The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
A couple days ago, I was speaking to my son Andy about cooking and brought up bread machines and the joys of making bread; how crafting a loaf of bread using basic ingredients is a lot of fun. Well, I hadn’t done so in quite a while, so I figured I’d go ahead and do it, and what better ramen bread to make but something Taiwanese?
Here’s another one of Kung Fu Noodles’ tasty varieties – and it’s got the goose oil! It’s rich and tasty – let’s give it another go – now with a new sticker!
Well, they have this sticker with a guy on it, so I figure I’ll do this one again. I tried it last, deep in the heart of the pandemic. Mashed ginger – that sounds interesting – don’t remember how I felt about this one, so once I’m done with the review I’ll go have a look. Let’s try it!
This is one that was sent to me by Daniel over at Exotic Noods – thanks! I really like this one and I haven’t tried it yet. Why? I’ve never had anything by this brand. It’s made in Taichung – a place I visited in 2016 – and I visited a slew of noodle factories there. Let’s check it out!
What we have here is a super premium box. It’s pretty special and we don’t really see this much in the United States, if at all. The product comes with the soup ready to go – it’s a huge retort pouch. Then, the noodle is a dry noodle in a bag. That’s it – and the varieties like this I’ve reviewed in the past have been really quite amazing. This one sounds really quite good so let’s go ahead and give it a try!
The guys over at Mom’s Dry Noodle contacted me the other day mentioning something new was on the way – let’s check it out!
A couple of years ago, I got some neat samples from Kung Food of Taiwan – they made the Taiwan top ten and were the #1 newcomer to the list that year. Today, I’m revisiting them, and they’ve got a particularly interesting sticker on their packs! I’m not sure who the other guy is on there, but that’s me on there as well – looks pretty cool! Anyways, this is really great stuff – let’s see if it’s changed.
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!
Been lagging on doing top ten list editing – my apologies. The weather’s been really good for walking, and in May I did over 500 miles. I included a special post at the bottom about it. I also included something of a change from how I’ve been doing things as well involving AI. Anyways, this is the annual The Ramen Rater’s Global Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls – these are my favorite varieties out of review up to #4440 which are in the bowl style. Hope you enjoy! Top Ten Cups and Bottom Ten lists should be coming soon!
While we’re knee deep in 2023, I reviewed this one on January 4th – and actually it’s the first review I’ve done in 2023. Big thanks to the nice folks at A-Sha for sending this over – they said it’s available at Costco. Let’s give it a shot.
I just finished reviewing NoodleMix’s konjac noodle bowls – now time for their dry noodles. This is their ‘signature’ flavor – let’s give it a try!
So, what is a konjac noodle? It’s chief ingredient is a root which it is made from – one that has little tro no calories – so it’s great for people looking for a low calorie variety. This one sounds interesting. I do like sesame, however lion’s mane mushrooms are something I’ve no experience with. I suppose its time to give it a try!
Another year and it’s time for yet another top ten list. There’s a let of movement here, and a lot of favorites which have stood the test of time. This is a list of my favorite varieties from reviews up to #4440. If you’ve got a variety you think I should try or are a manufacturer who would like me to try your masterful creations – please drop me a line; I don’t know that in the 20+ years I’ve been sampling and opining about instant noodle products that I’ve refused a request for me to try a product. As I’ve said for years, my true favorite variety is the one I haven’t tried yet. With that, let’s look at these true diplomats of flavor in this, The Ramen Rater’s Global Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2023 Edition.
This is really quite interesting – I’ve never tried a noodle with boba! Boba is what you’d find in bubble tea. It’s big tapioca. Also, I’ve never heard of that particular ingredient paired with wasabi. This is going to be a trip – let’s try it!
Konjak noodles are made from a plant which has a neat property of being almost calorie-free. This company makes a slew of different neat varieties in the healthy vein. In this unboxing, I open up two different boxes from the Taiwanese manufacturer – check it out!
