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Here’s the second of the 99 Ranch Market varieties. I should mention they’ve also got packs of just noodles in different styles like buckwheat, etc. This is by my calculations probably made by Paldo Vina in Vietnam. Let’s give it a try – jjamppong is one of my favorite varieties.
This is pretty neat. I started reviewing instant noodles in 2002, however I only did about 50-60 reviews by 2010. Well, in 2010, Kit and I moved to Edmonds, Washington. It was within a short walk of a 99 Ranch Market location. I’d never had such easy access to instant noodles before, and that’s what caused me to go full on noodle reviewing at that point. This is the first 99 Ranch Market branded instant noodle product I’ve ever seen. It’s made in Vietnam, and I know there’s an arm of Paldo called Paldo Vina over there and I’m going to bet that’s who made these for them. This is called private label. Anyways, pretty cool – there’s also a jjambbong and I’ll be review that soon.
I was approached by Maruchan recently asking if I’d like to review a couple additions to their Yakisoba Japanese Homestyle Noodles range. I’ve been reviewing them here and there for years, and thought since I have samples of their current range, why not go and do a special guide to the current varieties and ones that no longer exist. So, we’ll start with the current varieties and then go backwards after that to now discontinued varieties. Each one will have a link to the full review. I sent some questions to Maruchan regarding the initial release of these varieties and other things, but never got a reply. If I do, I’ll include these in this guide. Let’s check out all the Yakisoba varieties!
Well, this is it as far as I know. I’ve tried this before (it said new at the time, no longer does) and I wasn’t happy with the finished pics and its possible its changed so here we go. I may do a mukbang as it appears I didn’t in the past.
I realized that to have my complete Definitive Guide I needed this one I hadn’t reviewed. Tried the local store. Nope. Tried a Dollar Tree. Not this one but a different one I wanted to redo. A couple days later, I decided to try the local store again. Found it! So that rounds out the currently available varieties. Completion is good for the soul. Let’s cook it up – I know I really like the teriyaki beef, so let’s give this a try.
This is interesting. The other day I told someone bulgogi isn’t usually in instant noodles. As a soup? I’m skeptical on this one to be honest. WEell, let’s see what happens.
Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Contains beef. To prepare, add room temp water to line and clear sachet contents. Microwave for 4 minutes at 1000W. Add powder base. Finally, stir and enjoy!
Wow it sure has been awhile – repackaging and over 14 years! I thought hey – I’m planning on doing a Definitive Guide to these, why not revisit chicken. My last sampling was review #215. There’s something about these trays that drives me nuts. Now, they’re not designed with the thought that there’s a guy somewhere will be scanning the bottom of the tray. Well, this guy here does and it’s horror. They’re shrink wrap, so they dont want to lay flat and fold over, etc. They also get tons of reflective glare. Anyways, yeah. But whaddaya do. Best ya can. Let’s cook it up!
It was 2011. Nobody’d heard of COVID?. Everything was somewhat peaceful as far as I remember. 13 years ago. That was the last time I’d tried this one. There are a ton of these Yakisoba varieties – some are no longer made – the taco one was my 1000th review. Four Cheese, Tomato & Basil, Sweet * Sour – if you want to see them all here you go. But today, it’s cheese! Let’s cook it up.
Hey look – another new one! I’m thinking maybe I’ll have to sauté some chicken and add in some Mandarin orange… Very curious how this noodle will impart such a flavor; in a good way, or like some Tang powder mixed in. Let’s find out.
Hey look – a new one! Big thanks to Maruchan for sending – they sent me a nice assortment of these – maybe time to do a Definitive Guide on these hmmm… This one sounds like fun – let’s do it up.
If you’ve thought ‘hey I wonder what a Funyuns and Maruchan Instant Lunch had a baby, what would it taste like?’ then you’re a very strange individual. But that’s what we have here. Granted, these aren’t the product of some strange snack mating ritual, but hey it’s a snack nonetheless. I’ve seen them just about everywhere lately. I’ve also seen people’s thoughts on them, ranging from dislike to completely evangelism. Well, here’s an unboxing time of the product accompanied by a taste test. Thank you to @officialfunyuns and Maruchan for scooting this my way!
Maruchan USA reached out to me recently and asked if I’d like to be among the first to try their new Yakisoba varieties – and of course my answer was yes. They sent a mega box of stuff and here we’ll delve into this range.
