
I felt like something seafood today and thought this would fit the bill. One thing I’ve always wondered about – so what’s the difference between Tom Yam and Toom Yum, if any? Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about it:
Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002

I felt like something seafood today and thought this would fit the bill. One thing I’ve always wondered about – so what’s the difference between Tom Yam and Toom Yum, if any? Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about it:

Today I’m trying something really interesting. This is Paldo’s new spicy octopus ramyun! I thought I couldn’t make this stuff without adding some octopus, but I’d never cooked it before and was a little reserved and slightly nervous. Octopus? Hey, why not! I went to the Korean grocery and picked some up. It was a bit of a surprise how many different kinds of packaged octopus there are. I settled on frozen baby octopus. Let’s see how it turns out!

Here’s a neat one I got at Fujiya up in Richmond, BC during this year’s birthday trip! This is a snack ramen – basically cooked and dried ramen that’s crunchy and tasty! I really like finding new ones to try as eventually I’m thinking a top ten list of snack ramen noodles will be produced. Anyways, let’s have a look!

Here’s the second of three varieties of this new ‘Rice Ramen.’ This one is a bit different than the last as it boasts a red miso and uses millet and brown aspects for its noodle. What’s really great about these new products is that they’re Vegan friendly and gluten free – lots of people have asked me about gluten and vegetarian instants and I’m thinking these might be a nice one for those folks to try. Let’s check this one out!

The first of these three new Lotus Foods Rice Ramen varieties I’ll be reviewing is the Jade Pearl Rice Ramen. I thought I’d look on their site to see what they had to say about the main ingredient, the Jade Pearl rice. Here’s what they had to say about it:

Here’s a brand I’ve never tried before. Got it up in Canada last year in July. I’m pretty excited – Friday’s my birthday and we’re headed up to Canada on Saturday to do some noodle hunting! I’ve had quite a few Pad Thai ‘make at home’ dishes before – some that were pretty good and some that tasted absolutely nothing like Pad Thai. Curious how this one will pan out – let’s have a look!

I’m sure you’re gonna say it – this looks familiar. Well, it’s part of a really neat coincidence that happened recently. I reviewed this one by Takamori Kosan of Japan the other day. Well, it was actually made by Sakura Noodle in Los angeles, California for the US market under their name! This one here is also made by Sakura Noodle but under the Shirakiku name. Are they different? Yep! If you look at the ingredients and nutrition facts on eacvh, there are some subtle differences. What’s interesting is that I contacted Takamori Kosan about doing a Meet The Manufacturer with them and they seem quite receptive, so keep an eye out for it coming soon! A day or so later, I was contacted by Sakura Noodle. I looked at their website and noticed this chow mein and asked if perhaps Takamori Kosan had contacted them, but they hadn’t – neat coincidence!

Today is a good day for spicy noodles. I just did my big walk of the day – something I’ve not been able to do for a week or so – it’s been raining alot here just north of Seattle. A lot. In fact, there was a weather alert for landslides due to so much rain… Sheesh. Walk was good and now I’ve got the pre-season baseball audio going – Giants vs Royals today. I’m a Giants fan – my wife converted me from being a Mariners fan when we got together as she used to play softball and got quite a few trophies. The first year I started following the Giants was 2010, and lo and behold, they won the world Series! Then again in 2012. I think as long as we win the even years, we’re good to go. Anyways, spicy udon sounds really good today and I think I know just what to add to it – Fresno chilli peppers! They’re playing the game today in Scottsdale, AZ, and a lot of their minor league players get a chance to get a chance to be in the roster. Many of them are from the Fresno, CA AAA team. Let’s check these noodles out!

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms. I’ve liked them a little more and more over time, but they’re really not something I seek out and enjoy thoroughly. On the other hand, my wife absolutely loves mushroom.s and savors them. She also really likes udon, so I thought I’d make these for her. Let’s open this bag up and see what’s inside.

I asked my wife to pick today’s variety and she picked this one. I was thinking – what is Oriental flavor? Well, the French version tells us. I tried Google’s auto translate and it thought it was Spanish for ‘nice.’ In French, bonito means bonito. So, what does bonito mean? Simple.

