Category: Other

#2034: Fantastic Noodles Oriental Flavour

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Here’s another one sent by Jen from Australia – thanks again! So this one’s an Australian brand. I’ve seen these around for a long time but never before have been able to get any to try. Today, it’ll be Oriental flavor. Okay, so what is Oriental flavor? Of course I should know; I’ve tried over 2,000 varieties! I’m The Ramen Rater! Well, hate to break it to you folks, but I haven’t the slightest idea what Oriental flavor is. My best guess would be a flavor that’s good, but not really definable. Another guess is a vegetarian accessible variety that shouldn’t make meat eaters say ‘eww – that’s for the plant eaters.’ What odd about this flavor is that the term Oriental evokes racist tones that offend some people from Asia. So, either the companies don’t know this or don’t care. Anyways I’m not a fan of offending people – if I ever start a noodle company this flavor won’t be on the menu. Alright enough with the pleasantries – let’s crack this cup open and see what we’ve got here. ...see full post

Re-Review: MAMA Oriental Style Instant Noodles Hot & Spicy Flavor

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Just to begin with – Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Someone was commenting about the different between this one and a more recent review of a MAMA hot and spicy variety from Bangladesh. Then they said they ordered some on Amazon and got a different version from either of those – the Oriental Kitchen pack version! Wow – lots of different kinds. This one is more along the lines of ramyun in it’s noodles being much thicker (the kamaboko and peppers are also kind of a dead giveaway). Let’s check it out – last time I had it was for review #159! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2024: Urban Noodle Authentic Street Food Pad Thai

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Okay so here we go. Pad Thai. In an instant and quick prep scenario, pad thai has gone through the ringer. I’ve had pad thai that comes this way be pretty decent, however many I’ve had taste like peanut butter and black vinegar with some chopped nuts on top. It’s not a real tricky one to translate to a processed food, but it seems a lot of the time that companies will draw on certain flavorings and try to mimic the flavor but end up with something completely different. Let’s hit up this one and see how it goes! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2023: Urban Noodle Authentic Street Food Black Bean

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I’m a little curious on this one. See, Jjajang is really popular in China and South Korea; basically noodles with a black bean sauce. I’m curious as to if this is leaning in that direction, or whether it’s something on the Caribbean side; maybe a little citrus going on? Well, one way to find out – let’s crack it open and cook it up! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2022: Urban Noodle Authentic Street Food Thai Red Curry

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This sounds like a good one! Red curry i sone I thoroughly enjoy; although I can’t think of a curry I’ve met that I’ve not enjoyed. When I think of curry and the UK, my thoughts immediately wander towards Red Dwarf episodes with Rimmer complaining about Lister reeking of last night’s vindaloo and stale lager. It also wanders to something I saw a couple years ago – in Britain, you can get takeaway boxes full of fried odd and ends – it looks like pure gut bomb amazingness. But I digress – red curry sounds good – let’s dig in! ...see full post

#2015: E-Zee Perisa Kari Mi Segera Improved Taste!

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A while back, I did a Meet The Manufacturer with CarJEN Foods. I tried their E-Zee Curry and thought it was quite good. It got 4 stars and CarJEN asked about putting my logo on their packaging. We made a deal and there it is! Now, they’ve changed the recipe. It seems this is a trend in the Malaysian market right now – kind of fun since it’s like a re-review but a second shot for these companies for a better score with a new recipe. Let’s check this one out! ...see full post

#2014: Oni Hot Pot Ghost Pepper Noodle

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Okay so it’s been a while since I’ve gotten anything that’s supposed to be really spicy. Well, This one claims to have ghost pepper in it – that’s the Bhut Jolokia, a pepper that’ll rip your head off and then kick it down the road. This one hails from Oni Hot Pot, a chain of restaurants in Taiwan. Never heard of them before – although I have had Taiwanese hot pot here in the US before. Let’s crack this one open and see what’s inside. ...see full post

#2008: Sichuan Baijia Hot Spicy Flavor Instant Vermicelli

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I’m pretty sure this is the first Baijia bowl I’ve reviewed. For the longest time, I was extremely leery of these; I have a couple Baijia products I really disliked. However, after some time, I found that my tastes have really changed (especially after tring different things overseas and reviewing hundreds of instant noodles) and now I’m keen on giving them a new look. Well, let’s check this one out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2004: Nissin Donbei Dashi Shoyu Yakiudon

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Well, here we are with the last of this Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been a lot of fun and I hope it;s been a neat one for everyone to see! I want to personally thank Mr. Okabayashi for all of his help throughout this process! Many were hard for me to figure out the names on and he was very quick to help. Not only that, he made sure there was a great variety to choose from for Meet The Manufacturer. So again, thank you very much! Today’s review will be this large bowl – the same shape as the Nissin UFO bowls. This is part of their Donbei line. You might wonder – so what’s yakiudon? Well, simply put yaki means fried. So, these are thicker noodles than what you would find in yakisoba. Let’s check this out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #1990: Nissin Cup Noodle

