Here’s a video that came out a couple weeks ago – these guys do a run down of the list and then try to figure out which ones they like. They liked saying ‘laksa lamian’ a lot!
Category: * News / Noodle News
The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition
After trying over 1,700 instant noodle varieties, it is expected that some of them will be on this list. Why? Well, some just make me wretch. They’re the ones that get a score of one to zero stars. Not to say that there are some folks out there who like them, but that hypothetical someone would not be myself. With that, here’s the new The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition.
Friday Video: Introducing The Ramenia-21
You are looking at the future of the instant noodle. I think this is a most awesome thing I’ve seen in a while! Come on kickstarters – make it so! I don’t usually get political, although I’m a very big follower of politics. I would encourage everyone to have a look at the news today. A lot going on. Happy Friday to all!
A New Variety From CarJEN!
Got a big box delivered today! What’s inside? Let’s take a look!
Well packed!
A Donation From Sarawak!
I was contacted by a guy on facebook a few weeks back telling je I ought to try his favorite noodles from Sarawak. He offered to send some my way.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2015 Edition
Another year’s gone by and here we are again with the new bowls list. A lot of really interesting ones this go around and some old favorites. At the point of putting this list out, I’ve almost hit 1,700 reviews. Of those, these are in my opinion the best tasting and the most memorable varieties. With that, allow me to present The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls 2015 Edition.
The Ramen Rater’s Trip To Thailand: Day 6 – The Long Road Home
The Ramen Rater’s Trip To Thailand: Day 5 – River Kwai & Goodbye
The Ramen Rater’s Trip To Thailand: Day 4 – Ratchaburi Province
The Ramen Rater’s Trip To Thailand: Day 3 – Seminar & Sightseeing
Day 1 * Day 2 * Day 3 * Day 4 * Day 5 * Day 6
Another breakfast at the Chatrium Hotel. Like I said in a previous post, I love two things about Asia – fish and fruit. Tiny bananas rock and so does watermelon. I really liked their pancakes – they make them with white cake batter – they go awesome with pineapple! Then there were these weird things that were hairy looking.
The Ramen Rater’s Trip To Thailand: Day 2 – Factory Tour & More
Day 1 * Day 2 * Day 3 * Day 4 * Day 5 * Day 6
After some sleep, we headed down to breakfast. The Chatrium had a big breakfast buffet which was really nice – I would say my favorite part was all the fruit . One thing I’ve found is that when you’re in Asia, you’ve got to eat a lot of two things: seafood and fruit. Because it’s good there. Damn good. I ended up trying some dim sum and some other interesting things.
The Ramen Rater’s Trip To Thailand: Day 1 – Departure & Arrival
Day 1 * Day 2 * Day 3 * Day 4 * Day 5 * Day 6
A few months ago, I received an email from Ms. Pojjanee over the Thai President Foods. They make MAMA instant noodles and I had recently done a Meet The Manufacturer series with them. It was just after New Year’s and she asked if my wife and I would like to visit their factories in Thailand! There was one hitch though – my wife would be in her third trimester of her pregnancy at the time of the trip and we both agreed that it might be a little too much for her unfortunately. My sister was happy to take her place if it was alright, and it was. With that, here we go on our trip!
Diverse Samples From MAMA!
At one point during my trip to Thailand earlier this month, there was a big seminar for all the European distributors of MAMA noodles. They had a table with all sorts of varieties I’d never seen, made in places I’d never reviewed varieties from. I asked if there was any chance I could get some of these samples, and they were happy to oblige – only problem was that my luggage was just stuffed! So they kindly offered to ship them to me and they arrived yesterday evening! I’m going to be doing a travelogue of my trip soon, and I think I’ll be reviewing some of these during that special series! Let’s have a look.
Travels: Back From Thailand
So our trip to Thailand was absolutely amazing – met some really great people, checked out two noodle factories, tried some great food, saw wonderful sights! All this said, it’s good to be back home. I’m recovering from jet lag and will be posting a day-by-day travelogue in a week or so as a new Meet The Manufacturer will be starting very shortly. Until then, let me just say that Thailand was so different from expectations; I thought since it was so close to Penang and Langkawi (about a 2 hour flight) that it would be much the same, but boy was I wrong! It’s completely different! Can’t wait to share it with everyone!
Travels: Off To Thailand!
Tonight, I begin a long journey to Thailand to visit Thai President Foods and President Rice Products. They’re best known for their MAMA line of instant noodle products! My wife Kit will be posting reviews I’ve already done ahead of time until my return. If you want to see what I’m up to on my trip, check out my instagram – follow theramenrater – or look at it here. I will be accompanied by my sister Sue as my wife is too far along in pregnancy to do the trip. When I get back, I’ll do a detailed travelogue as I did with last year’s Malaysia trip to visit MyKuali.
A Special Donation From Indonesia
I got an email from a guy names Seth from Indonesia recently asking if he could send me some noodles that he has been having a difference of opinion on at his house. He likes them and others aren’t so sure, and he wanted my opinion. You got it! So I gave him my address and he expedited a package out – only one problem – I mistyped my address! Luckily, the person who got it hadn’t eaten the noodles and when DHL came to recover the package and redeliver had no problem doing so. So, after a crazy journey, the noodles are here!
The Ramen Rater’s Readers Top Ten Instant Noodles 2016 Poll
So here’s the question: What’s YOUR favorite instant noodle? You can answer this question and everyone’s votes will be announced when I announce The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition!
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition
The top ten instant noodles list is an annual post I do which is always quite a treat for me. I started reviewing back in 2002, but I really got going with it in June of 2010 – I’ve done nearly 1,600 reviews since then. It still boggles my mind that after trying so many, the industry continues to innovate and bring flavors forth that truly amaze me. With that, here are my absolute favorites – The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition.
