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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!
This one was sent by Joe & Gill from the UK! Thanks! Hot and spicy from Britain? Let’s try it!
When I’m ready to relax and have some ‘me time,’ there are two words that immediately enter my mind: leisure meatballs. What’s that? Leisure meatballs? Yes. Spicy chicken flavored ones. Let’s have a look.
I recently got a nice box of samples from Duncan T. over at Gemini Food Corp in California. I’d already reviewed them, but I definitely wanted to re-review this one for sure. I last had this in my 97th review – over 1000 reviews ago. Curious about what I’ll think of it these days; it got a low rating at that time and looking at it now makes me think it can’t be that bad! But I guess we’ll see. Let’s check it out!
Another one sent by my friend in Indonesia – thank you! A little translation. So it’s onion chicken flavor – rasa means flavor, bawang is onion and ayam chicken. Mi instan is instant noodle, but rebus? Rebus translated to boiled and here I think refers to the noodles being ‘cooking noodles.’ As I’ve mentioned in the past, what makes a noodle ‘instant’ is the fact that you can put the noodle block and seasonings in a bowl, add boiling water and then cover for a few minutes, stir and eat. Anyways, let’s check out this Indonesian variant.
Here’s another I got at T&T Supermarket up in Burnaby, BC. Took a bit of research, but yep – old style shio ramen is what this is. Shio means salt. – but this isn’t a bowl of saltiness. Shio is light and savory stuff! By the way – did you know that salt was a way to pay people in the past? That’s where the term ‘worth your salt’ and the word salary come from! It brings out flavors, but was also used as a way to keep meats for longer when freezers and refrigerators weren’t around. Anyways, let’s check this one out!
Here’s one my lovely wife got me during a birthday trip to Richmond, BC on my birthday! I really like this packaging; very retro! Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one my friend from Indonesia sent me – thanks! This is a departure from the norm for me – very rarely have I had Indonesian varieties of rice noodles. I think I’ve had them maybe thrice before. This one’s by the Indofoods people – makers of Indomie Mi Goreng. Let’s see how it translates to a rice noodle variety!
This one was sent to me by the folks at MBS TV in Japan after my appearance on “God Of Patena.” Thanks! This one is interesting; it has a squarish shaped cup! Let’s check it out.
First I want to thank Ken P. from twitter and Mari S. on facebook for help withe translation! Donbei is a kind of personalized donburi. The east is usually more of a salty flavor than the west as well. Many little difference! Pretty neat! Let’s have a look.
Here’s one from my friend Martin A. in the UK. This one’s pretty cool – very vertical! Those Brits, they sure come up with neat cups. Let’s check it out!
I’ve had a hankering to re-review this one since I had the cup version and really liked it. Made me think maybe I was a little tough on this one when I reviewed it as #121. But now I’m looking through the archives and I gave it a 3.5/5.0 stars, which isn’t bad, then I re-reviewed it and gave it 3.5/5.0 again. Funny, I didn’t think I’d re-reviewed this one… Well, I guess it’s a re-re-revie; I already took the pictures of everything, right? Let’s give this one another peek.
Really? I haven’t reviewed this? Nope! Wow – who’dathunkit? Well then, without further ado, let’s check out these chow mein noodles – with shrimp!
Another one from my birthday trip to Canada in March – thanks, Kit! Hot and spicy sounded like something I could go for today. Let’s see how this spicy rice vermicelli comes out – I must admit I don’t see spicy rice vermicelli variants ofter.
Here’s one that was sent to me by a reader in Jakarta, Indonesia – thank you! Spicy green chilli soup – green chilli seems to be gaining popularity in Indonesia. Let’s check it out!
Gotta love the name. This is a South Korean combination of Jjajang (a black bean dish) and noodles. They usually end up nice and hearty with just a sauce and no broth. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one my wife got me up in Canada on my birthday earlier this year! This is one big cup of noodles! You might be wondering what XO Sauce is. Well, the ‘XO’ part is a status thing; it’s considered to be a prestigious prefix in Asia denoting luxury or high quality as in cognac. As for what’s in it, Wikipedia says:
Been some time since I’ve had a crab flavored noodle from Vietnam, so I thought why not today.. Looks cool – let’s check it out!
Here’s another one from my birthday trip to Canada in March! Thank, Kit! Thought it’d be nice to have something seafoody as it’s been a little while. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one from T&T Supermarket up in Canada. This one comes with four of everything! Today however, I’ll just be making one of them. Let’s check it out!
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!
Here’s the last of the Asian Thai Foods Meet The Manufacturer. Fatafat means fast fast! Let’s check it out.
