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Well folks, we’re in the home stretch to the 2,000th review. To be honest, I never had a clue I would be reviewing instant noodles every day – never in a million years. Anyways, still quite a few to go so let’s check this one out. Kapitan Kari literally means ‘Captain Curry’ – kind of like the king of curry. Let’s rip this one open and give it a try!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This one looks really fancy – the whole thing is shiny and gold! Let’s have a look inside!
Got an email a couple months ago from Casey P. in Hong Kong. He’s been following the blog for years and wanted to send some things for me to review and this is one of them – thanks again! Today, we have Nissin Cup Noodle Sio. Sio is also known as Shio, a classic ramen variety. Let’s have a look and see what’s going on under the lid.
Okay so you might be wondering – beef tongue shio mayo ramen – that couldn’t possibly mean… Yes. Where did I get it though?
Today, we come to the end of this Meet The Manufacturer with Myojo of Singapore. Lots of great new flavors to try in this one! Todaym we end things off with Mee Poh Dry. I did some scrouing of the Internet and found that Mee Poh often is served with fish ball, so I’m pleased at that since I love using fish ball – and the ones I have in my freezer are indeed from Singapore. Let’s dig in!
I tried the spicy mushroom pack version a few days ago and really liked it – I usually am not a fan of mushrooms, but the flavor in that one was really quite enjoyable. Today it’s the bowl version – how will it fare? Let’s have a look!
Lobster instant noodle have always kind of solidified my thoughts on the instant noodle’s gourmetness. Here in the United States, lobster is a very expensive item on the menu, and seeing it in an instant noodle truly speaks to the versatility of instant nooldes to convey exotic and tasty flavors of many foods. Let’s see how this special variety from Myojo stacks up!
I’m a huge fan of curry – always have been. Today, we have a spicy curry bowl from Myojo. I’m also a fan of spicy things, so I’m hoping this is a good combo. Let’s have a look inside!
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the spicy stuff. Also it should be known though that I’m not usually a big fan of mushrooms. I will try anything and everything I can get my hands on though – and in the last year or so, I’ve been finding mushrooms a bit more to my liking. My fingers are crossed for this one! Let’s check it out.
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!
Here’s another one I got from Casey in Hong Kong – thank you! This one’s going to be interesting – not only because I like Hakata varieties, but because I’m videotaping the creation of this review. There’ll be a full video of the beginning to end of my review, editing and presentation process! Hope you enjoy! Let’s have a look at Itsuki Hakata Ossyoi!
Here’s the last I have of the new packaged varieties of MyKuali products. Before, this was called Hokkien Prawn, but now it appears they’ve gone to a more streamlines title and packaging. Prawn Mee as it’s known in Southeast Asia is a spicy and prawn filled extravaganze of flavor and wonder. If you like prawn, this is definitely something you should enjoy! Let’s look within!
I got some new samples from Nissin USA a few weeks ago (thank you!) of some varieties of Nissin’s Raoh from Japan that are now available in the USA. Raoh (meaning King( is a premium line. At this point, you can only get them on Amazon. Not sure if that will change though. So Umami. This is something interesting – first, let’s have a look at what wikipedia has to say about umami –
This is yet another of the samples I received upon returning from my trip to Thailand to visit the MAMA noodles company in May. These are for the Cambodian market. MAMA’s Green Curry hit the top ten in this year’s annual list – excellent stuff! I should note today is the first review I’ve done in a few days. Why? Well, I should start by mentioning that this will come out a few weeks after today – I am way ahead, which is nice. A couple days ago, we had a huge windstorm here. Gusts up to 70MPH – in some remote areas they were over 100MPH! Trees fell not only from the wind, but from all the recent rain which made the ground soft. In my county, at one point there were over 200,000 people without electricity. We were without power for 29 hours – everything in our refrigerator has gone bad – including all of my garnishes! Luckily, I hadn’t gotten anything new and was due to get some things, but still a lot of food will be getting thrown away. The only plus of the event was that I got to haul out my shortwave radio and was able to pick up broadcasts from Slovakia, Cuba and Japan to name a few! Usually there’s so much interference that I can’t receive anything. Anyways, power came back on last night! Hooray!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This is the last of the ones Javier sent me – it’s been a lot of fun reviewing these! Send more anytime! This one is wantan men – just think of wonton mein – wonton noodle! Let’s delve into this bowl!
I reviewed the original version of this a long time ago and really liked it. This is a new version for export – has gotten quite a facelift since review #725! This was sent to me by Michael C. of Eastland Foods! Thank you! Let’s check it out!
I got some new samples from Nissin USA a few weeks ago (thank you!) of some varieties from Japan that are now available in the USA. At this piont, you can only get them on Amazon. Not sure if that will change though. So Umami. This is something interesting – first, let’s have a look at what wikipedia has to say about umami –
So the number one on my annual Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list got some new clothes! Why do I like this one so much? Well, when I got to visit the island of Langkawi, Malaysia (which is a stone’s throw south of Thailand), I got to try all sorts of tasty foods. One was tom yum. I got to try it a couple of ways – check it out!
Here’s a new one that you should be able to find pretty easily in the store if you’re in the United States. Nissin has been coming out with a few new varieties lately and this is one of them – let’s have a peek under the hood of this tray!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! Today it’s one from Seven-Eleven in Japan. Seven-Eleven does partnerships with different companies (this on is made by Nissin) and has varieties they make only available there. This is Sumire Ramen, a miso variety. Let’s take a look!
I think one of my favorite things are noodles that have something differe – like these. Purple noodles are pretty fascinating – first off, they’re purple. I remember hearing about ‘Space Potatoes’ a while back – somehow crossing the stuff that makes eggplants purple with a potato. I think blue potatoes would be kind of neat, but how would they taste? Well, let’s see how these noodles taste!
