Woke up today to see on the news that there was a big earthquake down in North California near where a large portion of my wife’s side of the family live. Hope everyone in the Bay Area is doing well!
Category: Other
Meet The Manufacturer: #1457: Nissin Chu Qian Yi Ding Sesame Oil Flavour Instant Noodles With Soup Base
Many of you familiar with the sight of this package may say – hey waitta minute – what are you calling this? In fact, this is known by a few names! Here in the United States, it’s called Nissin Demae Ramen. In Japan, the four characters in big print translate to Demae Iccho. In Singapore however, Chinese is often spoken, and they translate to Chu Qian Yi Ding. I’m pretty sure it means something like delivery boy’ or something – the little guy on the package. Anyways, this is pretty easily gotten the world over, however this is the Singaporean made one! Let’s check it out!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1453: Nissin Japanese Ramen Kyushu Black Instant Noodles With Soup Base
Toiday, I’m reviewing another new one from Nissin Singapore – Kyushu Black. Kyushu style ramen is different in that it features broth with a cloudy nature and rich flavor. Nissin Singapore’s Kyushu Black looks from the package to feature this. The black part? Black garlic oil! Looks interesting! What to add…
Meet The Manufacturer: #1450: Nissin Japanese Ramen Tokyo Shoyu Instant Noodles With Soup Base
Here’s a new line from Nissin Singapore – their premium Japanese ramen. There are two of them – this Tokyo Shoyu and one called Kyushu Black which I will be reviewing in the few days. So what is Tokyo Shoyu? Well, let’s start with some Wikipedia info on shoyu ramen:
#1446: Myojo Ippei-Chan Jumbo Night Market Style Yakisoba
To start off, thanks to Raissa T. and Andre L. for their help on translating! Today feels like a yakisoba day. I really like yakisoba! It’s a pretty versatile dish; you can add anything to it and it’s still good! Well, strawberry jelly probably isn’t the best add-in… Then again, with that mention perhaps someone will try it and make it the new craze? The latest weird add-in craze was adding those little pudding cups or flan into a Cup Noodle. Bizarre… Well, let’s see how this comes out – looks good on the package! Especially with the amazingly cool little recommendation to…
#1444: Maruchan Instant Lunch Jalapeno Cheddar Flavor Ramen Noodles
Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking for a couple varieties by Maruchan for a while and this is one of them. I want to thank Craig Y. and all the nice folks at Maruchan for getting this one in my hands! I’m sure someone out there is going to say ‘Hard to find? It’s at every store around me!’ One thing though is that not every product is marketed or distributed to every area. One example of this kind of thing is a soda called Cheerwine. It’s quite popular and easily found in the southern United States, but it’s relatively unknown on the west coast. Anyways, Jalapeno Cheddar noodles sounds pretty neat! Let’s have a look at this one.
#1443: Nongshim Harmony Korean Spicy Noodle Dish With Chipotle
Here’s a new one from Nongshim, and it’s definitely unique. It’s a stir noodle, which means that there’s no broth, but a sauce that it stirred in to coat the noodles. Another unique thing is that it can be served hot OR cold! I was thinking of using a special divided bowl I have, but one side is bigger than the other and so I came up with an idea: since they sent a few packs, I’ll make one hot, sample it and then make one cold and sample it – easy enough. Something else I found interesting was on the right and left sides of the package. It says “NONGSHIM BLACK CLASS NOODLE DISH.” The final interesting this about this one is the inclusion of chipotle. Chipotle? Now that’s different – don’t think I’ve come across that being used in an instant before. Well, let’s open this one up and see what’s inside!
#1439: Adabi Mi Segera Mi Goreng Pedas Instant Noodles
Here’s the last of the Adabi varieties I received from Annie T. of MyKuali in Malaysia – thank you! It’s a wet and rainy day outside this morning. It started raining just before 7am and has been ever since! In northwest Washington state, we sometimes get a big dump of rain in the summertime – even got some thunder! You can see how easily amused I am! Anyways, spicy mi goreng sounds like a nice accompaniment for the day’s weather. Let’s have a look at this one.