I was contacted recently by a company called ShanShi, asking if I would sample their product. I never turn down the chance to try something new (it’s what I do) so ofr course I accepted with gratitude. Here’s a little background from them – ‘It is a dish from QinWeiGuan. The Garlic Noodles comes with a very strong garlic taste and is quite spicy. It is an easy and fast way to enjoy garlic without the burden of peeling garlic and getting it ready to eat. About QinWeiGuan QinWeiGuan is a restaurant in Taipei that is established for almost 20 years. Inspiring from different Chinese traditional local cuisine, in addition with years of research and feedback from customers, QinWeiGuan has developed its unique taste that can only be found in our restaurant.’
This sounds really interesting – so this one has a special tea which comes from Chiayi, Taiwan. In their text, Little Couples mentions the ‘meticulous cultivation of tea leaves’ and that they’re really special. Let’s give it a try!
This one’s a big box – fancy stuff from Taiwan! These folks made the first goose oil noodle I’d tried as well as a slew of others. They’ve got something new and super premium as well – let’s check them out!
Well, it sounds like my name. Actually, we used to go to a restaurant in Seattle called Hon’s for that reason when I was very young. We also used to go to the Atlas restaurant – man that place was awesome. One of them literally looked like someone’s living room – it was heaven there. But the true heaven I miss is Taiwan. That place – only a couple weeks of my life I’ve spent there, but every second I knew more and more that’s exactly where I want to live. I’ll be back someday! Let’s try this straight noodle variety from my future home!
This is a new one – a pretty regular variety from A-Sha, however they’ve done a lower sodium version. Just over 1,000mg per pack – that’s really quite good. This is/will be available at Costco stores, so snatch some up while you can if you like dry noodles! Thanks to A-Sha for sending this over!
So I did this review the morning that my daughter Miriam was born five years ago today. Happy Birthday, Miri! I thought I’d repost it with a little update.
Yeah, you heard that right – $200! Actually, $199 – but close enough. This is an ultra premium variety. I generally tell people that one of the best thing if you’re sick with the flu is to curl up with a bowl of noodles. Well, that’s influenza. If you’re suffering from the needs associated with affluenza, this might be the noodle you’re looking for. I should mention that at the time of this posting, they’re running a sale of it, so it’s $99 bucks and free shipping. Good timing with the holidays and all. The day after this posts, the review for this will come out. Big thanks to A-Sha for sending this over – let’s check out the unboxing!
Usually, The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese list gets posted mid September. This year it’s been pretty busy around here. Better late than never, I say. These are my absolutely favorite Taiwanese varieties I’ve tried. All ratings are on the base product – before I add anything to make them look nice. This list is current as of review #4300. Want me to review your product? Contact me! Let’s check out The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2023 Edition!
Well, this is a horse of a different color! This isn’t exactly what I’d call a dessert noodle, but it is sweet. Check out the unboxing and you’ll see what they’ve sent soon in a full review . All I can say is that this is truly wonderful and fascinating!
I’ve had a couple from this range from Mom’s Dry Noodle in the past – they’ve been pretty good. Sesame oil and ginger sounds very tasty, and these are Vegan friendly. Let’s check this one out!
It’s probably a surprise to you, but I haven’t done a regular review in about a month. Why? Well, for almost two months I was doing 3 reviews a day, almost every day. So, I got way ahead of myself and decided to take a break. I also ran out of noodles and thought maybe I’d let my noodle supply grow a little bit, which it has. This is a variety that came in the last month. I did an interview for a fancy food publication called Magazine F from South Korea – they did a ramen themed issue. They hired a local photographer to do a photo shoot and I made some of this for it. It’s Friday right now – June 23rd. I’m guessing it’ll be late autumn when it comes out. Let’s check it out!
This is the third of atrio of varieties I found at 99 Ranch Market by Wu-Mu. This one sounds particularly interesting – let give it a try.
