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So Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen also comes in cups. Spicy beef sounds good. I’ve been a spicy fan for a long time. I just noticed on the pack reviewed yesterday it mentioned ‘insanely rich broth’ whereas today we have ‘rich broth.’ With a slightly mellower tone, let’s pop the lid and look within.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Usually, the first instant product a noodle company will put out will be chicken flavor. In fact, the first instant noodle product that was ever produced was chicken flavor. Chicken is just about universally palatable, and most don’t have a religious rule against it. A chicken instant noodle is the beginning and so that’s where we will start today. Fried garlic chicken sounds really good, and on the package, it promises an ‘insanely rich broth.’ Alright – the proof is in the noodle – let’s give it a try!
After I had quite a few people asking me if I’d tried or had any information on Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen, I decided to reach out to the company. They were receptive to doing a Meet The Manufacturer series and so that’s what we have going on today! Here’s the unboxing of the samples that they sent for review.
Interview With Mike’s Mighty Good * Product Samples From Mike’s Mighty Good * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Fried Garlic Chicken Flavor Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Spicy Beef Flavor Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Savory Miso Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Vegetarian Vegetable Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Spicy Pork Tonkotsu Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Chicken Flavor Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Vegetarian Kimchi Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Pork Tonkotsu Ramen Soup * Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen Beef Pho Ramen Soup
five years ago, there was a big kerfuffle involving myself and the entire island of Taiwan. They weren’t on the Top Ten 2013 Edition and they were angry – to put it mildly. I decided that a little noodle diplomacy was the ticket here and so put out a call for Taiwanese companies to contact me, send me samples and see how it goes. A-Sha was the first company to come calling and since then they’ve kept me updated on their new offerings – let’s have a look at their new Guanmiao noodle!
I’ve been kind of on a weird crusade lately. It has come to my attention that the popular Mala variety of Buldak Bokkeummyun is being touted by many people across the Interwebs as 4x Spicy. This is totally untrue – it’s really more like 0.5x. I did an informative video presentation about it – check it out here!
This one comes by way of Japan Ramen Box. Japan Ramen Box is a new subscription box outfit with neat varieties to check out! Go visit their website and have a look!
I got this box the other day and I honestly expected it to be samples for an upcoming Taiwanese Meet The Manufacturer. Well, as it turns out these were samples I didn’t know were coming or what they were! Have a look at this video to see what’s going on here!
Thanks go out to a fellow names Daniel from Brazil for sending along a box of different instant noodles from his home country! I’m really excited as while I’ve only reviewed a scant few from the South American country, what I’ve tried I’ve been really impressed with. Let’s check it out!
I’ll be honest – I’m a huge fan of green curry. I’ve loved it for y ears. This one from Yum Yum sounds interesting and I’m definitely curious how it stacks up against other I’ve tried. Here’s a little from Wikipedia about green curry –
Alright, folks! Today I bring you the brand new Samyang Foods Jjajang Buldak Bokkeummyun. 1,920 SHU is the heat level. But wait – what’s jjajang? Let’s find out with some info from Wikipedia!
What we have here is a squid snack – what’s that you ask? Well, they dehydrate squid somehow and seasoning it. I read once there was a a package of this kind of thing that said ‘chewing gum of Asians. Here’s some background on this from Wikipedia –
Okay so a week or so ago I got a big package from Prima Taste over in Singapore (thanks again!) – full of tasty stuff! Well, last Sunday I ended up getting the worst stomach flu I think I’ve ever had and it was really crummy. Really did a number on med and put me in bed a few days. This was not from what they sent – let’s make that clear – the stomach flu ios going around. Well, once the clouds started to lift, I was hungry. Didn’t want to do anything spicy and something tasty. My wife made me this Prima Juzz’s Mee with some hard boiled egg and cut up breaded chicken (yeah they’re chicken nuggets – we have kids and hey it’s protein so don’t give me any guff) and some instant rice thrown in there too.
Today, we come to the end of our Mr. Noodle journey with a black vinegar variety. Black vinegar tends to give foods a kind of tart or sour hit – one I immensely enjoy. Let’s bid farewell to Mr. Noodle Meet The Manufacturer.
This one sounds interesting. While not a big fan of mushrooms, I do find that the onion is probably my favorite vegetable next to bell peppers. Well, maybe at par with bell pepper. I really like onions and bell peppers, let’s just leave it at that. Let’s take a look inside and see how it is.
Today we’ve got a green package. I’ve kind of tried to review them in the order of the spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet) and while there’s no blue I think it’s going pretty well in that respect. Hey! Here’s a little info from Wikipedia about pesto –
Today, it’s a flavor I don’t honestly see a lot in Taiwanese noodles, that flavor being curry. Barbecue curry sounds interesting too – very curious about this one.
Today, it’s a spicy sesame paste variety. For a long time, I thought anything sesame flavored would be from sesame oil. This most certainly is not the case. Sesame paste is much different – a much different flavor. It’s almost like a peanut flavor. Let’s take a look.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to pick what I want to review. I mean, I have quite a few options sitting next to me in the high security noodle vaults… So I took the box of samples over to my wife and opened it. There are six in all and the tops have different colors but no mention of what they are on top. I asked her to simply pick three. Well, here’s the first one.
A box arrived from Taiwan. These are product samples from Mr. Noodles – a company I met at the Taiwan International Food Show in November 2017. They offered to give me samples then and there, but I had to decline as my luggage was already packed with noodles.
