Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
South Korea has the highest per person consumption of instant noodles in the world. It’s not a surprise that their instant noodle are quite good – usually the noodles (known as ramyun) are thicker and accompanied by a spicy broth. These are my very favorite varieties of South Korean instant noodles – hope you enjoy!
Here’s yet another one sent to me by Casey P. from Hong Kong! Thanks again! This one screams fancy – big and gold packaging. Shiny! Let’s see what we have here.
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This is an interesting one – looks like they’re mentioning a big Dragonball Z contest or something on it. 2.000.000 somethings are referred to… Hmmm… Not only that, this one’s got mochi in it! Mochi is a doughy kind of substance which can surround jellies or ice cream (my favorite). It also apparently goes well in udon! Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by James B. from The Netherlands – thanks! So this one is made in Thailand for the Dutch market. Nothing says compassion like chicken. I think. Well, chicken is kind of that universal flavor that is okay for everyone but Vegans (at least if it has chicken in it). Let’s check it out!
The last time I had one of these, I found something fascinating inside. The sachets all say Mexi Ramen on them, a brand I have reviewed once in the past (actually it was my 500th review). The package said it was MexiRamen. This one is clearly mentioning mi goreng, a Southeast Asian delicacy, and Bento, a Japanese style meal. Let’s crack this box open and have a look inside.
Here’s another one James B. sent me from The Netherlands – thanks again! I’ve reviewed these varieties in cup form, but not the packs and I’m really pleased to be able to. These come from Nissin Germary! Let’s have a look!
Here’s another one graciously sent by Casey P. of Hong Kong – thank you again! So this is udon – udon is a thick noodle with a nice chewy texture. It looks that this one is served cold! Andy’s going to try this one today and I’m really curious how he likes it. Let’s look and see what’s in this bowl!
This is the second of three Juzz’s Mee varieties I have here to review. I’d never heard of them until Prima sent them my way! They’re the same company as Prima Tastem which makes a wonder Curry La Mian and Laksa Lamian that have both been on my top ten list for a few years now. I just found out last night that Juzz’s Mee is wordplay on ‘just me’ or ‘just for me.’ I got to find out as I had dinner last night with a couple nice folks who invited my wife and I to dine with them in Seattle! Check out this post I did about it on foofoomayo. Let’s have a look inside!
The last of the stuff I found at BigLots! a while back. BigLots! is a kind of clearance/liquidation chain. What I like is that I usually find something or other in there that I’ve never heard of or reviewed before which is nice. Let’s have a look at this rice noodle bowl.
I still haven’t found anywhere with any kind of straight definition of sichek, but it seems to me that it’s just a kind of dry noodle dish, kind of like mi goreng. The tom yum variety I had a few days back was quite good, and so today with Andy over here and his penchant for enjoying all things chicken, I thought I’d make this one for him. Let’s check it out!
Every January 19th for the past 5 years, I’ve done a special post in homage of Momofuku Ando. Who was he? Just the guy who invented instant noodles in 1958. If it weren’t for him, my world would be a whole lot different – and many other people’s as well. Actually, I should thank Mr. Ando’s wife as well – the story is that he was attempting to make an easily prepared, shelf stable instant noodle, but couldn’t figure out how. He tried many different techniques, but it was when he saw his wife making tempura in the kitchen one night that it dawned on him – fry the cooked noodles. This leaves holes in the noodles and extrudes the water. Not only that, the oil keeps the noodles shelf stable for a long time. His vision of a way to create and easy way to feed the masses has been a huge success and considered one of the great innovations of the 20th century. I think he deserves a day in his honor, and that day is today, January 19th.
Today I’m reviewing something new that the folks at Nissin Foods USA sent recently. Pad Thai is a popular dish people get at Thai restaurants – pretty accessible for people in the United States since it’s usually not super spicy and is kind of like an Asian alfedo. Well, technically, it’s nothing like that but I think you know what I mean – it’s something that people aren’t extremely scared of, and a lot of the time, the first time Thai food taster will try it, like it, and decide they like Thai food but only order it when they go out for Thai food. Sad but true, especially when there are so many amazing flavors of Thai food out there. But it’s kind of like Chinese food – it’s Americanized so they get repeat customers. Americanized Thai food is very tasty though – I will definitely say I enjoy it. Let’s give this Pad Thai a try!
Today I’ll be reviewing another one I got after visiting Thailand – I went to a special event held by the company that makes MAMA instant noodles. They make different brands and this one’s made in Hungary for the European market. Let’s check it out! Oh, by the way – this one will be for my son Andy – he’s a fan of anything chicken instant noodle. He’s got a blog himself – Andy’s LEGO Stuff – go check it out!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! Today it’s a tonkotsu variant, Kumamoto style. Javier’s leaflet about this one mentions a chewy noodle with sesame notes and mincemeat – sounds interesting – let’s tear into it!
Here’s something new from Prima Taste that’s geared a little more towards healthy living – this one has noodles made with special wholegrain flour. Their original version has been on my top ten list for a few years now, and I’m very curious to see how this one is. Seems like a good day for some curry! Let’s crack it open!
With my son Andy over here, it’s usually a good bet that he will like some chicken noodles with some nice garnish. His favorites include fish cake and cheese – which don’t always go with everything. I’d usually choose something like that combo for spicy Korean seafood ramyun. He did indeed get his cheese after the final picture of the noodles were taken today, and so all things are good in the world. Let’s check out this variety from Vietnam!
This one’s made by Thai President Foods’ Hungarian factory for a supermarket chain in Finland. So kyckling you ask? Chicken. Let’s open it up!