#1438: Maruchan Old Style Miso Ramen
Most of us in the United States are familiar with Maruchan’s ramen packs and ‘Instant Lunch’ cups. However, most of us aren’t familiar with Maruchan’s popular products overseas in Japan. Miso is a fermented soybean paste – it’s good stuff, with a kind of musty scent. Notice on the front of this one: it’s also saying that it’s lower calorie. Let’s have a look inside.
Meet The Manufacturer: #1434: Maggi Hot Cup Perisa Kari
Here’s one I’ve been most eager to try. The Ramen Rater is also on Instagram, and I peruse for instant noodle related things. I’ve seen these cups quite a few times and people seem to enjoy them! They come in other varieties such as chicken and tom yam aside from this curry one. This Hot Cup was sent by Maggi Singapore, but made in Malaysia by Maggi Malaysia. Let’s have a look at this one and see what’s inside!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1433: Maggi 2 Minute Noodles Curry Flavour
More curry! Man, I really like curry – a lot. This is one people refer to as ‘Maggi Mee’ an awful lot. ‘Mee’ or ‘Mi’ means noodles in many Southeast Asian countries. Sounds good to me – let’s check it out!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1432: Maggi Senses Laksa Instant Noodles
Well this looks like a fancy one. This is a new premium laksa from Maggi that’s supposed to be really special. Their goal was to make a laksa with a great ‘just like from home’ kind of feel and flavor. Sounds interesting!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1431: Maggi Extra Spicy Curry Instant Noodles
Two of my favorite things are well represented on the front of this pack: spiciness and curry. I’ve been really curious about trying Maggi Extra Spicy Curry ever since I received some samples – how spicy is it? On a signed poster they sent, the marketing team at Maggi sent the dare ‘can you handle the hotness?’ I’m definitely keen on finding out today!
#1428: Myojo Chukazanmai Beijing Style Salt Ramen
This is the first bowl of instant noodles I’m having since our California vacation last week and I must say it’s good to be back to reviewing! This is one I picked up while in Canada a while back. Let’s take a look!
#1426: Ottogi Cheese Bokki
I thought I’d make one for my wife today. Kit loves cheese. I mean she really loves cheese! I don’t know anyone who gets happier when cheese is mentioned! I thought this would be a perfect one for her. Cheese noodles for a cheese lover. Let’s check it out!
#1424: Sainsbury’s Curry Flavour Instant Noodles
Here’s one that Joe B. and Sarah B. sent me from Nottingham, UK – thanks! I think I’ve only got one more they sent – been fun doing these British varieties! Curry is a really popular British flavor. I’m calling it a British flavor, because there are so many interpretations of curry; the British make curry powders and cook with them – they’re usually less spicy and exotic than something you’d find in Southeast Asia. Anyways, I thought I’d make some chicken to go along with this and use some of the curry leaf that’s growing in my wife’s garden. What’s interesting is that curry leaf isn’t used in curry! It smells like curry powder though. Should be interesting! Let’s check it out.
#1420: Maruchan ‘I Want To Eat Ramen’ Shio Flavor
I like the title of this one, because to be honest, I do want to eat Shio ramen today! Shio translates to salt in Japanese, but it’s not like you get a block of noodles and a packet of table salt. There are four main variants of Japanese ramen, with Shio being one of them. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about Shio:
#1416: Myojo Chukazanmai Szechuan Style Miso
Here’s an interesting one. Myojo does this premium Chukazanmai line and there are quite a few different varieties! This one has me a little worried though. I haven’t really liked Szechuan style much of anything in the past. Hopefully this will turn the tide! Let’s check it out.
