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In the last two weeks, I’ve been reviewing varieties from far away – but today it’s time to have one from here in the United States! This is Maruchan’s new variety – chicken tortilla! Got an email from a friend at Maruchan telling me they had a new Instant Lunch variety that they’d like to send me. So, here it is! Sounds like an interesting one – let’s have a look!
Got an email from my Maruchan contact asking if I’d like to try a new Instant Lunch variety they’ve come up with!
It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed Nongshim Shin Black – and it’s gotten a packaging facelift. This is made here in the USA in Rancho Cucamonga, California! This is the ‘flagship’ of their new line of ‘Black Class Noodle Soup’ varieties. This one’s got neww clothes – but is it still the same underneath? Let’s have a look at this dressed up pack of Nongshim Shin Black noodles!
I’ve been asked by quite a few people in the last few months to re-review this one. It sounds like a lot of you really enjoy this one! One thing to note is that I’ve also been asked repeatedly about instant varieties that are vegetarian. Most instant noodles made in the USA will contain meat and/or seafood. Why? Well, it’s pretty hard to import chicken and beef into the United States. Standards for agricultural products are pretty strict, so the logic here is that if a foreign company builds a plant here, they don’t have to deal with these restrictions since they’re in the country, using US meat products in what they produce. Knowing this, if you stroll down the aisle of an Asian grocery store, you’ll see quite a few chicken, beef and other flavors which usually are imported and do not contain any beef, chicken or pork. So just a little tip from me – look and see where it’s made on the pack – it might have fish, but should be meat free. These noodles are made in Garden Grove, California. Southern California is the spot where most instant noodle companies that open up plants congregate – easy access to big seaports and centralized distribution has a lot (if not everything) to do with this. Anyways, let’s check out this much requested re-review of Sapporo Ichiban chicken noodles!
Here’s one that’s spent a little time in my noodle hamper. I’ve been wondering what flavor it might be, although it really doesn’t say. It’s manufactured in Thailand, but definitely for the US market. Let’s check out this microwavable instant ramen.
I thought today I would try this interesting variety. A lot of people are very health conscious these days and are looking for something that is also ‘Earth friendly.’ Well, here’s an option. This is a new brand I’ve never heard of before. There’s really no information about them online and their packaging has no information about where it’s made, nor a website to check out their company. Hmmm… Well, let’s have a look at this one – I’m really curious!
Quick2 is a new one from Nongshim America. The 2 has to do with the cooking time of two minutes. I find this one interesting; kind of a departure from their more premium lines and if you notice the color and lines, it more resembles a pack version of a Nongshim Bowl Noodle in graphic design. Let’s have a look at Nongshim Quick2 and see what’s inside!
A while back I reviewed the Myojo Men Black Seafood Tonkotsu. Well, this is the white creamy variety. Tonkotsu is usually made from pork bone broth – pork bones and boiled for quite a while to pull out the flavor, and it gets a milky color. This one’s manufactured in the United States by Myojo, and so pork products are present. Let’s see how this creamy tonkotsu variety stacks up/.
I had some leftover chicken and thought it’d be a good idea to make use of it. I reviewed the old version of this one quite a while back. This is the one with the new premium label on the package. It sounds good, but how does this Nissin Chow Mein taste? Let’s find out!
Gong Xi Fa Cai! A couple weeks ago, I got an email from my friend Zi Hua from Prima Taste in Sngapore inviting me to a lunar new year’s celebration. It sounded great, but Singapore is so far away and such short notice. I quickly realized I was being invited to a Singaporean event very near where I live! The Seattle Singaporeans Meetup Group holds an annual lunar new year celebration at a restaurant called China Harbor on Westlake down in Seattle. I happily accepted the invitation and yesterday got to attend!
Got a box the other day. I’d been talking with Nissin Foods USA about the photo contest and other things and they wanted to send some samples for one of today’s reviews involving Cup Noodles.
Before you go crazy and say ‘what you’ve never reviewed Shin Ramyun before,’ just listen for a second. So this is the new packaging they rolled out recently. I thought it was worth as whole new review as they’be had the old packaging on this one for eons and eons.
We heard the news about QZ8501 last night – very sad news indeed. We flew from Penang to Langkawi during our Malaysia trip on a bright red AirAsia jet. Today the red is gone. We send our hopes to the passengers crew and their families. Here is a live blog on news of the flight.
