreng when I’ve made it in the past. BonCabe is a spicy chilli seasoning – bits of chilli powder, flake, some salt and crunchy bits as well as other spices are in it and it’s great stuff! Off I go to the Indonesian grocery to find some additions…
Here’s another one of the Mamee Chef line – spicy chicken shiitake. These are their premium line of products, designed in concert with celebrity Dato’ Chef Ismail. Let’s have a look!
Looks like today is going to be one of the nicest weather-wise yet this year. Here in the northwest, it’s been raining. A lot. We had the wettest March on record last month, which has hindered my exercise. I usually take a mile or two walk everyday, but that’s fallen by the wayside as of late. Definitely have been feeling the effects of not walking… So off I go!
In the last year, I’ve got to say I’ve had the fortune to learn about and try a lot of new additions to instant noodles. Most of them have been seafood related – which I’m really lucky to have access to. I’ve gotten many emails asking where to find kamaboko or fish cake etc – I always thought all of those things were easily accessed by all, but as it turns out, I’m lucky to live in an area with lots of Asian grocery stores that specialize in such things. The latest I’ve been really enjoying are fish balls, particularly ones from Singapore that I get at a store that’s a short walk away. I usually only buy a couple, and the seafood counter guys usually look at me a little funny; “5 pounds?” they’ll ask. “No – just five fish balls.” My son and I walked over a couple of weeks ago and he wanted to buy me a whole pound of fish balls which I thought was very nice of him – and so I let him ask them himself. Then, my eight year old boy kind of puffed out his chest and exclaimed “excuse me – I would like one pound of those fish balls please!” Definitely a proud moment for me – sounded so authoritative! When we got home, I boiled some up and let him try – I received a resounding “yuck!” and a look of disgust. At least he tried them – he’s more a fan of macaroni and cheese and pizza, but I try to get him to try new things as much as possible. But I digress. Today’s noodle review will include the last of the fish balls from that trip to the store. I’m going to also follow the microwave instructions for this one, something I don’t usually do. Let’s see how it goes!
Today we have a bright green package – vegetarian flavor. It seems most product lines have at least one variety that’s vegetarian. The approximations of what a general ‘vegetable’ tastes like however has differed from brand to brand, from the vile to the exalted tasty treat. This one’s made with the ‘Mi Tarik’ technology at Mamee’s factory. This is where they emulate the technique of hand-pulling noodles with their equipment. Hand pulling noodles is interesting; the chef starts with a long thick roll, doubles it up, flours it, then swings it around a bit. This is repeated, doubling the amount of strands every time until there are a couple hundred noodles. I’ll put a video at the end showing someone doing this. Anyways, let’s give these vegetarian noodles a try!
Mamee makes two extra spicy curry varieties – this one and one called Xtra Pedas which I reviewed a short while back. Of the two, this Berapi is not as spicy, but looks like it’s pack a punch! Curry sounds good – let’s dig in!
Mamee Monster is Mamee’s line of snack noodles. I’ve been really wanting to try these for a long time. Snack noodles are noodles that are seasoned and crushed and eaten without any cooking; kind of like potato chips or corn chips. I’ve seen these online quite a few times and always though hey – look it’s a blue monster and it’s instant noodles – rad!! So let’s have a look at this popular Malaysian snack.
The 2013 top ten list I did was highlighted by two flavors at the very top: laksa and curry. Here we find both together! This is one of Mamee’s new Mamee Chef line of premium instant noodles. They use a technology that emulates ‘la mian,’ or hand-pulled noodles. I went to the store yesterday to see if I could find some nice acompaniments for this special pack – let’s check out how laksa and curry play together!
Mie goreng is one of my favorites – – noodles with a sweet, salty and spicy flavor. To be honest, it was mie goreng that really got me fanatical about instant noodles many years ago. Let’s have a look at this Malaysian take on an Indonesian standard.
I felt like something seafood today and thought this would fit the bill. One thing I’ve always wondered about – so what’s the difference between Tom Yam and Toom Yum, if any? Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about it:
Interview With Mamee Double-Decker * Product Samples From Mamee Double-Decker * Mamee Instant Vermicelli Tom Yam Flavour * Mamee Mie Goreng Indonesia Original Flavour * Mamee Chef Curry Laksa Flavour * Mamee Monster Chicken Flavour Snack Noodles * Mamee Mi Segera SLLRRRP! Perencah Kari Berapi * Mamee Instant Noodles Vegetarian Flavour * Mamee Chef Creamy Tom Yam Flavour * Mamee Instant Vermicelli Chicken Flavour * Mamee Chef Spicy Chicken Shiitake Flavour * Mamee Mie Goreng Indonesia Spicy Sambal Flavour * Mamee Mi Segera SLLRRRP! Perencah Asam Laksa * Mamee Chef Curry Laksa Flavour * Mamee Monster BBQ Flavour Snack Noodle * Mamee Chef Creamy Tom Yam Flavour * Mamee Mi Segera Perisa Kari
Pinky sent me a tracking number and I waited. Packages containing food products from overseas are often scrutinized by the Department of Agriculture, and more than once I’ve found they’ve not made it through. Happily, this big, awesome box of goodness came through! Let’s see what’s within!
