The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
10/17/2012
I saw a video recently about PSY being a huge fan of Korean instant ramyun – Nongshim’s Shin Ramyun in particular. He sent a video showing him eating their noodles with a definite excitement and pride. He wants to be the next representative of their products! I got to say, this was really was cool to see. I feel a definite kinship with PSY on this matter – instant ramyun is amazing stuff!
When I recently redid The Big List, I noticed some things. One of them was that I have never reviewed this one, nor it’s Beef or Shrimp fellow Instant Lunches! Talk about an oversight on my part… I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do a Meet The Manufacturer with Maruchan soon – thanks to everyone who has asked me to do one, it’s just I’ve never been able to successfully get in touch with them. Well, here we go with a close up and personal with Maruchan’s Instant Lunch: Chicken Flavor.
Been a while, but here we go with the 20th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News!
I search the ‘net for interesting news and view on instant noodles and beyond. Oldest articles start at the top. Here you go!
This is the last of the samples I got from Yamachan Ramen! Must admit I’m sad to see them go! Very tasty fare and it’s been a lot of fun! This one’s shoyu. Let’s give it a try.
Here’s something different. Sara Udon means plate noodles – what you have is a crispy noodle that is thin. You put them on the plate and crush gently, then add the sauce and during the meal, the noodles go from crisp to soft. It’s a texture sensation! Well, let’s check it out!
I’ve had a few cold noodle varieties from South Korean manufacturers, but never any Japanese cold noodles. Let’s have a look at this one!
Tonkotsu-Shoyu… This one looks really interesting!
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge).
So Lifehacker came out with an article about The Ramen Rater a couple weeks ago and I noticed something about Yamachan Ramen in the comments on it. I contacted them and they were very interested in doing a Meet The Manufacturer. Very shortly, I received this box in the mail…
Welcome one and all to another Meet The Manufacturer! This time it’s San Jose, CA based Yamachan Ramen!They make fresh ramen products – here’s the interview I did with them.
So yesterday I tried the mild miso and today I’m hitting up the rich. This one says it’s ‘Sapporo miso’ – curious to see what its like.
Here’s another one of the fresh ramen samples from Yamachan. I’ve not been a big fan of miso in the past, but I’m open to this – looks fancy.
Decided to do up a video of the nice Golden Pot that was sent to me by Mr. Shin, President of Nongshim Holdings – very kind thank you! Thought it fitting to try it out with some Shin Ramyun Black. Check out the video!
So here’s the last of the top Ramen Short Cuts varieties that Nissin Foods USA sent me. Thanks again! Lime chili flavor eh? Sounds interesting. Its kind of funny; I got an email from someone at a company called Citrojugo the other day. Citrojugo is a company in Mexico that makes lime juice. I think they saw one of my reviews mentioned ‘jeruk nipis,’ which is ‘lime juice’ in Indonesian. Well, Citrojugo was curious if my company would be interested in it for my products. I told them that I only review products related to instant noodles, but that I could probably try their stuff and work it into a review of another product, such as marinated chicken with their lime juice. Well, they immediately dispatched a liter of clarified preserved lime juice. Serious stuff! I open it up and stuck my nose in the Nalgene containment vessel and got a real nosefull of powerful lime! I’ll be mentioning more about their stuff in upcoming reviews – haven’t marinated chicken with it yet but will be soon and it should be quite amazing!
Realized I haven’t reviewed the new version of the Shin Bowl. A lot of people have asked if I noted any difference from the old version (non-microwaveable) and the new one. Well, I guess we shall see!
Today I got a big box in the mail from Nongshim America! Wonder what’s inside…
Bowl Noodles! But wait – Chapagetti in a bowl? Yep! This is one of the things I got to try while at Nongshim America in May. Not only did I get to try these new bowl products in their R&D department but was able to watch them being made – from raw ingredients to wrapped bowl all in an efficient straight line. Twas amazing! I’ll be reviewing these very soon! Keep your eyes peeled! Thanks go to Mr. Ray Adams and everyone else at Nongshim America for sending these along!
Here’s another one of the samples sent to me by Nissin Foods USA! Thanks again! So Roast Chicken flavor… I’m thinking I’m going to have fun with this one… Hmmm… Well, here we go!
It’s been a while since I reviewed a Kosher instant noodle! Usually they’re pretty good. Let’s give this a try. By the way Kosher instant noodle company: I think Matzo Ball Ramen would be an extremely huge hit.
Here’s another one of the new ones from Nissin! Let’s give it a try.