The last one of these I tried was quite good. This one is a sesame paste flavor. Many would liken it to peanut butter, but it’s a bit different usually. It’s really a nice way to liven up dry noodles, that’s for sure. I’ve had it cold on the streets of Taipei – and it was really delicious. I have to say, visiting Taiwan has been a highlight of my days on Earth. It’s a vibrant place full of new things to try. Yeah – don’t be a square – visit the beautiful island of Taiwan.
I did a Meet The Manufacturer series with this company about four years ago – really good stuff, especially with this range. This variety features a straight noodle and a sauce. Looking forward to seeing how it is.
Here’s the second in a series of four Hello Kitty & Friends varieties from A-Sha Dry Noodle of Taiwan. This one’s made for the US market. So far, impressed as the soy sauce one was excellent. Let’s continue on with some friendly scallion sauce noodle – should be able to find them at www.ashadrynoodle.com.
A number of years ago, I thought I’d see what would happen if I cooked up some noodles and ran a camera as I did it. It’s kind of funny – a lot of the large projects in my life have started with ‘let’s see what happens.’ I had thought for years the idea of shooting video while I cooked noodles for reviews was a purely idiotic idea; I would have to edit every video, which would take so much more time than the way I did things. Well, I found a way around that.
Okay so if you’re me, you probably don’t know what’s going on here. I’ll admit it – I’m 47 and not hip to current things as I suppose I should be. So here goes – there’s a K-POP band called BTS. Them, I’ve heard of, although I don’t know if I’ve heard their music. Then there’s LINE, which I think is a social media or messagiong platform? Then there’s BT21 which from what I’m getting are emoji/sticker characters from LINE inspired by BTS. Please correct me if I’m wrong and my apologies – I’m acronym challenged. But what I do know is I do like A-Sha noodles, so these should be pretty good and I’m really looking forward to reviewing them. Let’s check out the unboxing.
I’ve tried a lot of different Taiwanese dry noodle varieties over the years, but this one is very different. It contains Alishan Oolong Tea which sounds exotic and fancy. The folks who run Little Couples are from Chiayi, Taiwan where the tea is meticulously cultivated. Let’s check out this new variety!
So the last one of these I tried ended up being a hellstorm of Sichuan peppercorn I think. I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure it was. This one’s got a big vinegar sachet, which is undoubtedly full of black vinegar which will provide a sour aspect. Let’s give ‘er a go.
Wei Lih is probably most well known for their Wei Lih Men, a variety which has both a soup and a noodle with black bean paste. I’ve never seen this variety before, and it’s been a while since I’ve reviewed anything new from them – or at least new to me. Excited to try this – let’s check it out!
This is the third of three varieties from this company and I’m very curious. This one has a lot of sachets with it – a lot. Check them out below! Let’s give it a go!
Here’s a big box with two servings. This looks really fancy – curious about it – let’s give it a try!
Here’s one that came from Daniel over at www.exoticnoods.com – check ’em out – you can use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount, too! So I saw these at a local Asian market and was curious, but didn’t want to buy a multipack, so receiving this was really great. Taiwanese dry noodles. Let’s check ’em out!
The guy in the corner says ‘hey check this out’ and hey I will buddy just hold on a second! I’ve had duck and pork blood many times in the past. While many Westerners might think this is far too exotic and wouldn’t ever think of trying a dish with blood as it’s main feature, let me tell you a little something about it. Pork blood cake in Taiwan is exquisite. It’s a little wonderful square with a very rich and tasty flavor. Duck blood is a bit different, but very, very rich. Coagulated duck blood is popular in white curry in Malaysia as well, and pork blood is popular in dishes from Thailand and Vietnam too. The last Taiwanese duck blood noodle I tried was exquisite; let’s see how this one is!
Got a new one the other day that the folks over at A-Sha Dry Noodle sent. I really don’t know anything about it other than that they were interested in me trying it. Looks really good with that chunky paste on top – let’s give it a try!
