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This one was sent by CarJEN of Malaysia – thanks! I did a Meet The Manufacturer with them a while back and since then, they’ve sent me products when they come out. I’m pretty sure this has been out for a little while, but today will be my first taste. Asam translates to sour (usually like tamarind) and pedas translates to spicy, hence, sour and spicy. Let’s give it a try!
A while back, I was all but out of instant noodles and put out a call for some. One of the people who responded was Prima Taste – they sent some from Hong Kong and this is one of them – thank you! My wife is a big fan of Hello Kitty and we’ve tried the Curry flavor one in the past. Let’s have a look in this soy sauce flavor one!
This looks really interesting – some very new from Malaysia. I’ve found that I really like green curries- had a few green curry instants – however never seen a green curry bowl. Let’s see how this one fares!
Another one sent by Jen from Australia – thanks again! So a favorite destination of Australian tourists is Bali and Borneo – pretty nearby and full of tasty fare. One such common food you’ll find in these places is mi goreng, or fried noodles. Usually a cooked and drain noodle is stir fried and condiments such as sweet chilli sauce and sweet soy sauce are added as well and vegetables and meats. Let’s see how this cup variety of mi goreng tastes.
Here’s an interesting one – this is a Korean product Colin brought cak from Mexico and sent my way – thanks again! This is unique; i don’t think I’ve ever had noodles in such an Easter egg pastel colored package before. Not only that; Hovenia – where is this place? Is it a place? I looked on wikipedia and maybe this is relevant –
A-Sha’s noodle come in a few different gauges, this one being the thickest, Hakka style. They’re wide, flat and chewy. I looked in the hamper and immediately thought this sounded good today. Let’s check it out!
Another one from Javier over at Box From Japan! Thanks! So if you didn’t already know, BoxFromJapan.com is a subscription service. You can get 4 instant noodles from Japan a month. What’s amazing is that I not yet received a single on that I’d reviewed previously which is truly amazing. You can also get a monthly Japanese candy box! Pretty rad! Today, I’ll be checking out this Acecook curry udon cup. Let’s crack it open!
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.
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!
As with some other varieties, CarJEN has recently kicked up their noodle game a skosh by changing the recipe. I’m not exactly sure what’s changed here – I’ll let my tastebuds let you know! Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one sent by Colin – thanks, man! I’m a big fan of tonkotsu ramen – I would say it probably my favorite variety of the Japanese dish. Rich pork bone broth with a creamy and milky look and mouthfeel. Ahhh… Let’s check this one out!
Here’s one from the April Box From Japan. Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can have really fancy instant ramen from Japan shipped to your door every month! If you’re here for Japanese ramen, why not check ’em out? This variety we have here today is special for it’s extra nice miso paste. Let’s give it a look!
Today, we have the last of this Meet The Manufacturer. I’ve really enjoyed most of these quite a bit – I’ll say one thing – they’re not bland like some UK products I’ve had in the past! Today it’s chow mein – let’s give it a try!
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!
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!
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!
To kick things off, we have the Satay variety. Satay is hugely popular, but I have a feeling most people don’t know the whole story – here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Satay:
Here’s one sent by Colin from back east – thanks again! I’ve seen this a couple times online and though it sounded fascinating. Honey and cheese? What an interesting combination… Let’s tear open the lid and see what we have here!
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!
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.
Here’s another one of these interesting snack noodles from Myanmar! This pack is very small – 15g actually! Let’s see what’s within!
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!
Found this one at Uwajimaya the other day. We thought it sounded interesting – a fettucine alfredo made in South Korea? Hey – why not. I thought the idea of it being made with rice noodles was enthralling as well. Let’s have a look!
Here’s one the folks at A-Sha sent recently. Hakka noodles from Taiwan are on the broad side and use very few ingredients. This one should pack some heat! Let’s check it out!
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!
For those wondering, this looks to be a very premium looking bowl. Shoyu is one of the classic ramen varieties of Japan – it translates to soy sauce flavor. Let’s have a look inside and see what makes this bowl special.
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.
Here’s another one I got from A-Sha’s US distributor recently – thanks! I saw this variety on the A-Sha Taiwan website and was very curious; who is the gentleman on the packaging? Well, I asked and this is what they had to say:
Here’s one that the folks from Prima Taste in Hong Kong sent – thanks you! So Tan Tan – what is it? Wikipedia, if you please:
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!
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.
Another one send to me by Casey K. from Hong Kong – thanks again! I wonder – does that character towards the bottom of the pack looks familiar? Well, it’s the same as what you see on Nongshim’s Shin Ramyun products – spicy! Let’s check out this Japanese variety and see just how spicy it is!
The very last one from James B. of the Netherlands – thanks again, buddy! Kind of interesting to note that this review is the same number as the year I was born. I remember when I hit review #500 and #1000 – seems so long ago! Let’s check out some yakisoba from Germany!
Here’s another of the many varieties sent recently by Colin from Michigan – thanks! Cheese curry? That sounds really good – you can get cheese curry at Indian restaurants – I’m wondering what a South Korean cheese curry might be like. Let’s find out!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.’
Here’s another one sent by Casey P. from Hong Kong – thanks! I’ve always thought this one looked interesting – the guy tooting his horn, the little cat. I tried this years ago – new package, new review though. Let’s check it out.