Well, a couple reviews ago I started with how my back was screwed up from doing a lot of work on the weekends setting things up. Well, it still is sore, and today I planned on walking a lot but there were three D’s that kind of ruined that plan… Damn cold, damn windy, damn rainy. So, damn. I walked to the local store and got a couple things including this one to review. I don’t think I’ve reviewed it in a great while, so here it is and here I go.
Here’s the second one I got yesterday. I walked over to Lake Forest Park – about three miles from here I’m guessing. The store I got it at is called Albertsons. It’s weird; I’ve noticed different stores have different moods. This particular store is weird. I waited for a cashier at the check out for a couple minutes who finally appeared and told me they were busyt talking to another employee about their father’s salmon recipe. ‘Great’ I thought; ‘I have been waiting here…’ Then she starts talking about lawn implements and asks me how to fix her lawnmower. I just want to buy this instant noodle and leave. What also is strange at this store is that you get halfway towards the back, cellphone reception disappears. But yeah; the store is strange – it’s like when the new guy in towan walks into a saloon in a western and the music stop and everyone looks at him. Anyways, I’ve reviewed the pack version and it was quite good. Hoping this one is as good if not better. Let’s find out.
This last weekend I redid my desk and mounted my computer underneath it. It went really well, but jacked up my back. Yesterday, I decided to take it easy (well, I didn’t) and walked to another town and got a couple varieties to review. This was one of them. Hopefully it’s enjoyable. We shall see…
Here’s the last one I found on our recent run over to HMart. Well, all the other iterations of Bulramen haven’t been my favorites, that’s for sure. Hoping this one does a little better but not expecting it to. But I’ll give it a chance.
Here’s one that you might find on an instant noodle aisle. It was sent by James from Lakeside, California. It looks like I’m just about out of varieties to review at this point here in February 2024… Hmm… That kind of works out alright as tomorrow is Friday and I’ve done 3 varieties a day every day this week and a couple days last week, trudging towards the big 5000. Chocolate rice porridge is most certainly not ramen, but it’s worth a look. So let’s look.
Okay so I found this at HMart and I believe (could be wrong) it’s from the same people that make Bulramen. It’s certainly made in South Korea, but for sale in the United States and packaged for that reason. Anyways, let’s try some beef flavor noodle.
Well, here we go again – and I like that. This is a fascinating newcomer to the range of unique Cup Noodles for customers in the United States. Pumpkin Spicy, Breakfast, Everything Bagel, and now some s’mores. I really enjoy these new varieties to try – they’ve been popping off with new and unique varieties in Japan for years – neat to see new stuff here in the USA! I’m really curious how this one will be. Let’s give it a go.
I kept seeing these on Amazon and so I decided to reach out to the company for samples, which they kindly sent – thanks! Noodle Revolution is really a fascinating product. These are noodles made almost entirely from egg white. I’ll show you what I did with them in this unboxing. You can purchase them here. The ramen style thicker, vermicelli thinner. I thought upon stirring, the vermicelli would just turn to mush and break up, but that certainly wasn’t the case. Not at all rubbery, with a good mouthfeel and softness. I was really impressed by this – check em out!
Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different additions to instant noodles and chili oils, pastes, and crisps have become a bit of a thing more people are becoming interested in, as have I. This one is a Malaysian type – hae bee hiam. Really great stuff and I’ll go into it here. You can pick up some from Homiah! Big thanks to Homiah for sending some along in anticipation of my upcoming new list!
Another find at HMart. Found the pack versions there as well. The packs were certainly underwhelming; both insofar as flavor and heat, however the noodle was pretty good. Let’s give this one a shot.
Instant noodle cups are pretty easy to find, take up a small amount of room, and – especially for camping folks – is easily dealt with when done. I’ve had people come to me with tears in their eyes exclaiming ‘Sir! It says 2025 – but it’s 2024!’ Well, it’s the second half of 2024, so this list will be active more of 2025 than 2024. Honestly, I adopted this way of doing things when a couple of people made very good points about it. Unfortunately, once I let the genie out of the bottle on this way of doing things, rolling it back was quite impossible. So, there you go.
This is the second variety I’ve found recently. The other was spicy, this one is not. If all goes well, my daughter will get to try this one for lunch – first day of ‘mid winter break’ for the kiddos today.
