There are some varieties that I hear people raving out about a lot and I start thinking ‘I should re-review this one.’ Well, today’s the day. I even have a little story about these which is sort of funny.
Category: Sapporo Ichiban
#2322: Sapporo Ichiban MieKameyama Ramen Gyukotsu Misoaji
Sad to say it but this is the last of the varieties sent to me by Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com. He’s decided to end the subscription service for instant noodles, however you can still get neat boxes of Japanese candy! Check ’em out! Well, here’s what he had to say about this variety:
#2214: Sapporo Ichiban Tabimen Nagasaki Chanpon
Here’s another one sent to me by Javier from Box From Japan. Box From Japan has subscriptions for all sorts of neat Japanese things. I regret to say that I was informed that they won’t be taking subscriptions for their ramen boxes for now – hopefully that will start again soon. He mentioned that you can purchase instant noodles from them here. Here’s what he had to say about this particular variety:
#2146: Sapporo Ichiban Kun Ramen Sumo-kuchikin (Smoked Chicken)
Here’s soimething I’ve never seen before – smoked chicken ramen! This one hails from Japan and was sent by Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com. You can subscribe to receive a box with 4 different Japanese ramen bowls every month – it’s pretty awesome and honestly since it includes the shipping pretty cheap. Let’s see what Javier has to say about this one:
#2128: Sapporo Ichiban Taimeiken Yousyoku Yasangatsukutta Omumen
Here’s another one from BoxFromJapan.com. They’re a subscription service where you can get a box of noodles from Japan every month (they also have neat candy boxes from Japan as well). Still to this date I haven’t gotten a repeat or anothing I’ve ever reviewed in the past – pretty awesome! Here’s what they have to say about this one:
#1875: Sapporo Ichiban Tonkotsu Ramen Artificially Flavored Tonkotsu White Chicken Broth
On a recent trip to the Uwajimaya in Bellevue, WA I spotted this one. This is made in the United States and sounds really good. Tonkotsu is characterized by a milky white broth – usually pork, but this one is chicken! It sounds really good and seeing this is my wife’s Friday, I thought I’d surprise her by making her a bowl. Let’s check it out!
Re-Review: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Chicken Flavored Soup
I’ve been asked by quite a few people in the last few months to re-review this one. It sounds like a lot of you really enjoy this one! One thing to note is that I’ve also been asked repeatedly about instant varieties that are vegetarian. Most instant noodles made in the USA will contain meat and/or seafood. Why? Well, it’s pretty hard to import chicken and beef into the United States. Standards for agricultural products are pretty strict, so the logic here is that if a foreign company builds a plant here, they don’t have to deal with these restrictions since they’re in the country, using US meat products in what they produce. Knowing this, if you stroll down the aisle of an Asian grocery store, you’ll see quite a few chicken, beef and other flavors which usually are imported and do not contain any beef, chicken or pork. So just a little tip from me – look and see where it’s made on the pack – it might have fish, but should be meat free. These noodles are made in Garden Grove, California. Southern California is the spot where most instant noodle companies that open up plants congregate – easy access to big seaports and centralized distribution has a lot (if not everything) to do with this. Anyways, let’s check out this much requested re-review of Sapporo Ichiban chicken noodles!
#1549: Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein Japanese Style Noodles Yakisoba
Here’s another one my wife got me during my annual birthday trip to Canada this year – thank, Kit! So this is the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein. There are a couple differences between this and the version for sale in the United States packaging wise, but does it taste different? I’m guessing it’s going to be about the same but it could be different. Let’s find out as I tear into the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein!
#1330: Sapporo Ichiban Otafuku Okonomi Sauce Yakisoba
Here’s some more noodles I picked up last July in Canada. It’s been a while now, so I’ll tell you the story of the July trip. I saw a blog post from a guy up in Vancouver, BC who was talking about my top ten list. He had a really neat little graphic icon that looked cool, so I tried to figure out where it was from. Finally, he was the one who let me in on it. It was a graphic someone had made of my top ten list! I was curious to find out where it had come from…
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Japanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2014 Edition
It’s only a few days until Momofuku Ando Day, and what better time to introduce the very first Japanese Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list? In 1958, Momofuku Ando initially brought these convenient products to the world. At first seen as an overpriced novelty, they’ve grown in popularity; 100 billion instant noodle products were enjoyed in 2012! Here are my favorites, manufactured in the instant noodle’s birthplace of Japan.