Today’s the last day of this awesome Meet The Manufacturer, and I wanted to save the one I found most curious for the end. I’ve NEVER seen anything like this before. These noodles are dark – almost black! They’re made from Lotus Foods’ Forbidden Rice – something I’ve enjoyed for a long time. Forbidden Rice was originally served to Chinese emperors – who resided in the Forbidden City.
Here’s the second of three varieties of this new ‘Rice Ramen.’ This one is a bit different than the last as it boasts a red miso and uses millet and brown aspects for its noodle. What’s really great about these new products is that they’re Vegan friendly and gluten free – lots of people have asked me about gluten and vegetarian instants and I’m thinking these might be a nice one for those folks to try. Let’s check this one out!
The first of these three new Lotus Foods Rice Ramen varieties I’ll be reviewing is the Jade Pearl Rice Ramen. I thought I’d look on their site to see what they had to say about the main ingredient, the Jade Pearl rice. Here’s what they had to say about it:
A box came today!
A box of product samples – wow these looks interesting…
These are all different kinds of rice that Lotus Foods sells – I’ve had the Forbidden Rice before, but didn’t know they made this many!
Pho is a great noodle soup enjoyed world wide. I’ve had varieties in packs and bowls before, but really nothing like this; it’s truly something completely different from what I’ve had in the past. It’s in a bowl, frozen, and water is added. Very different in respect to design and cooking for sure. Also, never tried any frozen pho varieties either. Let’s give this a try!
As their products are frozen, they wanted to make sure I’d get it quick and non-thawed. This box is big – and I mean big!
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!
I’m sure you’re gonna say it – this looks familiar. Well, it’s part of a really neat coincidence that happened recently. I reviewed this one by Takamori Kosan of Japan the other day. Well, it was actually made by Sakura Noodle in Los angeles, California for the US market under their name! This one here is also made by Sakura Noodle but under the Shirakiku name. Are they different? Yep! If you look at the ingredients and nutrition facts on eacvh, there are some subtle differences. What’s interesting is that I contacted Takamori Kosan about doing a Meet The Manufacturer with them and they seem quite receptive, so keep an eye out for it coming soon! A day or so later, I was contacted by Sakura Noodle. I looked at their website and noticed this chow mein and asked if perhaps Takamori Kosan had contacted them, but they hadn’t – neat coincidence!
Today is a good day for spicy noodles. I just did my big walk of the day – something I’ve not been able to do for a week or so – it’s been raining alot here just north of Seattle. A lot. In fact, there was a weather alert for landslides due to so much rain… Sheesh. Walk was good and now I’ve got the pre-season baseball audio going – Giants vs Royals today. I’m a Giants fan – my wife converted me from being a Mariners fan when we got together as she used to play softball and got quite a few trophies. The first year I started following the Giants was 2010, and lo and behold, they won the world Series! Then again in 2012. I think as long as we win the even years, we’re good to go. Anyways, spicy udon sounds really good today and I think I know just what to add to it – Fresno chilli peppers! They’re playing the game today in Scottsdale, AZ, and a lot of their minor league players get a chance to get a chance to be in the roster. Many of them are from the Fresno, CA AAA team. Let’s check these noodles out!
I got some really good sized shrimp the other day at the store thinking they’d go really well with this. I like shrimp – they’re tasty! The ones I’ve been getting are frozen and have a thin layer of ice all around them so they don’t stick together. Pretty brilliant – quite enjoyable. Anyways, today it’s shrimp. Let’s shrimp it up!
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms. I’ve liked them a little more and more over time, but they’re really not something I seek out and enjoy thoroughly. On the other hand, my wife absolutely loves mushroom.s and savors them. She also really likes udon, so I thought I’d make these for her. Let’s open this bag up and see what’s inside.
I asked my wife to pick today’s variety and she picked this one. I was thinking – what is Oriental flavor? Well, the French version tells us. I tried Google’s auto translate and it thought it was Spanish for ‘nice.’ In French, bonito means bonito. So, what does bonito mean? Simple.
Here’s the first of the Sakura Noodle Inc. Meet The Manufacturer! I thought I’d start off with chicken. I haven’t been using a lot of chicken lately and it sounded like a nice little departure from the norm lately. Usually I save the chicken varieties for my son to eat when he’s here – chicken noodles are his favorite. Let’s give this one a try!
Walked to the apartment office today to pick up a package.
Wow – no wonder it was so heavy! That little box was chock full of udon and yakisoba! Can’t wait to dig in!
Interview With Sakura Noodle Inc * Product Samples From Sakura Noodle Inc * Sakura Noodle Inc Chikara Brand Udon Chicken Flavor * Sakura Noodle Inc Chikara Brand Udon Oriental Flavor * Sakura Noodle Inc Chikara Brand Udon Mushroom Flavor * Sakura Noodle Inc Chikara Brand Udon Shrimp Flavor * Sakura Noodle Inc Chikara Brand Udon Hot & Spicy Flavor *
Today, we come to the end of this Meet The Manufacturer. Fifteen reviews! Let’s have a look at this one.