When I initially heard about Ramen Bae and their products, I was very curious. Since then, I’ve tried their great array and I’m very impressed. Here’s three new offerings that are really quite good! Let’s check ’em out.
Hooray for cold noodles! Nongshim has flirted with a few cold noodle varieties – they had a buckwheat zaru soba a few years ago. I think their Doong Ji is really good as well. This one’s new and I am guessing somewhat akin to a hiyashi chuka soba. Let’s give it a whirl.
Yes, made in Thailand but most definitely packaging for export to the United States. I reviewed this waaaaaaay back – September 2010. I’m guessing a few changes have occurred in the last 13+ years. Let’s give it a try as I see people trying this from time to time.
Was surprised to find this where I did but there it was so I got this and the non-spicy version. Maruchan had a bit of a fanfare about this – that it was bringing back something people were clamoring for. I completely expected their often asked about tomato flavored Ramen Noodle Soup, but this ain’t that which I think really disappointed a lot of folks. Regardless, this sounds interesting so let’s give it a try.
Here’s the second variety they sent. This one has bits of seafood as well as a vegetable mix – let’s give it a try with a seafood instant.
Was asked by a reader if I’d tried this product before and I hadn’t, so I reached out to the company and they sent some samples – thanks! A lot of the questions I getg regularly are about what to add to instant noodles to spruce them up. Dried vegetables come up from time to time, so this sounds like a good bet. Let’s find out!
It’s only been a couple of times I’ve been sent instant noodles that are available only if you get in trouble and go to prison. Both times have been from folks who work in correctional institutions and want to remain anonymous, so thank you anonymous donors! This video below will go over four varieties you might have never heard about unless you have been to jail/prison. They have a lot of clear space on them to dissuade folks from trying to hide stuff in them to bring in – drugs, weapons, etc. I’m really excited to receive these and not have to go to prison to try them – I’ve tried contacting Maruchan’s distributor in the past and gotten a firm ‘no’ as to getting samples. ‘You’re saying I have to go to prison to sample the product?’ ‘Yes. We won’t send you any.’ Rude! Well, again thank you to my anonymous friend who sent me these and didn’t make me adopt a life of crime to give them a taste. If you’ve had to be on ice for a period of time and tried these varieties, how did you prepare them? I’ve done prison ramen burritos aplenty, but I kind of want to do something different. Please comment below with the particular variety and what you did with them. On with the video!
Well, the kids are back in school and now I have a lot of time at home. I have a few things to get done – I’ve taken the last few weeks off of reviewing – in fact, I haven’t done a review since May 28th! But I’m going to get back into it very soon – possibly tomorrow… It’s nice – I go on a big kick of reviewing for a while then slack off. Even though I’ve been skipping my reviing as of late, I’m still over 100 reviews ahead, which is nice. These nice varieties donated by James will be among the first to review, and should be posted in maybe November or December. Let’s take a look!
Here’s one that came by way of James from Lakeside, California – thanks again! These can be found with the instant noodles however certainly aren’t. These are made in the US but for the Filipino crowd here. Let’s get it started.
Here’s the third of the Yoko Street fresh varieties they shipped – figured I’d better cook them up quick as they’re fresh. This one sounds particularly nice! Let’s get started.
Here’s the second of the three varieties that Yoko Street sent me – thanks! This sounds quite interesting – curry! I’m a curry junkie, so I have high hopes. Let’s cook it up!
Yoko Street reached out to me recently and asked if I’d be interested in sampling their ramen products. They ship fresh and so that sounded interesting. I’ve seen quite a few of these kind of everythig you need setups in past years but it’s been a little while – so of course I was interested. Well, let’s put it together and give some tonkotsu shoyu a try!
This is a list I come out with every year – what’s different this year is now there’s a new rule: only one product per company. Seems fair to me – and also a way for more things to be seen. I don’t think it’s a bad idea and honestly, I think insofar as this list goes, it won’t be very hard to pull off. Anyways, here we go with The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2024 Edition!
Here’s one I think came by way of James from Lakeside, California – thanks! This is the second of two from this brand. Sounds good – let’s give it a go.
Here’s one that came by way of James from Lakeside, California – thanks again! This is the second of two varieties he sent. Let’s give it a go!