Here’s the first of the Sakura Noodle Inc. Meet The Manufacturer! I thought I’d start off with chicken. I haven’t been using a lot of chicken lately and it sounded like a nice little departure from the norm lately. Usually I save the chicken varieties for my son to eat when he’s here – chicken noodles are his favorite. Let’s give this one a try!

I’ve been asked about this special series from Indomie for a long time and finally got my hands on some! Indomie’s Taste Of Asia line has three components: Laksa representing Singapore, Bulgogi representing South Korea, and finally Tom Yum to represent Thailand. I thought since I embark on a new Meet The Manufacturer tomorrow, I’d try something a little different. So Tom Yum is a Thai soup, usually with very strong spiciness and citrus flavors. I’m very curious as to how they’ll do this one. Let’s check it out!

This one was sent by the folks at A-Sha – thank you very much! I’m always on the lookout for Hello Kitty instant noodles. Why? Well, my wife really likes Hello Kitty. They wanted me to be sure to let people klnow that these cannot be found for sale in the United States – sorry folks – gotta pack your bags and fly to Taiwan! This one’s spicy – which seems a little funny to me. I would think anything Hello Kitty would be very light in flavor and tame for the kids. I think the kids over in Taiwan can handle their spicy stuff! That’s rad! Let’s check it out!

Here’s another one sent to me by Annie T. over at MyKuali – thanks again! As I’ve said before, I love curry. There are so many different curries out there – sweet, spicy, slightly bland. Pastes, powders, sauces… It’s pretty enjoyable! I’ve been really enjoying reviewing curries from this region – Malaysia and Singapore – wonderful places that make some awesome curry instants! This one purports to be ‘xtra pedas’ which translates to extra hot. Let’s see if this stuff is really spicy or not.

Here’s another one sent by Charles, a serviceman in Afghanistan – thanks! I’ve seen these cups for a long time online but never have I tried one. It seems KOKA sells their noodles in three places – Singapore, the US and the UK. They have different kinds available in each market too which is logical. Most large noodle manufacturers do this actually; look at the flavors sold here in the US versus the ones by the same company sold in Japan. It’s kind of the ‘when in Rome’ logic and it works for them. Let’s have a look inside this cup by KOKA.

I’ve been trying to figure out what I’d add to this one, and how this Thai variety might taste. It’s require digging through the freezer for some good stuff to go with it – beef, of course, but what else? I guess you’ll just have to see down below. Let’s give this one a try.

Here’s one a got quite a while back. It’s a cold day out and I picked up some squid yesterday to try out for the first time. I’ve eaten squid before, but never prepared it myself.

A co-worker named Joan at my wife’s work recently went to Hawaii and went out of her way to find something I hadn’t tried yet! She looked through the Big List and lo and behold, I hadn’t tried this chow mein! Thank you very much! These are fresh noodles, usually found in the cold section. They’re also a broth free variety. You might be more familiar with them as yakisoba, a noodle dish that can be found at little teriyaki joints all over. Let’s give this a try!

My nose is running, my throat is sore and I feel pretty crummy. Sneezing, sore eyes and sore everything – I’ve got a cold and a bad one at that. Not a fun day, that’s for sure – it’s raining and windy outside as well which makes taking our dogs out a real chore, especially when they’re pugs. Pugs don’t like to get wet; they (at least the pugs we have) aren’t very rugged creatures; they like to sleep and be constantly comfortable.

I’ll admit when I first saw the packaging, I thought this stuff was called Spaz! I kind of wish it was as that would be exceedingly humorous, but I digress… This is Tarako Spaghetti; so what is tarako? Wikipedia tells us:

Another from a friend in Indonesia – thank you! I’ve reviewed quite a few instant noodles lately that have been less ‘vanilla’ in color. I had some purple ones, another green one from Taiwan and a Japanese variety a week or two ago that had ‘jet black’ broth! This one’s hook is that it has green barley in it. I did a bit of looking around and found some information on green barley/barley grass here. From what it says, it’s good for you, but how does it do in the case of being added to Healtimie noodles? Let’s have a look.