#1238: Sapporo Ichiban Sesame Ramen
Wow a noodle review on Thanksgiving? Yeah – although I did it yesterday and scheduled it to auto-post… Rest assured as you read this I’m probably helping make Thanksgiving dinner up at my mom’s. Sesame ramen eh? I bet turkey would go good with it… I’ll do some kind of turkey recipe soon. Let’s check this one out.
#1184: Sapporo Ichiban Pokemon Shoyu Ramen
Here’s another one from the folks at Record China news in Japan – thank you! My son is a really big fan of Pokemon. He’s got every one’s name, what they evolve into and all Pokemon lore stuffed in that PokeDex brain of his! If any of you reading have kids that like Pokemon, you know of what I speak. Well, I’ve wanted to get some Pokemon noodles for him and this is the first! I know there are more out there and hopefully I’ll find them sooner or later! Let’s check it out!
#1152: Sapporo Ichiban Tomato & Basil Shio Ramen
Check this big sucker out! This one was sent by a guy who runs a store in Japan called Yanaktei (www.yakantei.com). Kind of looks pizza minded eh? Let’s check it out!
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Made In The USA Of All Time 2013 Edition
The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan, but since that time, they’ve expanded in popularity all over the world, including of course, the United States. Seeing this, instant noodle companies thought it wise to start building plants here in the 1970s. Since then, many brands operate factories here in the US, mostly in southern California. This is a list of my favorite varieties produced here, encompassing my over 1,100 reviews to date. With that, here’s your top ten, America!
Re-Review: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Original Flavored Soup
We went to Walmart on Black Friday! Well, let me explain – it was at 6pm or so, so the amount of crazy people was lower. It seems though that the Walmart we always go to has a surplus of crazy people usually. I imagine the early morning Black Friday folks would’ve been a scary lot. One thing I noticed was that they hadn’t bought all of the noodles, so I thought I’d get a couple to re-review. Here’s one of them last time I tried it, it was revirew #207. Hoping some new things to review come soon – only have one in the hamper that’s needing review… Re-reviews are fun though since they’re not been visited in so long.
#908: Sapporo Ichiban Oriental Noodle Soup Original Flavor Cup
Yet another one I am very surprised I haven’t reviewed in the past. Curious to see how this one fares.
#749: Top Ten: Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein (New Version)
We were at 99 Ranch Market yesterday and I noticed that Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein has a new packaging. Wondering if it’s got a different flavor as well.
The Ramen Rater Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2011 & 2012 Editions
Here it is – the new Ramen Rater Top Ten List! It was originally released on Foodiggity.com on January 9th, 2011 as an exclusive guest post I did. Now, here it is on The Ramen Rater for your perusal with links to all of the corresponding reviews! Enjoy!
#652: Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen Japanese Style Noodles
Soon as I saw this, I was really excited. I really like Shio (salt) ramen. I don’t know what it is, but it works! What’s more is this stuff is made in California. I found it at H Mart in Lynnwood, Washington. Let’s dig in!
Top-Ten Re-Review: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles Chow Mein
Aha -= this is one of my favorite! Number four on the Top Ten Instant Noodles of All Time as reviewed by The Ramen Rater. Thanks go to Greg B. of Marathon, Florida for sending a pack my way!
Delivery From OrderRamen.com!
Despite some trouble with FedEx, I got a box in the mail yesterday from Nick at OrderRamen.com!
#420: Sapporo Ichiban Beef Flavor With Natural & Artificial Flavors Oriental Noodle Soup
As promised, here’s another of Sapporo Ichiban’s cup line. Again, we see the cooked and ready product being inundated with more piping hot water. Weird picture…
#416: Sapporo Ichiban Chicken Flavor With Natural & Artificial Flavors Oriental Noodle Soup (Cup)
A couple things to start out with here as this picture is somewhat ridiculous. So they’re adding water to the cup. The water is up to the line already and not only that, the contents appear to already be done cooking; the veggies are clearly re-hydrated. Kind of weird I thought.