Well, we’ve almost come to the end of this Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been fun and interesting to find out about and try new varieties from Nepal! Here’s one that I found particularly interesting when I sampled the vegetable curry variety. Krrish is a action film series popular in India and Nepal and this ties into that fandom. Let’s check it out.
The vegetable version of Pretti was really good and got very high marks – curious how the chicken flavor will stack up! Let’s check it out.
Here’s another variety of the Miteri noodles. Vegetable! Let’s check it out.
Here’s the back of the package (click image to enlarge). Looks to be vegetarian but check for yourself.
Chicken sounds good – This is an example of a vitamin fortified instant noodle. In areas of the world where many people eat a large amount of instant noodles, vitamins are added to make them healthier. Let’s check these out!
Nope – this is not a reference to the popular South Korean K-Pop group – it’s a reference to the time of day. 2pm is a common time for a quick bite to eat in the afternoon. Let’s have a look.
I think this is one of my new favorite packages – those kids are rockin’ out! Fatafat means ‘fast fast,’ referring to the fact that you can just pop it open and eat it as well as a smaller size for a quick meal. I decided to try the only cooking method I’ve seen this brand mention that I hadn’t tried yet: cook, drain, fry and add seasonings. Let’s check it out!
This one is called Miteri and it comes from Nepal. The makers of this product mentioned that coriander is a good garnish for all of their varieties.. I went to the store looking for the stuff and found coriander powder so tried that on the review before last. Then I had a thought to look on Google for coriander as the powder just didn’t seem right. Well guess what? Coriander is known here in the US as cilantro. Needless to say, I went and got some and will use it today! As it turns out, miteri means friend in Nepalese.. Let’s check it out!
Here’s the first review of the Asian Thai Foods Meet The Manufacturer spotlight! Wow – noodles from Nepal! Let’s have a look at these, called Gaurav. I couldn’t figure out what Gaurav means – if anyone knows, please comment! UPDATE – Thanks for KC Gabby for letting me know that gaurav means pride! Let’s check it out!
Here’s one that was sent by Martin A. of Devon, England. Thanks again! There are many varieties of Koka noodles that aren’t yet available in the United States and this is one of them. Let’s check it out!
Here’s an udon variety – katsuo udon. So what’s katsuo? Katsuo is also called Skipjack Tuna. Here’s an excerpt from a Wikipedia article:
Here’s one that is manufactured in Shenzhen, China and distributed in Hong Kong. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one from the T&T Supermarket up in Burnaby, BC. I asked for help with the translation on Facebook. Thanks guys! Snack noodles are very popular in Asia and here’s one variety to check out. Yes – it’s from Taiwan! It’s a package with three little packs inside. Let’s check it out!
Spicy and shrimp sounded good for breakfast today. Let’s check this one out!
Here are the side panels (click image to enlarge). Contains meat. Also contains wheat, soybean, egg, milk, shrimp and krill.
Here’s another one from T&T Supermarket in Canada! I haven’t reviewed on in a while, but here we have a ramen snack. You don’t cook them, it’s a little snack that’s ready to eat and already flavored. Let’s check it out!
Hey look! Something from The Philippines! I can’t remember the last time I had anything from The Philippines (looked it up – August 18th, 2012 – almost a whole year ago). You might be wondering, what is pancit bihon? Wikipedia says:
In the last day, lots of people have been coming to The Ramen Rater from Indonesia! One person who commented via the facebook page said”you should try this one fried noddle, it has black pepper flavour. will not disappoint you :)” (for those wondering, this is friend black pepper chicken flavor noodles). I looked through the box of varieties my friend in Jakarta sent me and lo and behold, I had it in there! Thank you very much! Let’s check this one out!
Let me say that the past couple of days have been probably a couple of the most crazy, fascinating and rewarding of my run so far as The Ramen Rater. I did am interview with Quartz (part of The Atlantic) and it went viral; Huffington Post picked it up, Grub Street, Digg,… Did an interview with South Korea’s Cultwo Veranda Show and appeared, and have two interviews with radio and television lined up in the next couple of days. A couple of interesting opportunities I can’t talk about yet have popped up and I’m very excited about them and will share as soon as I can. Thursday I went up to Canada and met with some folks at a big Asian grocery called T&T Supermarket. They were really nice people and even sent me home with some great new varieties to review and share! Thank you so much! This is one of them. Oat noodles? This sounds different – see the little circle on the lower right? It says ‘health is important. Let’s check it out!
Here’s one sent to me by Xavier over at Ko-Lee in the UK – thanks! These are made in Thailand for the UK market. Has directions for dry noodles as well as with soup – I’m going to prepare the latter. Let’s check this out!