Here’s another one that was sent to me from Thailand by the Thai President Foods folks. This is made in Hungary. Let’s have a look!
Here’s another one that came by way of Casey P. from Hong Kong – thanks again! This is a pork tonkotsu – sounds good to me – let’s hit it!
Another one from MAMA when I went to Thailand. They sent me a slew of different kinds made in their factories all over the world! This one’s from Myanmar. I haven’t seen the word ‘sichek’ before – and I can’t find anywhere that will translate it. I’m just going to infer that it might mean soup, but now that I look at the cooking method, this one is drained so perhaps it’s a term for a dry noodle? No clue honestly, but let’s give it a look!
Here’s one of the new ones sent to me by Prima Taste. I hadn’t heard about these before, so it was a really nice surprise! I immediate found the name interesting – I think it’s a play on ‘just me,’ but I could be wrong. Let’s look inside and see what this new variety is all about.
Well folks, we’re in the home stretch to the 2,000th review. To be honest, I never had a clue I would be reviewing instant noodles every day – never in a million years. Anyways, still quite a few to go so let’s check this one out. Kapitan Kari literally means ‘Captain Curry’ – kind of like the king of curry. Let’s rip this one open and give it a try!
Another one from James B. over in The Netherlands – thanks! I thought this one looked really interesting; it’s made in Singapore specifically for Koh Thai brand in The Netherlands. Let’s crack this one open!
I’ve had what I believe to be the pack variety of this before. Was pretty good! Let’s see how this bowl version fares.
Here’s another one Casey P. sent me from Hong Kong – thanks again! There are lots of different kinds of curry in the work – British, Indian, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese – I’m sure there are more as well. Well, Japanese curry is what we have here. It tends to be on the sweeter, mild side, usually leaving the spicy elements behind. Let’s give this one a peek.
Another one that carrived shortly after I returned from Thailand. This is made by the Thai President Foods folks in Hungary. Duck! Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! This one looks really fancy – the whole thing is shiny and gold! Let’s have a look inside!
Here’s another one of these interesting snack noodles from Myanmar! This pack is very small – 15g actually! Let’s see what’s within!
Got an email a couple months ago from Casey P. in Hong Kong. He’s been following the blog for years and wanted to send some things for me to review and this is one of them – thanks again! Today, we have Nissin Cup Noodle Sio. Sio is also known as Shio, a classic ramen variety. Let’s have a look and see what’s going on under the lid.
I’ve been wondering when I would find this one for a long time and finally, I have. It was at the local HMart in Lynnwood, Washington on 184th street – if you live in this area, you should definitely check this place out! Anyways, cheese powder and spicy South Korean ramyun – I mean how can you go wrong here? Not only that, you’ve got the added bonus of a little character with a block of cheese on it’s head vomiting cheesy goodness into the bowl with a smile on his/her face. Sounds tasty! Let’s check it out!
It’s pretty rare for me to hit a regular old supermarket here in the USA and find something I’ve not reviewed before, but it happens from time to time. I found this one at a WinCo Foods in Edmonds, Washington. It used to be a Top Foods a while ago but I think they’ve all but gone out of business and WinCo moved in. WinCo is kind of weird – imagine a big grocery store but kind of like Costco but not Costco and kind of cold and you have to bag your own groceries. Oh – and there are tons of signs everywhere in this really basic font. It almost seems like a weird government experiment – but I digress! This is a new one from Nissin – looks tasty for this cold weather. Let’s check it out!
Okay so you might be wondering – beef tongue shio mayo ramen – that couldn’t possibly mean… Yes. Where did I get it though?
Okay so for this one – images are smaller than they appear! This is a tiny 15 gram package of snack noodles. It was one that I saw on a table of products that were displayed during a big meeting in Thailand for MAMA noodles and their global factories and these were from Myanmar. I’ll tell you right now that as soon as someone invents a transported like they had in Star Trek, I’m buying one that just takes me to grocery stores and markets in foreign countries. It’s funny; when thinking about going to a foreign country, my first thought is what kind of grocery stores they have there and the exotic instant noodle varieties within. Yep – I’m a basket case. Let’s check out this snack noodle from MAMA of Myanmar!
I found out about Box From Japan on Reddit last year and sent the guy who runs the service an email. Javier sent me a sample box and I reviewed the included varieties and they were really great! He was nice enough to send me yet another one – every box has had some seriously great selections unavailable in the United States inside! Let’s take a look!
Myojo sent this one along with their Meet The Manufacturer package – Myojo is part of Nissin Singapore and while this one doesn’t really belong in a Myojo Meet The Manufacturer, I figured it would be nice to try just after it.
Today, we come to the end of this Meet The Manufacturer with Myojo of Singapore. Lots of great new flavors to try in this one! Todaym we end things off with Mee Poh Dry. I did some scrouing of the Internet and found that Mee Poh often is served with fish ball, so I’m pleased at that since I love using fish ball – and the ones I have in my freezer are indeed from Singapore. Let’s dig in!
Previously, I reviewed Myojo’s chicken abalone pack version – this is the bowl version. This is the next to last review of this Meet The Manufacturer – been quite nice to try all of these varieties! Let’s check this bowl out!
I did a bit of research on Wikipedia about char mee. It was a little vague but I am hoping what I gleaned was right. So, this is like Hokkien mee without broth. Let’s see what this is all about.
I tried the spicy mushroom pack version a few days ago and really liked it – I usually am not a fan of mushrooms, but the flavor in that one was really quite enjoyable. Today it’s the bowl version – how will it fare? Let’s have a look!
Looking forward to sharing new reviews with everyone in 2016!