Interview With Mr. Noodle * Product Samples From Mr. Noodle * Mr. Noodle Sichuan Flavor Spicy Hot Noodles * Mr. Noodle Spicy Sesame Paste Noodles * Mr. Noodle Barbecue Sauce Curry Taste Noodle * Mr. Noodle Pesto Sesame Taste Noodles * Mr. Noodle Onions Mushroom Spice Taste Noodle * Mr. Noodle Black Vinegar With Spicy Taste
This box arrived by way of my buddy the DHL driver. So I initially thought they were something else and started the video – then I see it’s not so if it seems like I’m a little funny in this one, it’s sheer embarrassment because of that… I had to improvise because I’d opened it – so watch for that. Okay – let’s crack it open!
Got this package the other day – and I didn’t expect it. Well, I WAS expecting it, however both I and Prima Taste thought that it probably had been seized by customs. The tracking was going great then it hit Oakland, California and then Import Delay. It stuck that way for over a week – and then started moving again! What’s more, they never opened the package. Let’s have a look inside!
Here’s another interesting one from Zenpop.JP – thanks! So Zenpop is doing monthly boxes of all sorts of things Japan-related including instant ramen of course. This is one that looks to be of the same range as Maruchan’s midori no tanuki and kitsune udon – here’s what the folks at Zenpop have to say about this one –
Today, we’ve got a box from Mom’s Dry Noodle. Mom’s Dry Noodle has been on my Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodle lists for a few years now. Really nice folks who work really hard on their products – and it shows in their quality. If you want to check them out, here you go! Also, some snacks in here! Let’s crack it open and take a look!
This is a new box from Zenpop.JP – they do a few different kinds of boxes but this one’s just ramen. Nine varieties – pretty impressive! Use coupon code RAMENRATER to receive a discount at http://bit.ly/2TPTca5 ! Let’s have a look inside to see what’s going on!
I found this one up in Canada at a place called Hen Long Market. Did find a whole lot there, but this was definitely a score. They’re made in Vietnam – however they’re for Poland! Poland! European noodles! Yeah – I’m sure you can tell that makes me happy. Always wish I can find more stuff from/for Europe.
Here’s another one I found up in Canada a few months back. The graphics on this one are pretty awesome I think – but wait – what is yuzu? Help, Wikipedia!
Brought this back from Taiwan. Pretty much everything I brought back came through the rigors of baggage handling unscathed; but not every single thing did. Alas, this was one of them that didn’t. To be quite honest, it did better than some I’ve brought back before from abroad – a little crushing of noodles isn’t bad – I’vbe had ones whose noodle blocks were reduced to crumbs. Let’s have a look at this one – I found it at RT-Mart in Taipei.
Here’s the second of the Happy Noodle varieties sent to me from Taiwan. The first one was really quite good and so curious about this second one. The box is interesting – kind of looks like a tissue box in a way but definitely nothing like that inside. There are four packages inside and they are accompanied by four sachets. Let’s take a look at this unique variety from Taiwan!
Here’s another interesting one from Zenpop.JP – thanks! So Zenpop is doing monthly boxes of all sorts of things Japan-related including instant ramen of course. This is a big tray from Sapporo Ichiban – here’s what the folks at Zenpop have to say about this one –
Another one I found in Taiwan. This one is quite interesting as far as the packaging goes. Not only do you see Korean print but Chinese as well. This product is definitely for sale in Taiwan only – an export version. As far as the recipe changing from place to place, I have no clue. Here’s a little about kimchi from Wikipedia –
Another month, another box! We have a new Umai Crate to unbox! To be honest, I really had a lot of fun opening the last one of these up. It’s been crazy lately – the day I did this video I did three other unboxing videos and there are 3 more packages coming in the next week or so. Continue reading to get a coupon code
Another big meaty bowl I lugged back from Taiwan in November 2017. A reader on the Facebook page for The Ramen Rater requested I pick this one up and I found it I believe at FamilyMart.
OK, so on the chat which you might see on the lower right hand corner, I’ve fielded more questions about Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun (Fire Noodle) range than on anything else. Actually, the most prevalent questions have been whether one is spicier than the other and whether they’re HALAL or not. This is a special unboxing because within is a new variety – Jjajang! Let’s crack it open and have a look!
Yep – it’s a bag of potato chips withj Cup Noodles Spicy Seafood seasoning from Hong Kong. I really like these kinds of things – really funny to see this – they did it once in the United States with Chicken Top Ramen Pringles (you didn’t think I missed reviewing that one, did you?) – they also have Cup Noodles chips in Singapore (like these). Anyways, let’s dig in to this bag and have a looksie.
Found this one up in Canada at a place called FoodyWorld – awesome! Okay so this is an odd variety so let’s hit up Wikipedia for some info on what this is all about:
Here’s one sent to me by Ippin, a purveyor of lots of different Japanese products. This is definitely a fancy variety from a set of Kanto region varieties based on popular ramen shops. Not a lot of boxes come across my desk so this should be interesting! Here’s what the Ippin website had to say about this variety:
Another month, another box from Exotic Noods! The March Green Box drops with a neat assortment of instant noodles – this one represents many countries and flavors you might have net tried before! Let’s crack it open and have a look at what’s inside!
This one’s got horns and flying saucers on the packaging – something that denotes… Well, horns and flying saucers I suppose. I guess it more likely denotes ‘hey look at me – I’m on the store shelf!’ The double bang is for the two noodle blocks. The other variety I reviewed in this series had two in it as well and called for (like this one) 700ml boiling water. Guess we will see how this one goes as well! I remember seeing these on store shelves – I think I got all but one of the varieties (sniff) but hey – got some pretty fascinating ones. Taiwanese beef noodles, it is your time to shine.