Got this one down in California during our summer trip! JFC distributes a lot of different products here in the USA from Japan and elsewhere. I’m curious what the actual brand here is. Those characters at the top look extremely familiar…
I believe my wife got me this one for Christmas last year – thanks sweetie! What’s so nice about instant noodles is that they have such a long shelf life, and so they can sit in my noodle hamper for a while before I have to get to them. Anyways, here’s one that sounds good today – Thai Pavilion Pad Thai. This one is made in Thailand but made for the US market. Let’s check it out!
On Friday, I conducted a little experiment: let’s have a look at what happens when we look at 6 months of images from instagram that have the hashtag #topramen. What I found were many comparisons of instant noodles to hair, mentions of poverty and many images of what people liked to pair with their instant noodles.
It’s been so long since I’ve reviewed a new Bowl Noodle! I remeber a few years ago I was hunting high and low for certain varieties, many long gone. I remember the beef anfd ginger flavor was pretty good! Then they switched over to these microwaveable versions instead of the foam bowls – and I like them better! Curious how this one will be.
Woot woot! Been following the San Francisco Giants all year long and here we are! usday’s the first game against the Kansas City Royals. It’s an even year – I think it’s gonna be another orange win!
Here’s an interesting one. Now ‘easy’ is English, ‘fideos’ is Spanish. Fideos means noodles. It looks like if you had it in reverse, with the first word Spanish and second English, you’d end up with ‘Fácil Noodles.’ I think Easy Fideos sounds a little better. Anyways, I’m hungry – the big posts I’ve been doing recounting my trip to Malaysia have been taking a long time every morning before I get to noodles! Let’s check it out!
Here’s a new one and it’s made here in the United States. Yep – there’s a Nongshim plant here in the US! I was able to visit them a couple years ago and it’s really neat – if you get a chance, you should check out their plant tours! Tonkotsu is a very standard variety of Japanese ramen, however this one’s got a spicy twist to it. Usually tonkotsu broth is made with pork bones that are boiled for a long time and this one does in fact contain pork. Let’s have a look!
After two weeks of Thai reviews, I thought I’d bring it on home. This is a new line by Nissin Foods USA – Easy Fideos! Fideos is Spanish for noodles and the flavors are designed to appeal to the Hispanic market. Anyways, let’s check it out!
I want to send a special thank you to Craig Y. over at Maruchan for facilitating the process of getting Instant Lunch California Vegetable into my hands! Much appreciated! I hunted high and low for these and couldn’t find them! There are lots of products sold around the United States – and some do better in some areas than others. A good example would be the King Cake. Most people where I live don’t know what a King Cake is, however folks in Louisiana definitely do – it’s a special cake enjoyed around Mardi Gras. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about King Cakes:
Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking for a couple varieties by Maruchan for a while and this is one of them. I want to thank Craig Y. and all the nice folks at Maruchan for getting this one in my hands! I’m sure someone out there is going to say ‘Hard to find? It’s at every store around me!’ One thing though is that not every product is marketed or distributed to every area. One example of this kind of thing is a soda called Cheerwine. It’s quite popular and easily found in the southern United States, but it’s relatively unknown on the west coast. Anyways, Jalapeno Cheddar noodles sounds pretty neat! Let’s have a look at this one.
Here’s a new one from Nongshim, and it’s definitely unique. It’s a stir noodle, which means that there’s no broth, but a sauce that it stirred in to coat the noodles. Another unique thing is that it can be served hot OR cold! I was thinking of using a special divided bowl I have, but one side is bigger than the other and so I came up with an idea: since they sent a few packs, I’ll make one hot, sample it and then make one cold and sample it – easy enough. Something else I found interesting was on the right and left sides of the package. It says “NONGSHIM BLACK CLASS NOODLE DISH.” The final interesting this about this one is the inclusion of chipotle. Chipotle? Now that’s different – don’t think I’ve come across that being used in an instant before. Well, let’s open this one up and see what’s inside!
I sent an email whilst down in California to a friend at Maruchan USA as to where to find a couple varieties I couldn’t find here. He was kind enough to arrange some samples!
Wow check this big sucker out! Nissin’s Souper Meals are exactly that – super sized! This was sent over by the nice folks over at Nissin Foods USA the other day – thanks! Let’s peel the lid off of this one and have a peek inside…
Here’s something I’ve been waiting for – three new products from Nongshim America! Let’s see what’s inside!
Came home from the store yesterday to see this on my doorstep – samples from Nissin USA! Let’s open it up!