#240: Sanyo Foods Aunt Mentaiko Durum Spaghetti
So first off, I’d like to thank Walnuts4Gold from reddit.com for helping me figure out the name of this stuff. The only thing I had to go on was the phone number on the bottom. From that I figured out with a little research that Sanyo Foods makes these noodles. Then Walnuts4Food sent me a link with some other varieties including this one. This one is the Mentaiko variety. What’s mentaiko? Wikipedia states it is… Mentaiko (明太子?) is the marinated roe of pollock, and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. Mentaiko originated from myeongran jeot (명란젓) of Korean cuisine and was introduced to Japan after the Russo-Japanese War. Kawahara Toshio, a Busan-born Japanese, adapted Korean mentaiko to Japanese tastes in Fukuoka in the 1950s. The name is derived from the Korean word for Alaska pollock (mentai, 명태 : myeongtae in Korean) and the Japanese word for “child” (子, ko?). The typical seasoning and flavor is slightly different in Japan. Mentaiko is made in a variety of flavors and colors and is available at airports and main train stations. It is usually eaten with onigiri, but is also enjoyed by itself with sake. A common variety is spicy mentaiko (辛子明太子, karashi mentaiko?). It is a product of the Hakataward of Fukuoka City.
It makes perfect sense that this must be what it is….
Click image to enlarge. Pretty easily followed instructions…
#207: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Original Flavored Soup
‘So I believe that this is the last of the Sapporo Ichiban regular ramens to try. I have a feeling is will be either soy or miso taste.
#205: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Beef Flavored Soup
So now that I’m out of the Nong Shim bowl noodles, here’s something new. This is going to be good – I haven’t had any complaints that I can think of about Sapporo Ichiban’s products.
#153: Sapporo Ichiban Shrimp Flavor Oriental Noodle Soup
So we begin a short look at noodle cups. I don’t think I’ve actually had a cup in a long time so this will be some fun stuff. We start with some Sapporo Ichiban shrimp flavor.
#130: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles Miso (Soy Bean Paste) Flavor
Thought Miso would turn out to be kind of boring so I’ve been putting it off. But it was a choice today between Sapporo Ichiban Miso and Ottogi Jin Ramyun and Kit picked the Miso so here we go!
#79: Sapporo Ichiban Kitsune Udon Japanese Style Noodles
Today, Kit & I walked to 99 Ranch Market together which was a lot of fun. I wanted to pick an interesting instant noodle to review, so I went with this one – Sapporo Ichiban Kitsune Udon.
Re-Review: Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein Japanese Style Noodles
Some might consider this to be beyond nasty, but I’ve found faith in humankind when it comes to these cheap, tasty noodles. Perhaps you will too as ramenrater.com reviews Sapporo Inchiban’s Chow Mein style Japanese noodles.
#64: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Chicken Soup
Lime green. A pleasing color to the eye however not one I would triangulate with chicken flavored instant noodles. This is really the only oddity I found here as I sampled Sapporo Ichiban’s Japanese style noodles and chicken flavored soup.
#13: Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein Japanese Style Noodles
Sapporo Ichiban: Chow Mein
Stars: ***1/2
Notes: Now this stuff is quite different – and quite good as well. It definitely
tastes like a greasy, heavily sauce laden noodle. The broth is dark brown
mainly because of all the soy, but it’s not all that salty. It is quite good
and I highly recommend it. One of the more compelling packets in this one is a little cellophane pouch of ‘green laver.’ It’s seaweed powder and adds a delicately mossy green shade to the concoction if added like pepper evenly to the top. This is a must for the adventurous and keen on the weird factor.
#12: Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Shrimp Flavor Soup
Sapporo Ichiban: Shrimp Flavor
Stars: ** 1/2
Notes: Wasn’t all that jazzed about this stuff – I do think I like the Maruchan Shrimp a
tad bit better. The difference however, is that this package of noodles is very
dense – lots of noodles! A plus, but not enough to make me stoked. Get it here.