#1415: Chewy Instant Rice Vermicelli Original Flavour
I’ll admit, I have a problem. I have a TON of noodles waiting to be reviewed. Today, I went and put them all on the floor as sorted them by expiration date. No small task, that’s for sure! It took a little while, but everything’s all sorted out and ready to go in the most efficient way I can figure. Today I’m going to review this Chewy variety from Hong Kong. I got it up in Canada a while back – let’s have a look.
#1413: Chering Chang Curry La-Men
Found this one at Uwajimaya in Bellevue. What I found particularly interesting was that it was a curry variant from Taiwan. I think I’ve only had one curry instant from Taiwan before and it was truly excellent. I thought maybe I’d try some of the new stuff my wife is growing with it!
#1411: A-Sha Prince Katsu Snack Noodle
Woot – snack noodles! This is one of the last ones I got at my old apartment. Really looking forward to seeing new stuff arrive at our new place! Anyways, this is a big bag with twenty little bags inside of it. That’s a lot of snacking! Let’s check it out!
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2014 Edition
Bowls of noodles. They’re made all around the world and are a great option for those with access to boiling water and are ‘on the go.’ Some are basic and have very little imagination to them or perks, while others are really full meals that include meat and vegetables, seafood and other niceties. I’ve review 1,410 different noodle varieties and of those, many have been bowls. Here’s a list of the best, most memorable bowls I’ve come across is my adventure in tasting.
#1407: Annie Chun’s Ramen House Thai Coconut Ramen
Here”s something new from Annie Chun’s! It was sent a little while back and ended up at the bottom of my noodle hamper… I’ve been going through everything lately as we’re moving and found it! It sounds really good – very curious… Let”s see how it comes out!
#1405: Maggi Masala Dumdaar Noodles
My friend Matt B. and I hit up a small Indian grocery the other day and found these. I thought the name sounded interesting. I haven’t reviewed a huge amount of instant from India, which surprises me as they”re very popular there. Well, I don’t know if this is remotely correct, so if someone out there wants to correct me, feel free! I looked around on the Internet and read that Dumdaar is a variety of biryani – Hyderabadi biryani. I kept finding a film actor named Dumdaar repeatedly which didn’t help. Anyways, I found a few recipes and thought I’d try and take some bit and pieces from them to do this instant justice. So again, if you can give me any info about what Dumdaar is, please feel free to comment and I’ll eventually insert your comments here. With that, let’s have a look at this unique one from India.
#1401: Myojo Yomise No Yakisoba Shiodare Flavor With Black Pepper Mayonnaise
I’m pretty excited – we’re moving to a new apartment soon! I’ve been going through everything, boxing stuff up. Actually, I’m currently flanked by a stack of boxes that’s getting really high – and they’re pretty heavy, too. What’s going to be insane is that we will be moving to a place on the top floor – only one flight of stairs, but it’s a decent amount of stairs. Should be quite a workout! What’s nice is that it’ll be close to a nice big Asian grocery – an HMart – so there will be easy access to everything I need to add to my noodles. Anyways, yeah – pretty big thing. I thought I’d have one I found while packing – no idea how it got to where it was as I usually keep everything in a couple big totes. Let’s check out this yakisoba – with black pepper mayonnaise!
#1393: Saji Sajimee Curry Soup Flavour (Mi Sup Kari)
Here’s another one that Annie T. over at MyKuali sent me! Thank you very much! Curry seems to be a regular flavor over in Malaysia – and with good reason. Malaysian curry noodles are out of this world good! I’ve always liked curry, but curry from Southeast Asia are just superb. Let’s see how this one fares.
#1392: Miracle Noodle Miso Marvellous Soup
I’ve been asked about these low calorie noodles for a long time. Miracle Noodle is more widely known for it’s Shirataki Miracle Noodle. Those are made from yams. These are Kanten Miracle Noodles. So let’s see Wikipedia has to say about them:
#1389: Tiger Tiger Traveller’s Choice Thai Red Curry Flavour Instant Noodles
Here’s one that Joe B. and Sarah B. sent me from Nottingham, UK – thanks! Very curious about this one as I really like curry. But it’s from the UK – will it be strong or weak? Let’s check it out.
