Category: * Stars 3.1 – 4.0

#4628: Nongshim Bowl Noodles Savory Chicken Flavor – United States

#4628: Nongshim Bowl Noodles Savory Chicken Flavor - United States

Our local store sells these for $4 each. I thought this was a little high and then I went to a different store and they were $2 which seemed a bit more reasonable. These are the popular bowls Nongshim has been producing and selling for years – I have seen them be made! It’s a very impressive process, with lots of little interesting things. One is a machine that checks each and every bowl to see if say a screw from the machinery fell into a bowl – they don’t. It’s pretty neat stuff. Most people are really into the whole deal with making noodles, but I find it fascinating. Let’s cook one of these up. ...see full post

#4620: Cielo Menudo Instant Ramen Noodle – United States

#4620: Cielo Menudo Instant Ramen Noodle - United States

Here’s the second Cielo variety – Menudo. When I kid, I think on the ABC channel they had a lot of stuff about a show called Menudo – or a band – and I think Ricky Martin was in it? Well, that’s different from the soup. Menudo was honestly the first real introduction to latino culture I really got – I grew up in a town that was pretty white. It isn’t that way anymore which is nice though – lots of different people.  Here’s what the soup consists of – ‘In Mexican cuisine, Menudo, also known as pancita ([little] gut or [little] stomach) or mole de panza (“stomach sauce”), is a traditional Mexican soup, made with cow’s stomach (tripe) in broth with a red chili pepper base. Hominy, lime, onions, and oregano are used to season the broth.’ I can probably pull off some lime and onions. I tried hominy once before I realized it is cooked in bacon fat and I never have bacon, nor bacon fat on hand. Let’s give this a try! ...see full post

#4617: VIZ Naruto Shippuden Ichiraku Ramen Candy – United States

#4432: VIZ Naruto Shippuden Ichiraku Ramen Candy - United States

Did this review on Halloween of 2022! Seemed fitting enough. I wish I could remember where I picked this up; oh wait – I got it at HMart the day I went and saw the 40th anniversary screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. That was so great – haven’t seen that movie on the big screen and that made it really amazing. Before that my buddy Matt and I went to Seattle’s University district to grab some food . It was an interesting day – soon as we got down there his car started blowing smoke from under the hood. overheating. So we went walking around and found Aladdin Falafel – got a shwarma on flatbread thing and it was great – could eat that every day. After an hour or so we drove his car up to the theater in Lynnwood by the Alderwood Mall; taking backroads. All went well although it was kind of white knuckled. But it worked out. But yeah we went to the HMart which is next to the theater and he got a beer and pounded half of it then we went in and watched the movie. Good times. I used to listen to the soundtrack for Star Trek II before bed when I was a kid – I had it on cassette. Yeah, I was a weird kid. ...see full post

#4610: Thai Kitchen Garlic & Vegetable Instant Rice Noodle Soup – United States

#4610: Thai Kitchen Garlic & Vegetable Instant Rice Noodle Soup - United States

I tried this 11 years ago. That’s a long time as far as my reviewing has gone. Back then it was review #761 – I still have the same bowl and I think I’ll use it again! Funny, I thought I got this from my mother in law and that I mentioned it in my review, but maybe it wasn’t this one. Hmm. Well, I gave it a 3.5 back then. Curious if I’ll like it now. It’s gluten free which I’ll mention to my wife. Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

#4602: Daebak Ghost Pepper Cheese Spicy Chicken Flavour – Malaysia

#4602: Daebak Ghost Pepper Cheese Spicy Chicken Flavour - Malaysia

This is it – the last of the great varieties that were sent by Mamee-Doubledecker. Thank you so much – it’s really been an amazing journey of flavor and new varieties! This is the cup version of the ghost pepper cheese. I previously did the pack version which was a real tough go. This one looks to be just a smaller version. They both have a sachet of ghost pepper oil – I think it works pretty darn well. Let’s do another mukbang! ...see full post

#4592: Kobe Jiwa Pagi Mi Instan Rasa Soto Segeer – Indonesia

#4592: Kobe Jiwa Pagi Mi Instan Rasa Soto Segeer - Indonesia

First and foremost, thanks to Pher Engi for sending this over! Soto segeer means ‘fresh soto.’ I did a little research and found that Jiwa Pagi means ‘morning soul.’ These noodles contain carrot and green beans – also no MSG here. These are healthy variety. Sounds interesting – this also the same company (Kobe) that makes the BonCabe instant noodles and seasonings. Oh, you might not know what soto is to begin with – Wikipedia, if you please… ...see full post

#4590: Daebak Habanero Kimchi Jjigae Flavour – Malaysia

#4590: Daebak Habanero Kimchi Jjigae Flavour - Malaysia

You may have heard of budae jjigae, which features assorted meats. This is a kimchi jjigae, which has kimchi at the forefront. Of the extra spicy varieties of this range, this is the only soupy variety, also the only one not having chicken at the forefront. Well, I do have some chicken, so it will make an appearance in here. Let’s cook it up! ...see full post

