Category: * Stars 3.1 – 4.0

#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

#4500: Nissin Miojo Lamen Doce Sabor Beijinho – Brazil

#4500: Nissin Miojo Lamen Doce Sabor Beijinho - Brazil

A long time coming, this one. A reader named Cian sent me this one (thanks again!) as well as a few other Brazilian varieties. He sent the chocolate version of this which was a real score – but this one led me down a research rabbit hole, but yesterday I caught the rabbit. Beijinho is a Brazilian treat – see those little balls in the bowl? Beijinho is basically condensed milk and powdered sugar mixed with unsweetened coconut, chilled, made into balls, and then rolled in more unsweetended coconut and topped with a clove. Problem is the cloves alone were kind of spendy and all the coconut you find here is sweetened. It seemed that making it myself would be a little tricky as well as expensive. I asked in local groups and people mentioned Kitanda, a Brazilian cafe/bakery/mini store in Kirkland, Washington. First time we went, no dice – they only had the chocolate ones. The second time, however – they had what I was looking for, but sans clove and that’s what I’ll be using for garnish. So, let’s do up this 4500th review! ...see full post

#4498: Nissin Miojo Turma Do Chico Bento Sabor Caldinho De Feijao – Brazil

#4498: Nissin Miojo Turma Do Chico Bento Sabor Caldinho De Feijao - Brazil

Pretty stoked – found this locally in Kirkland (no, not Costco, but the city of which is where Costco started, actually) at a coffee shop/store called Kitanda. What’s kind of a bummer though is that caldinho de feijao is a creamy black bean soup and what it appears is a standard garnish is nothing I have in my kitchen. Hmm… Well, I’ll make do with what I’ve got . ...see full post

#4492: Nissin Miojo Turma Da Monica Sabor Galinha Suave – Brazil

#4492: Nissin Miojo Turma Da Monica Sabor Galinha Suave - Brazil

I’m very happy to say that I found this one locally! Brazilian instant noodles only a town over! So, I’m trying to find something specific to go with review #4500 – abd the only place I can get it is a coffee joint called Kitanda. Really great place with coffee and acai smoothies and a baklery and a small grocery selection – all Brazilian. They’ve got instant noodles! What I’m looking for is something called Beijinho – so that’s a giveaway for what it’s going to be. Anyways, let’s do up this one which is flavor of young hen. ...see full post

#4477: Norita Lo Mein Dan Dan Noodle Spicy Teriyaki – United States

#4477: Norita Lo Main Dan Dan Noodle Spicy Teriyaki - United States

This was an interesting find in the Asian foods section of Fred Meyer on 164th in Lynnwood, Washington. Never heard of this brand; only thing I can think of with this name is Pat Norita who played Mister Miyagi in The Karate Kid. He was also on M*A*S*H a few times. Oh snap – that’s Pat Morita not Norita. Anyways, this sounds interesting and worth a try, so let’s give it a try. Made in China for a distributor in Kentucky. ...see full post

#4468: Vite Ramen Beef Pho v3.0 – United States

#4468: Vite Ramen Beef Pho v3.0 - United States

This is another departure from the more Japanese styled flavors they had originally and I’m really curious as to what it will taste like. I’m doing a few beef reviews this morning – I tend to cook a certain protein and then see if I’ve got some of the same flavor profiles to go along with it and I have three. So, let’s start out on the healthy end of the stick! ...see full post

#4445: Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup 45th Anniversary Chicken Flavor – United States

#4445: Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup 45th Anniversary Chicken Flavor - United States

This is a special commemorative packaging for the 45th anniversary of Maruchan in the United States. Want to learn more about this iconic range of Ramen Noodle Soup products? Look no further than my Definitive Guide To Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup! Alright, let’s peel back the wraps and give it a try. Note – the only thing different here as far as I know is the packaging. ...see full post

#4444: Aces Sriracha Ramen Noodle Soup Original – United States

#4444: Aces Sriracha Ramen Noodle Soup Original - United States

Well, the name Aces reminds me of playing cards, and the number 4 sort of looks like an A missing a leg, and 4444 looks like 4 of a kind, so I thought this seemed a fitting review number for this one. My wife said something earlier about the number four being unlucky – never heard that before. Well, I like the number four so there. Let’s try ...see full post

#4441: A-Sha BT21 Dan Dan Noodle With BT21 Sauce – United States

#4441: A-Sha BT21 Dan Dan Noodle With BT21 Sauce - United States

First off, thanks to the folks at A-Sha USA for sending these over! There are two different boxes, four varieties in total. I thought I’d go with this box first. So, I live under a rock; I’m not exceedingly hip to things that aren’t noodle related or politics related. God, I’m old. I do know there is a Korean group called BTS that’s quite popular, and a messaging service called LINE. Well, LINE did a collab with BTS and made BT21 characters, and A-Sha collaborated with LINE and made these noodles featuring these characters. ...see full post

#4430: Nongshim Shin Kimchi Big Bowl – South Korea

#4430: Nongshim Shin Kimchi Big Bowl - South Korea

I’ve a couple fascinating varieties from the Shin range by Nongshim which came by way of  The Fat Hipster – thanks man! He’s got a YouTube channel where does reviews you should check out. This is one I though was only in the UK but from the labeling it’s distributed throughout Europe – there fore its getting the South Korea stamp as it’s not just for one country but many.  Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

#4420: Samyang Buldak Cheese Artificial Spicy Chicken Flavor Ramen – United States

#4420: Samyang Buldak Cheese Artificial Spicy Chicken Flavor Ramen - United States

So I’ve not reviewed this one in a long time. Way back when it was introduced, it had a black background, then changed to cheese colored to lessen confusion. That was back when the import version looked like the original Korean version with the Hangul text. Well, this is the current version for the US market. They’ve changed the recipe for a few of these and so curious about how this one is these days. Let’s find out. Oh – and by the way – this isn’t chicken flavored – it’s based on the spicy sauce you put on Korean BBQ chicken, so calling this chicken flavored is like calling Sweet Baby Ray’s beef flavored – but that explanation would really make for a long title. Ok let’s do this. ...see full post