Today, we have the last review of the Meet The Manufacturer for Vit’s. It’s been fun – lots of strong flavors and flavors is Malaysia! Penang White Curry is one of my favorites – let’s try the first one I’ve ever seen with fresh noodles.
Re-reviews are kind of a trip sometimes; they don’t get a number, but they get another try. Usually they end up getting the same score, but sometimes they do a little better or worse. I kind of doubt there’ll be any change – had this one for the first time 40 reviews ago at #1791. Let’s give it a look!
So these new Taste of Malaysia varieties from Vit’s come in two ways: a fried instant noodle accompanying a paste or a fresh ramen pouch with a paste. It’s a very early morning here – we had to be up at 3am! In fact, my first taste of the day was this laksa at 5:42am! Let’s check out this new one from Vit’s!
Here’s another one of the new premium line from Vit’s. The package contains two individual servings (2 noodle pouches, 2 paste sachets). If you like sweet prawn flavor, Hokkien Mee is definitely up your alley! Let’s look inside.
Penang White Curry was a flavor that really piqued my interest in Malaysia back in 2013. I was accustomed to curry flavors, but this was something entirely different. Green, red, yellow – those were all familiar, but white? Nowadays, there are many, many varieties of Penang White Curry instant noodles on the market – let’s check out this new one from Vit’s!
Here’s something fancy – asam laksa ramen! Vit’s has a ramen line which uses these pouches of fresh ramen noodles – haven’t seen this kind of thing before with Malaysian flavors. Here’s a little about what asam laksa is from wikipedia:
This is the first of a new premium line Vit’s is manufacturing called Taste Of Malaysia. I’ll say right now that I really like Hokkien Mee, but many might not know what it is. Here’s some good info from the Penang Hawker Food Blog:
Today, we finish off this trifecta by Zeng Noodles with a straight Sichuan Pepper variety.
Here’s the back of the package (click image to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add noodle block to 800ml boiling water and cook for 5 1/2 minutes. Drain. Add in contents of sachets. Stir and enjoy!
I think when people here in the United States usually think of something sesame flavor, they think immediately of sesame oil. In Taiwan, sesame is something much different; sesame paste like tahini and peanut combine. The first time we found this out was when my wife got some noodles a few years ago that said sesame flavor and were like this – she’s not a fan of peanut butter, so it didn’t work out so well for her. Very curious about this one though – let’s check it out!
In the past year, I’ve tried quite a few varieties with Sichuan Pepper in them and really gotten a feel for this kind of flavor. In a way, Sichuan Pepper has almost a minty taste to it; it’s really quite different and unique. Let’s check it out!
Being a superfan of all things instant noodle, I have newsfeeds I check daily on my phone pertaining to them. I saw an article about Nongshim’s Jjawang in the Korea Times New York edition. It mentioned with it’s release, jjajang variants are flying off the shelves in NY and NJ. I figured hey – I better find this stuff!
It’s always awesome when I go to the store with my poor vision and my wife sees something and asks me if I’ve tried it. Sure enough, this was one of those occasions. I recently had the Sichuan Baijia Artificial Spicy Fei Chang a couple of weeks ago – it had been on my bottom ten list for years and really kind of one of the main reasons I wasn’t reviewing Baijia stuff so much. After not trying it in 5 years, I found that my tastebuds had done a bit of a metamorphosis. Where I found this more traditional Chinese flavor horrible before, I found it much more to my liking. So now at the store, I’m looking at Baijia in a different way. Today, I’ll try something I’ve not seen before – a broad noodle. I’ve seen broad noodles before, but not this broad – you’ll see what I mean. I want to thank Bobby Y. for helping me decipher the cooking instructions – hope the Blue Jays did good in the ALCS and won the World Series!
I’ve seen this one online a few times recently, but never in the store – until a couple of weeks ago, that is! I really liked the pack version of this one – made the 2014 Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list – the first vegetarian one to do so. The pack was made in South Korea – but this cup is made here in the United States at Nongshim America down in sunny Rancho Cucamonga, California. I went and visited Nongshim America in 2012 – was really neat – big factory and nice people! Let’s check out this cup and see how it compares to the pack version.
This is one I found at 7-11 in Bankok, Thailand dur the trip in May. I wish there were instant noodle tie-ins with 7-11 here in the United States – it would be really awesome! I think if you’re lucky, you might find 3 or 4 instant noodle variants by the same brand in 7-11’s here. Anyways, this one looks interesting. I read that this is sukiyaki flavor, however the Thai have a twist on the Japanese version. Thai Suki as it is known has more flavor closely knit to Thai traditional tastes. Let’s have a look!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This one says got Chinese cabbage with a sweet soup and a deep flavor which is from something called ‘rajan,’ a strong and spicy red pepper seasoning fermented with rice koji. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one James B. sent me from The Netherlands – thanks again! I’ve reviewed these varieties in cup form, but not the packs and I’m really pleased to be able to. These come from Nissin Germary! Let’s have a look!
There’s a new Asian Food Center on 130th & Aurora – went there hunting for some of the fruit I got to try in Thailand and found mangosteen – and quite a few instant noodle varieties, this being one of them. It’s pretty far and few between that I find Master Kong varieties – always kind of a treat! I want to thank Bobby Y. from Canada for help in translation on this one! Let’s have a look at this one from China!
As most of you should know, thishas been one of my all time favorites in the past couple years. When it came out, it was a real game-changer; so much so that over 20 different manufacturers started making their own white curry variants to compete. MyKuali has decided to standardize their packaging and now this is how the product looks. Let’s have a look inside and see if anything else has changed.
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! From what I’m reading, it sounds like this one has a tonkotsu broth – with pork bone flavor! Let’s check it out!