Meet The Manufacturer: #1387: Takamori Red Pepper & Garlic Peperoncino
Well folks, this is it. The last one for this Meet The Manufacturer. I really have enjoyed reviewing all of these fresh noodle varieties quite a bit, and I think it’s finally gotten me to look at the possibility of a The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Fresh Noodles Of All Time list. They don’t exactly fit into the Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time lists as they’re usually on a different playing field; they’re not fried blocks, but fresh pouches. So that might be something coming up in the near future. I’d like to thank Yuji for the help in making these reviews happen – I’ve messaged him plenty of times with questions throughout as there’s no English on any of the packaging, let alone the title sometimes. Let’s have a look at this interesting variety from Takamori Kosan of Japan as we bid them a fond farewell for now. Yuji has mentioned that there will be new varieties coming, so it’s not goodbye, but til next time.
Meet The Manufacturer: #1385: Takamori Yaki-Udon Roast Soy Sauce
First things first: Happy Mother’s Day! Don’t forget to call your Mom today!
This one sounds good – yaki-udon is something really new to me and during this Meet The Manufacturer, the first time I’ve tried it. The one I had the other day was really tasty – curious how this one will be! Basically the different between yakisoba and yakiudon is that it’s a wider gauge noodle. Let’s see how this one with roast soy sauce flavor comes out!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1383: Takamori Futomen Yakisoba
During this week, we’ve been reviewing different types of yakisoba – but what is Futomen yakisoba? Futomen is a variety with a slight wider gauge noodle than the regular soba noodle. Also I am told that the flavoring is a little spicier. Let’s check it out!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1382: Takamori Hiyashi Chuka Lemon Sauce
We;ve had some nice sunny days already this spring here in Washington. Had a day that got close to 80 degrees! Was really nice. The review today is on a noodle dish that is served cold. Cold noodles are enjoyed throughout Asia, but it’s really something that isn’t commonly seen in the United States. Let’s have a look at this unique variety.
Meet The Manufacturer: #1381: Takamori Curry Udon
Hey it’s curry time! Japanese curry is much different from other curries around the world. Often with a sweet and less spicy hit, it’s really excellent stuff to behold and taste. I’m really curious about this one – let’s dig in!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1379: Takamori Shio Yakisoba
This was a welcome surprise – shio yakisoba! Shio is a popular variety of ramen, but I’ve never heard of it as a version of yakisoba before. Shio translates to salt in English, but that doesn’t mean that it”s just flavored with salt. Wikipedia has this to say about Shio ramen:
Meet The Manufacturer: #1378: Takamori Yakisoba
I’ve always liked yakisoba. It’s a brothless soba noodle that’s fried in a skillet with some meat, veggies, and a nice Worcestershire sauce flavor. It’s great stuff! I’ve always been curious though, how Worcestershire sauce made it into Japanese culinary culture. I dug around and found this on Wikipedia:
Meet The Manufacturer: #1377: Takamori Yaki-Udon Mild Spicy Sauce
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.
Meet The Manufacturer: #1375: Takamori Tomato Spaghetti Napolitan
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!
#1374: Tokyo Noodle Spicy Garlic Ramen
Here’s one that came to me by way of Abbie C. of Hong Kong – thanks! Spicy garlic – that sure sounds good! This pack hold four little blocks. The blocks have the flavoring infused into the noodles! Let’s check it out!
#1371: Campbell’s Hearty Noodles Thai Flavour
#1370: Papa Oriental Style Instant ‘Kua-Chap’
Here’s a neat one! These little square pieces of rice curl up like ziti when they are cooked! Usually served with pig offal or duck, but I have neither so I opted for chicken. This is only the second time I’ve sampled these, thanks to the package my friend from Indonesia sent me a while back – thanks! Let’s check it out!