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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!
I’ve got to give it to Taiwan. They’ve really done well with the pandemic, that’s for sure. Just another reason why I love that place; I’ve visited twice and hope I get to again soon. People there are nice, Lots of interesting things going on, and of course… the food! This list is born out of controversy – in 2013 when Taiwan wasn’t on my annual top ten, their media took notice and they got mad. So, I decided to try some ‘noodle diplomacy’ and asked companies to send some samples and they did – and they have been for years now. All sorts of neat innovations, unique styles, and more. If you have a company or a favorite variety you’d like me to review, contact me. Also, I invite everyone to join the Instant Noodles – The Ramen Rater group on Facebook – a large community of people who enjoy noodles and share their thoughts on them. Let’s check out this years shortlist of my favorites from this beautiful and fascinating place.
This is the seventh year of the Top Ten Taiwan Instant Noodles list! Every year, I’m truly amazed at the innovation and unique varieties coming from the beautiful island of Taiwan. If you haven’t had the experience of visiting, you really should – the food, the culture – it truly has been a life changing experience for me. Growing up, all I knew of Taiwan was labels on products that simply said ‘made in Taiwan’ – but it so much more. One aspect is the noodle, and they’re really unique and delicious. This is a list of my favorite out of the reviews I’ve done up to number 3,284. Many images you will see have garnish, however only the base product before any is added is what’s reviewed, as in all of my reviews. I hope you enjoy this year’s list and consider trying some of these great varieties if you’ve not tried before – they’re really great! With that, here’s the Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2020 Edition.
Recently, I heard about a variety from Tseng that I guess has been around for a little while but I’d never heard of it. A lot of confusion for me about this one. The biggest issue is the variety itself – what the heck is spicy dolar anyway? Nothing I could find on Wikipedia or elsewhere. But dolar must be a pretty common concept because there’s a restaurant in Canada I saw in Richmond that mentions it – something like Dolar Hotpot or something. Well, let’s check it out!
A friend send me a picture showing this new variety from Tseng Noodle I’d not heard of before: Spicy Dolar. I thought hmmm… I’d better see if I can get a sample! Well, the box arrived, I’m ready to open it, and so let’s have a look!
Another year gone by – hard to believe. As usual, many, many Taiwanese varieties have crossed my desk. This list comes as I’m about to hit 3,000 reviews as well. Pretty crazy. These are my favorite Taiwanese varieties out of all my reviews up to #2,943. As always, if you want me to try something I’ve not – drop me a line. With that, let’s check out The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition!
Here we have one that’s changed their packaging a bit to include instructions in English as well as mention of its place on the 2016 top ten.
It’s been quite a year of reviewing as far as Taiwan is concerned. I brought back a trove of varieties I’d never had the chance to try before. Really opened my eyes many varieties that people had recommended I try over the years. This is the top ten – the best Taiwanese varieties I’ve tried from the over 2,500+ reviews I’ve posted to date. As always, if I’ve not tried your noodles, please contact me! I’m interested! Let’s check it out!
I asked for one four pack of their noodles. They sent a whole box! Let’s look inside.
Now for the third year, I’m coming out with the latest Top Ten Instant Rice Noodles list. Rice noodles have some benefits as opposed to their fried wheat counterparts. First, they’re virtually fat-free. Also, they’re not fried. Rice noodles are gluten-free by nature, although the ingredients in the sachets that come with these varieties might not be. People ask me for a gluten-free list often, but that would be rather difficult as I’d have to pore over every ingredient list on every review to do this. Well, let’s have a look at these great rice noodle varieties – the best instant rice noodles varieties of the almost 2,500 reviews to date!
Okay now this – this sounds good. I absolutely love a few things in this world. Curries, Korean BBQ, dim sum… Something new has been anything braised and Taiwanese. We’ve got a little restaurant nearby called Looking For Chai and their braised pork and braised beef is so good – tender and so full of flavor. Just a nice slab of it on a bed of rice and that’s all you need – well, that and a little milk tea. Let’s check out this spicy braised noodle!
This is a box I’ve been really excited about – and I think a lot of you will be excited as well. People have been asking me about Tseng/Zeng noodles and where to get them since they were #9 on my annual The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition. They just made #1 on my Taiwan Top Ten list2 days ago. Well, I have it on good authority that they will be available in the United States at 99 Ranch Market in California around Christmas time – that’s all I know for now but if I hear more, I’ll let you all know!
I thought that after making The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition and winning The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of all Time 2016 Edition, it would be nice to revisit this tasty noodle! What do you think? Let’s dig in!
Here’s another new one from Tseng’s – shallot braised pork. Man, this sounds good – I really have high hopes. As I’ve opined before, Taiwanese braised anything is unbelievably good. Really, it isn’t just my opinion – I would mark it down as fact. If you don’t like Taiwanese braised anything, you just don’t know what tastes good and should have your tongue examined for mold or aliens. Let’s give this one a try and see how it translates to a rice noodle.
This one sounds curious to me. While I do like braised pork – a lot- I’m unsure about this Chinese mushroom. But hey – I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the mushroom department before, right? Let’s give it a go!
So this is definitely a first – I don’t think I’ve ever heard of laksa from Taiwan! It sounds good – I mean hey, I make laksa here in the United States quite often but I’m sure my neighbors haven’t a clue what they’re smelling ‘must be some off kind of Hamburger Helper’ probably going through their minds. But laksa is a seriously tasty thing and I’m keen on seeing what Tseng has come up with for us. Let’s have a look!
Today started well, then got a little crazy then got better – I started at 5am with reviewing some noodles. Then the power went out around 7am for over two hours! A bit later, the mailman knocked on the door with a big package of Taiwanese noodles! Tseng was in The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 list this year – and they have some new products! Let check them out!
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!
A big box from Taiwan!
Fist thing – an envelope!
Meet The Manufacturer interview answers! Thank you!