Back and side panels – click to enlarge.
Here’s another one of the new varieties that Nissin Foods USA sent me earlier this month to review. I got a comment from someone saying Cucharealo means ‘spoon it up.’ Makes sense – Nissin has a similar product called ‘Spoon it’ with flavors like chicken, beef and beet stew while the Cucharealo line is more hitting the Mexican flavors. The last one I tried was awesome – let’s give this one a try!
Hey look at this! Something new the folks at Nissin Foods USA sent. I’ve never seen anything like this is the instant noodle world before; it’s kind of like instant potatoes meets instant noodles. You scoop out as much or as little of the noodles as you want (which have the flavoring already infused into them), and then add the mentioned water amount, and there you go! Let’s have a look under the hood of this new product.
Here’s one of the new one Nissin Foods USA sent recently. Cucharealo, eh? Couldn’t find out what that exactly means, but it looks like it’s something new and geared towards the Latino market. Interesting that it says Top Ramen on it too – brand recognition! Awesome – let’s give it a go.
It’s been a couple months since our trip to Nongshim in Rancho Cucamonga, California. I was sent a very nice gift from the president of Nongshim America to thank us for visiting and for our reviews! Thank you! This is a golden pot, a very standard cooking item in Korea used to make ramyun!
So I got an email from my contact at Nissin Foods in Gardena California mentioning a package was sent. What could it be?
Good news and bad news. Bad news: no reviews for about a week (we’re going on vacation). The good news: I will leave you with the first ever bacon monstrosity!
* UPDATE * See here.
A couple of days ago, I received an email from a man who was angry. He was angry that the instant noodles he bought said that they were spicy Chicken flavor but weren’t spicy whatsoever and that I needed to change the seasonings ASAP. Every once in a while, I get a comment or email from someone who thinks that I make instant noodles or am affiliated with an instant noodle company. I decided to reply and do a review of the product he had problems with, adding some hot spices, sauces and peppers from around the world to really heat it up. It then occurred to me that a lot of people really like spicy instant noodles and that there’s really no list of the hottest ones out there. I figured I’d better do something about that, and so here’s the Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time!
Today Andy wanted to try something new. Knowing he’s a little timid of things that are too far off the map, I went with this. I’m pretty sure he’ll like it.
Click to enlarge. Today is Independence Day. I think Andy has independently decided that kimchi is not for him. Happy Fourth!
The 200th review I did was the old version of this stuff! Over 500 reviews later, we come to the new version. So far, these new ones have been quite good.
This one was taking a little punishment in the noodle hamper, so I decided it better see the light of day and become ingested.
My son wanted to try this one today, so I will have a bite and a slurp too.
Outer packaging detail (click image to enlarge).
I’m pretty jazzed – got a couple things this last trip to the Asian grocery and going to try one of them today. Here’s another one of the new version Nongshim Bowl Noodle varieties.
Yep – a Cup Noodle! Just sounded good. I reviewed one that I ate much earlier and just got done reviewing three that I only had a bite of each. This sounds like something tasty.
Here’s one that’s been in the hamper for a while – time to try!
Here’s the back of the package (click image to enlarge).
Here’s a big cup from Nissin. Roast chicken sounds pretty good – especially to my son!
There’s quite a few of these to review since the new design and flavors! Was surprised that my son (who by the way has his own blog at www.AndysLEGOStuff.com ) was up for trying some Lobster flavor noodles! I’ll steal a bite and a slurp and see how they are.
Here’s another well-known Nongshim pack – Chapagetti. Basically, you take spaghetti and combine it with Chajang, which is a black bean sauce – now you have Chapagetti!
Here’s the interview that I did with Nongshim America. This was a lot of fun!
THE RAMEN RATER> Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview! For those not familiar, can you tell us about some of your most popular instant noodle products?
Since my last review of this product, I found out that I made it wrong! Yup… I suppose if I could read Korean I would’ve made it right. It turns out that the red packet goes in first with the noodles and cooks, and the peanut and veggies go in last after everything’s cooked! I’m hungry – gonna do it exactly as I’m supposed to this time! Here’s the old review.
During my trip to Nongshim America, I was interviewed – here’s what they aired on TV! This is the first time I’ve ever been on television! Pretty exciting! If someone would like to translate this, I would be very appreciative.
Okay so I thought this was interesting. Look at the noodle block in this one – very different isn’t it? Well, Let’s give this one a try – this one was made in the USA in Rancho Cucamonga, California.