#4573: Daebak Habanero Spicy Chicken Flavour – Malaysia

#4573: Daebak Habanero Spicy Chicken Flavour - Malaysia

Well, I have just been informed that this cup is pink and I’ve always thought it was orange. I figure I can get at least another ready set go from the kids as they’re home for mid-winter break this week. It’s been pretty insane around here. I’m ready for my mouth to catch on fire again this week, so let’s have at it. Here we go! Mukbang at the bottom. ...see full post

#4567: Daebak Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken Flavour – Malaysia

#4567: Daebak Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken Flavour - Malaysia

A big happy birthday for Miles on his 8th birthday!!! Yay!

New packaging – with the little spokescharacter Rangyi, this one is a little different than the previous versions. This one you can put as little or as much ghost pepper oil in it. I’m going to put it all in of course. It looks like it’s the same size oil sachet as the previously reviewed pack version, so this should get a good burn going – mukbang below. Let’s begin. ...see full post

#4546: Daebak Rabokki Flavour – Malaysia

#4546: Daebak Rabokki Flavour - Malaysia

Oh hey now I’m psyched. I love rabokki. It’s a combination of tteokbokki, a rice cake tube, and ramyeon. Alone, kind of bland, but paired with tteokbokki sauce, it’s absolutely delightful. Now, you might wonder how to pronounce tteokbokki. It’s a soft t or a hard d. I heard multiple times that it was one of the hardest words for westerners to pronounce in Korean. Well, I watch a few videos and figured I had it down. One day, I had a violent toothache. I mean ready to take an ice pick to the ice pick pain I was experiencing. I hate going to the dentist. It was so bad I begged my wife to take me. Well, they took pity on me and took a look on the spot. They said we can fix it or pull it. I said let’s yank that beast. I opted for the nitrous oxide – laughing gas. I swear, I’d love to have a tank of that stuff. Anyways, that gas really got me going. After I was all gassed up, I spoke to the doctor, a young Korean guy. Well, I was pretty happy what with all the gas, so I thought I’d see if my Korean was any good, so I asked if I could try it on him. So, I said tteokbokki. He said it was pretty good. Then he took that thing out of my head. Thanks, man! Let’s make some rabokki – I have some tteokbokki left over to use with it. Let’s cook! ...see full post

#4541: Uni-President Science Noodle (Hot Pot Version) – Taiwan

#4541: Uni-President Science Noodle - Taiwan

One of these days after a few more packaging designs for this one come out, I may have to do a special Definitive Guide to this stuff. What we have here is a snack noodle. It’s seasoned and simply a snack. I’ve had it a few times – once with a wizard on the pack, one with Santa Claus. The designs are usually whimsical and interesting. They’re mainly for kids, I’m guessing. Well, let’s go ahead and give it a go! ...see full post

#4539: Daebak Seaweed Flavour Soup Noodle – Malaysia

#4539: Daebak Seaweed Flavour Soup Noodle - Malaysia

There’s a few varieties in this Daebak range – and I’ll be trying them all, starting with this one! These are developed and coceived in South Korea by Shinsegae Food and produced by Mamee Doubledecker. I’ve had some of the Daebak pack version in the past, but it looks like the packaging and varieties have almost all changed – new stuff to try! Really excited about this. Let’s give seaweed soup noodle a try! ...see full post

#4528: Wang Malatang Udon – United States

#4528: Wang Malatang Udon - United States

A week. Last week I mean. Feeling crummy. Started Sunday and went on until Thursday. Then Friday happened and it was like I was pretty much at 100% again, which was really nice. Went out for a nice walk, then went out shopping. I definitely wanted to see what was up at Asian Family Market – the next day would be Lunar New Year. Got a few things, this being one of them. Looks interesting; let’s check it out! ...see full post

#4525: Nissin Top Ramen Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup – United States

#4525: Nissin Top Ramen Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup - United States

Back in mid 2018, I reviewed this right after their ‘new recipe’ change for review #2910. Around that time, it seemed that US manufacturers decided to change the product names of economy pillow packs that were initially known as ‘Oriental’ flavor to Soy Sauce. The term ‘Oriental’ has come under fire in recent years, hence the change. What does Oriental mean? Basically it derives from Latin, meaning ‘of the east’ – the opposite being Occidental being ‘of the west.’ From what I’ve gathered from running the Ramen Junkie facebook group for a while as this has come up from time to time is that many things and businesses will use the term; ‘insert city name here’ Oriental Market for example, however it isn’t a term to be used for people, at least that’s what I found. I read an L.A. Times article about this very subject that I thought was very interesting – you can read it here. One particular quote from the author I found fascinating was ‘A funny thing I noticed is that my Caucasian colleagues, not my Asian colleagues, are most eager to remove Oriental from public discourse.’ ...see full post