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I thought I should start things off with the original Nissin Cup Noodle. It’s funny; I’ve never reviewed one of these before (except the Emergency Nissin Cup Noodle from Momofuku Ando Day #4, which is a bit different). The story goes that Momofuku Ando noticed businessmen on flights would ask for cups of hot water instead of coffee. They would put pieces of Nissin chikin Ramen in these cups and eat it that way. He thought hey – why not ma.e instant ramen in a cup form. He did, and now it is a ubiquitous item throughout the world. As you’ll see during this Meet The Manufacturer, there are many, many different varieties of Cup Noodle made by Nissin – from the logical to the surprising and unique. Cup Noodle has it’s own museum as well! In Yokohama, Japan! Find out more about it here. Let’s crack open this one – the original Nissin Cup Noodle. ...see full post

#1983: Tokushima Seifun Tokushima Ramen

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Here’s another one from Wesley of Japan – thank you again! This one sounds interesting – in his note he says ‘stylized instant ramen of Tokushima Ramen (the real dish) which ras a sweet soy sauce base, shaved pork and raw egg.’ Sounds interesting! Looks like some narutomaki on the package as welol – think I have some in the freezer. Let’s give this one a try! ...see full post

#1977: MyOri Malaysia Penang Green Curry Vermicelli [New Package]

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Last Monday, I posted the new variety of curry from MyOri, the only one with non-fried wheat noodles (the only one with my face on the back as well). Today, I wanted to show off the new green curry vermicelli package with me on it. I tried this almost a year ago and loved it immediately. I’ve kind of had a love/hate relationship with rice noodles/vermicelli over the years. Some don’t hydrate well, some seem like mush. Let’s explore this one again – the winner of the inaugural The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Rice Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition. By the way, these are for sale in the United States; as soon as they tell me where I’ll let you know. ...see full post

#1972: Doll Spicy Flavour Instant Mifun

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Here’s one from Colin of Arlington, MA! He sent a great big box of varieties  after I called out to readers for new stuff to review! Thanks! This one surprised me; I haven’t reviewed anything by Doll brand in a very long time and I know it’s a popular brand in Hong Kong. It’s interesting that Colin has access to such a different range of products on the east coast… Anyways, from what I can surmise, mifun might also be known as maifun. These are rice vermicelli. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#1967: Tokushima Seifun Kinchan Ramen

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This is the first I’ll be reviewing from Wesley N. He sent a box in mid December that arrived mid February from Japan – we’d thought it might have been lost, but it showed up – and in immaculate condition! Thank you again!Tokushima prefecture is on Shikoku island in Japan, and these varieties from Tokushima Seifun aren’t widely known and very localized. Seifun literally means ‘manufactured powder,’ referring to the flour mill. Wesley let me know that this is Tokushima Seifun’s very first product. Let’s have a look at this exotic regional instant noodle from Japan! ...see full post

#1966: Wei Lih GGE Noodle Snack Wheat Crackers Soy Sauce Ramen

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Here’s another one I got down in Pleasanton, California a month or so ago. GGE is an abbreviation for Good Good Eat, as in ‘everybody loves good good eat.’ Kind of strange but we are talking about Taiwanese snack noodles here (see Leisure Meatballs). Anyways, let’s rip this bag open and check this snack out. ...see full post

#1964: MAMA Instant Noodles Coconut Milk Flavour

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When I tried the cup version of this, I liked it so much it got on the Top Ten Cups List for 2015. I’ve been waiting for the right time to try this one; since there’s probably only one in all of the United States I’m guessing, I really wanted to make it the right day. Well, since it is soon to expire, it’s the right day. Let’s have a look and see if it’s as good as the cup. ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Kabuto Noodles Miso Ramen

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I’ve got to say – it’s been quite a while since I’ve had this one – #1167! Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve reviewed anything from the UK as well. Well, let’s kick this Meet The Manufacturer off with one of their first varieties, miso! Here’s something to note – over in the UK, these aren’t commonly referred to as ‘cup noodles’ – they refer to these containers as ‘pots.’ ...see full post

#1956: Maruchan Spicy Tomato Salsa Ramen

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Here’s another one sent by Casey P. from Hong Kong – thanks! I want to especially thanks Casey P., Jef M. and the folks on dpreview.com for all your help with figuring out all the settings and ways to use my new camera. It’s been an uphill battle for me, but I think I’m almost at the summit. This one looks particularly interesting – it mentions salsa on the label but the sticker mentions tomato. Not only that, the colors denote either Italy or Mexico. I’m going to guess Mexico, especially with salsa mentioned. but I guess we’ll see! ...see full post

#1955: Nissin Raoh Ramen Noodle Soup Umami Soy Sauce Flavor

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Here’s the last of the three different Nissin Raoh varieties Nissin Foods USa sent me – thanks again! These have been availble overseas for a very long time, however they are now being imported and distributed in new packaging and with slightly different ingredients for easy import into the United States. This would be known as shoyu over in Japan (shoyu translates into soy sauce). Shoyu is a very popular variety of ramen – here’s a little on it from wikipedia: ...see full post

#1944: Wei Lih GGE Noodle Snack Wheat Crackers Hot Spicy

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Here’s one I got at the 99 Ranch down in Pleasanton, California a couple of weeks ago. So the GGE stands for Good Good Eat, as in ‘everybody loves good good eat.’ Yeah, I know – kind of weird. But hey – this is a Taiwanese snack noodle and they can be pretty interesting (see Leisure Meatballs). Anyways, let’s crack this bag open and look inside. ...see full post