Friday Video: Instant Noodles Being Digested: So What?
You’ve probably seen the video they’re talking about in this news clip before. Not only that, you’ve probably seen many, many news articles about how horrible this is. I got an email yesterday about the video asking about my opinion. So here goes.
Exotic Noods – A New Way To Try Instant Noodles
I was contacted recently buy a couple guys with a neat idea and thought I would share it with everyone. They’ve started a service called Exotic Noods (catchy title, eh?) which allows you to subscribe to receive some interesting instant noodle varieties every month. Daniel and Marcus’ plan is simple: to get everyone trying something new every month. I think this is great; I see so many people having the same easy to source varieties when they couold be sampling varieties from all over the world with so many different flavor profiles and options. What’s in the box? Let’s see!
Ah Lai Bihun Samples
Wasn’t sure what this box was that I received yesterday contained… Hmmm…
Ah! Ah Lai Penang White Curry! I reviewed this a while back – but this is the bihun version. Bihun (or beehoon) is the Malay name for rice vermicelli. Very curious about this one – will try it soon! Thanks!
Paldo’s Rabokki Comes Out West
Wasn’t expecting this one today – what’s inside?
One of my favorite Korean foods is tteotbokki (pronounced tah-bocky or tah-pocky). They’re like little tubes made from rice and thick and chewy. Usually it’s accompanied by a spicy sauce, egg, fish cake and more. Well, this is rabokki – ramyun with tteotbokki sauce! I had this a few years back and was really bummed it wasn’t available here in the United States. When I got this package in the mail I contacted my friend at Paldo and found out that indeed it will be on shelves here soon! Awesome!
My Wife’s Birthday At Chi-Mc n Hot Pot – Lynnwood, WA
Today is my wife Kit’s birthday! I thought I’d do up a post about the new restaurant I took her to.
The Ramen Rater Logo In Malaysian TV Commercial
This is really neat – so on the cups and packs of Mamee Chef’s Laksa Kari, they’ve got my logo. The cup was #1 on my annual cups list and the packs made my top ten for 2014. In the commercial, you can see the logo twice – once when he holds up the cup towards the end and on the package at the very end in the upper right corner. Pretty neat!
Product Samples From A-Sha Dry Noodle
Got a box from A-Sha yesterday – let’s see what’s inside!
Hey neat – from left to right, we have a new black sesame variety, hakka noodle with za jiang sauce and a new tomato variety. Sounds interesting!
Friday Video: A Message To Taiwanese Instant Noodle Manufacturers
After being asked ‘how can Taiwan make the annual The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time lists,’ I decided a video with an idea was in order. Here is a special message for Taiwanese instant noodle manufacturers.
Product Samples From MyOri Of Malaysia
Here’s another Malaysian company now on my radar – MyOri! MyOri means Malaysia Original. Let’s see what’s inside!
New & Improved White Curry Samples From MyKuali
FedEx came a knockin’ at my door but missed them. Then they came back a little later and brought me this!
A Message To Taiwanese Instant Noodle Manufacturers
After being asked ‘how can Taiwan make the annual The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time lists,’ I decided a video with an idea was in order. Here is a special message for Taiwanese instant noodle manufacturers.
2015 Birthday Trip To Canada
For the last three years, we’ve been hopping in the car and heading up north to Canada for my birthday. There are a lot of varieties of instant noodles that aren’t easily found down here and usually I bring back all sorts of new and interesting things. This year my son Andy and my sister Sue joined us for the trip! Let’s go!
New Hokkien Mee Samples From MyKuali
Got a big box from MyKuali on Friday! Let’s see what’s within!
Lots of noodles! Awesome!
Friday Video: Instant Noodles Taste Test
I hunted around for a good video for this week and found this one. Dennis from superadrianme.com and Wilsurn from metropolitant.com decided to do a taste test on spicy soupy instant noodles found in Singapore. Pretty interesting video – check it out and Happy firday!
Momofuku Ando’s 105th Birthday
March 5th, 2015 would have been Momofuku Ando’s 105th birthday! Google has honored the inventor of the instant noodle by putting up these alternate logos – I will explain them below.
Samples From Twenty-Twenty Of Malaysia
I saw a picture of some white curry noodle on instagram I’d never spotted before and thought to myself that I’d like to try them. I commented on the pic and it turns out the person who posted it was with the company. After a long trip across the Pacific Ocean, samples arrived today!
Friday Video: Leonard Nimoy 1931-2015
All of my life, I’ve been a fan of Star Trek and of course Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal of Mr. Spock.
New Products From MAMA!
Here’s a package of new products from Thailand! These are all rice-based products – let’s check ’em out!
Samples From Chering Chang Of Taiwan
Another big box? Wow!
Four flavors to try – Thanks!
New Samples From Deshome Of Taiwan
A big box! What’s inside?
A detailed list!
New camelia oil noodles!
Cookies!
Friday Video: Happy Lunar New Year!
This video lets you in on some info about Lunar New Year and how people celebrate it around the world – and it’s funny, too! I thought I’d include some other videos as well. CCTV-1 did a 7+ hour Chinese New Year Gala. Here’s a long video showcasing traditional Chinese New Year music. In Singapore, you can see the fireworks from Marina Bay. Here’s a recipe for South Korean Tteokguk New Year’s Soup! Taiwanese artist Chen Forng-shean celebrates the Year of the Goat by delicately carving miniatures of the animal onto pencil tips.
Friday Video: TV Show About Top Ten
Found this video by accident yesterday – turns out a TV channel called MUCH runs a show called ‘Who Alone Tonight’ in Taiwan. It’s a variety show. Well, they decided to devote this episode to instant noodles and did an in-depth survey of my top ten list for 2014. Check it out and happy Friday!