I was recently contacted by a fellow named Justin Herd. He is the creator of a product called the OneBowl – a special bowl that will cook instant as well as other noodles in the microwave. What’s more, it will drain them. He can do the most justice to explaining the product and it’s features of course, so I recently conducted this interview with him.
Last week, we went on our big summer vacation! We drove from Lynnwood, WA all the way to Livermore, CA – over 800 miles. Did it in 14 hours – only 3 quick stops, too! We did a bunch of neat stuff – went to the Alameda County Fair, caught a Giants game in San Francisco, and went out for ramen – and not the instant kind. Nope – this is the moment I think many of you have been wanting to see more of. It’s not going to be a common thing around here anytime soon, but I thought I’d share my experience.
Hey here are some noodle made here in the USA! Interesting – spicy Szechuan… I’m curious how spicy it will be. I’ve had many different takes on Szechuan before – I’m hoping this one is good as usually I don’t tend to like Szechuan variants so much. Actually, I like the ones like this usually more than the ones actually made in China! Let’s see how this one comes out.
Bowls of noodles. They’re made all around the world and are a great option for those with access to boiling water and are ‘on the go.’ Some are basic and have very little imagination to them or perks, while others are really full meals that include meat and vegetables, seafood and other niceties. I’ve review 1,410 different noodle varieties and of those, many have been bowls. Here’s a list of the best, most memorable bowls I’ve come across is my adventure in tasting.
The other day we headed south to check out Ikea. I’d never been there before – wow pretty crazy place! I even tried the meatballs – not bad. Nearby Ikea is Seafood City, a big grocery store that sells mostly Filipino stuff. I have only been there once before and found lots of great instant noodles I’d not reviewed before. Sadly, I only found one – and this is it. Actually, my wife Kit found it! Thanks, Kit! I like the name; it looks like Panama and my spellcheck is insisting is should be spelled Panama, but it’s Pamana. One thing to note – so by the time this is posted, we”ll have moved. I’m quite a few reviews ahead which is nice. No time today to do the pics of sachet contents (actually I packed my little bowls already). Let’s see what’s inside!
Here”s something new from Annie Chun’s! It was sent a little while back and ended up at the bottom of my noodle hamper… I’ve been going through everything lately as we’re moving and found it! It sounds really good – very curious… Let”s see how it comes out!
After almost two years since I first found out about this neat invention, I thought it time to give it another look. The Rapid Ramen Cooker was invented by a fellow named Chris Johnson. It’s a tool that allows you to cook instant noodles in the microwave in four minutes. What’s great is that it also lets you use only half of the seasoning sachet, cutting sodium by half for those with sodium intake concerns. What’s also nice is that you use it, and then can eat out of it, toss it in the dishwasher, and you’re done. I love this thing – so does my son, who doesn’t like a lot of broth (you only use 1 cup of water as opposed to the usual 2 cups with domestic instant noodles). As far as ramen kitchen accoutrements go, this gets 5.0 out of 5.0 stars easily. Hope you enjoy the video and if you”re interested, here’s my original review of The Rapid Ramen Cooker which includes an interview with Chris and a test with quite a few instants. Also, here’s a video of as Chris Johnson’s appearance on the ABC show ‘Shark Tank’ where he gets a deal with Mark Cuban for The Rapid Ramen Cooker! By the way – tomorrow I’ll use The Rapid Ramen in an instant noodle review, not only to cook the noodles but as the bowl they will be eaten out of. Stay tuned!
I’ve been asked about these low calorie noodles for a long time. Miracle Noodle is more widely known for it’s Shirataki Miracle Noodle. Those are made from yams. These are Kanten Miracle Noodles. So let’s see Wikipedia has to say about them:
This is an interesting box. Why?
The new variety of Bibimyun!
But what the heck is this? Prototype ramyun! Paldo America sent three different prototypes – I believe this one is Mild Kokomen. The other two are barbecue flavor variants! Looking forward to trying! Thank you very much!
Hey look! A friend at Paldo America said he had something to send me!
It’s a pot! It’s square for square ramyun blocks!
I’ve been really lucky – the FedEx guy has been coming to my patio for ages when I have a package but he’s retired! This is the last box he brought me.
Here’s something new and different from Nongshim. The name might seem a little odd, but it’s a play on the name of a traditional South Korean beef soup called Seoulleongtang, which has a broth which is simmered for a long time with ox bones. I’ve liked non-spicy South Korean beef noodle soups in the past – let’s see how this one fares!