I can honestly say that I want to eat ramen. Every day. Well, if not ramen, ramyun, udon, mi goreng, mee and every other kind of instant noodle out there! It’s fun! Sometimes it’s hard to decide which one to review though, and so my wife was kind enough to pick one out of the bin and toss it to me this morning – and this is it. Let’s have a look! Most people here in the US think of Maruchan as making their instant packs and ‘Instant Lunch’ cups, but they make a varied line of products over in Japan with more traditional flavors from the region. But to start things off before any reviewing, today is Valentine’s Day – happy Valentine’s Day to all! My wife Kit and I spent a special day yesterday in Seattle yesterday…

Here’s another one from a friend in Indonesia – thanks! I got some really cool new varieties from Indofood last week, but I’d better get a few older varieties out of the way before those! Shouldn’t be long! Let’s check out this rice vermicelli soup variety from their Pop Bihun line.

Here’s another one from Charles in Afghanistan – thanks again! So this one’s made in Thailand and sold a lot in Holland. Let’s check it out!

This one was sent to me by Abbie C. of Hong Kong – thank you again! Curry – and cheese? Been very curious about this one, that’s for sure. I like curry a lot – one of the flavors that’s always strong and varies so much from culture to culture. Let’s see how it pairs with cheese and noodles in this cup.

Here’s the last of the A-Sha line of instant noodles they sent. These are a leaner line; not with the different gauges that the other products they make have. Not to say they don’t taste good, though! Let’s see how original this one is!

Here’s another one my lovely wife got for me on our trip to Canada for my birthday last year – thanks! Interesting – tube shaped ramen? A couple of brands make these – kind of a neat twist on it. Let’s check it out!

Thanks go to James K. of KoreAm for translation help as well as educating me on this one! Ramen? Nope. Ramyun? Nope. Udon? Nope. This is tteokguk! Tteok is South Korean rice cake. They’re flat and chewy! It’s often served on Lunar New Year and other special holidays. Let’s give it a try – Happy Lunar New Year!

A friend sent this a while back from Jakarta – thank you! This is one that says kuah on it. What’s kuah? Well as far as I can gather, kuah is gravy. So instead of a broth, this one should be a bit thicker. Guess we’ll see! Black pepper chicken )rasa ayam hitam) – let’s check it out!

Pickled mustard? Hmm… I’ve had varieties with mustard stem – wonder if it’ll be like that? Let’s find out!

Thought this might be a good day to take care of a mushroom flavored variety. FYI – these have 4 portions in a pack. Let’s check it out!

My son and I walked to the store the other day for some flowers and kamaboko. Of course, I can’t resist the noodle aisle and found 6 different styles of these little plastic noodle cups! Thought I’d try this one today. Let’s check it out!

I did an appearance on a show called Cam Fu & Friends which was recorded at Microsoft on January 7th, 2014. Cam the host and I met because of instant noodles a while back. He did instant noodle reviews on The Noodle Freak for a while and then went on hiatus from it, telling folks to come check out my site, a real honor. So we actually met in person the first time the other day. He really was hoping I’d do a review on the show, and so I had to come up with something to review. Well, this one fit the bill; easily prepared during the taping! Further below, you can watch the video! Let’s check this one out.

Here’s one I picked up a while back in Canada. JinMaiLiang makes all sorts of beefy ones – let’s check this one out.

I thought why not have something a little different today. This cup’s been around the bottom of the hamper for a while… So, what does QQ mean? Pretty much really thin noodle. Let’s check it out!

Here’s one from the UK! Thanks to Joe B. and Sarah B. of Notthingham for sending these my way! Well, let’s check ’em out!

Don’t see new Filipino varieties often these days, so was very pleased to come across this one. Wondering about the spelling? Well, it’s spelled many ways – mein, mien, mian… Basically, mien means noodles. Anyways, let’s check this one out!

Seems like it’s been a while since I’ve reviewed something from Nongshim. Well, let’s check out this one – and it’s kimchi flavor!

Here’s one that’s been hiding in the noodle bin for a while! Thanks to Martin A. of Devon, UK for seonding! Let’s check it out!

I’ve just got to face it; I’ve got noodles coming out of my ears here! There’s a big bag of these Wu-Mu noodles next to my bed that I’ve been almost tripping over as of late. They don’t fit anywhere else and each one is a 4 pack! I thought today my son and I would try a couple varieties. I figured I’d give this one a shot. I’m definitely not a huge fan of mushrooms, but the spinach noodles sounded nice. Let’s have a look!