The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Over the past few years, a guy named James in Lakeside, California has repeatedly sent me boxes of noodles. He pores over the big list to see if I’ve tried a variety he’s seen and sends some over just at the right time. Again, he send a neat combination of varieties I’ve never tried before. Big thanks and my appreciation to James! Never fails to surprise me when readers are willing to send noodles in for review. Let’s take a look!
At the outset of my bread making journey, the idea of making a loaf of bread by grinding up noodle blocks was always in the back of my head. Literally transmuting instant noodles through kitchen alchemy into a loaf of bread. I tried it once and it failed miserably. I wanted to find out why and I asked an expert in the field of wheat and noodles. Well, he said I needed an emulsifier – that would release the oil from the ramen ‘flour. Huge thanks to Dr. Gary Hou!’ Well, let’s see how it went this time – spoiler alert – it worked!
Yeah I’m back at it. I saw a Zojirushi bread machine at a thrift store the other day and thought ‘man, this thing looks cherry,’ so I carried the thing to the grocery store where I got a gallon of milk and other stuff (which was my original reason for venturing out) and then had to carry everything home. This bread machine isn’t small or anything so yeah – it was a battle I fought and won which I enjoy thoroughly.
As I quickly approach my 5000th published review, I thought I ought to share how I do all my reviews. Over the years, the way I do things has evolved. In my first video, back in 2015, I was using much different equipment. In 2017, I was using much different equipment as well, and using different techniques. Now in 2023, things have changed slightly as I’ve concentrated quite a bit on even more streamlining of workflow. I’m always trying to streamline things and making the stuff I have to do more efficient so I can take less time on the technical side and more time on the creative side of the process.
Here’s something new from the folks that brought you Red Chef – KampongKu! Some very unique flavors of instant noodles and pastes from MAlaysia to try! Let’s check them out and hear a bit of info on the company.
Red Chef sent me a ton of instant noodles all the way from Malaysia last week! Thank you very much! With my recent bread obsession and all, this is really great for making new and exotic flavors. Three of these varieties have been on my annual Top Ten mega list! Let’s check it out and see what’s inside!
It’s time to unbox a Zenpop.jp box – you get seven varieties of instant noodles to try! I would say that almost every time I’ve gotten one of these, I’ve never tried any of them before which is really awesome. Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount! Let’s check it out!
I did say my last loaf of bread would be the last for a while, but then I saw that Nissin Foods was doing a contest (#USEYOURNOODLECONTEST) having to do with innovation for their 50th Anniversary of the introduction of Cup Noodles. I really like making bread from instant noodles; some of you might think I’m a little off my rocker, but it’s fun, completely different from what I’ve been doing, and it’s really neat to put a bunch of things together and have something come out nicely. Whether I win the contest or not (it would be nice to win), I’m happy with what I did here. Let’s check it out =- I used one noodle block and the seasoning from 10 Cup Noodles Chicken flavor! Let’s go!
Yeah, after the last attempt at making bread out of South Korean instant noodles, I needed to explore further. Today, I’m going to infuse a loaf with a block of instant noodles, a can of corn, and chicken, and a wallop of sesame seeds! One thing to note – in the video I mention the dates this one will release on YouTube – I made a mistake. It’ll release on September 20th, and it will also release on December 24th – I thought it would on September 23rd. So, that was a mistake. Let’s take a trip down Corn Lane!
Check it out! It’s Exotic Noods! A box every month of absolutely awesome noodles from around the world! Use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
Thanks to a nice shipment from the folks at Red Chef in Malaysia (you’ll see the unboxing soon), some Spicy Sakura Prawn Soup Noodle came and that was what I was waiting for! I thought a prawn mee from Malaysia in a loaf of bread could be interesting – especially if I dump a ton of shrimp in with it! Did it work? Of course it did! Check out the video and the recipe is down below.
I left it to the folks over at the Ramen Junkie Facebook group to pick which #ramenbread would be next for me. I really wanted to do something that incorporated a South Korean variety – last time I tried that though, it was a big fail as I tried to make flour with the noodles. I’ve learned that is definitely NOT the way to go, but using cooked noodles and bread flour in a good mix makes for a nice moist cake and crisp crust. Well, here it is! Best loaf yet and infused with chashu, cheese, and egg. Let’s see what happens when I try to put a ton of stuff in a little loaf of bread with a big block of ramen in it!
Today, I decided to make something spicy. Really spicy! I had a six pack of these Mamee Shinsegae Ghost Pepper Chicken cups sitting here – I’ve done the mukbang and the review – so why not… BREAD?! They have dark noodles and sauce sachets – this one was sure to burn – and it does. Let’s check it out!
Yesterday, I tried making bread with Mom’s Dry Noodle brand instant noodles from Taiwan. I figured I’d continue the theme with MAMA – maternal instant noodle time over here I suppose. But anyways, this one is a completely different kind of deal. Let’s give it a go and see what kind of results we end up with.
Well a good day to you! Two days ago, I attempted a bread made solely from ground instant noodles that came out horribly. This on the other hand came out very well. I can’t really give you a recipe to speak of since so much of it was improvised in the moment, but here’s a rough idea of what I did.
I did a podcast a few weeks ago and met a fellow ramen aficionado who was launching a premium ramen box out of Japan. Well, the first one has arrived! Then, the second! These are really amazing packs of super premium instant ramen – stuff I’ve never tried as well. You can pick them up at www.instantramen.jp and don’t forget to use coupon code THERAMENRATER at checkout! Take a look!
I had a thought – ramen into bread. I was able to do this successfully by creating a bread with cooked noodles as an ingredient in place of some bread flour. But what of a bread where instant noodles are the flour? I mean, it is flour, isn’t it? Today, We’ll look at my initial attempt and see what was learned from it and how it went.
You’ve probably seen me review Umai Crates from Japan Crate. On the back of the informational pamphlets, there’s an ad for Sugoi Mart. Sugoi Mart is an online store that sells individual items from Japan – among them, instant ramen. I asked my contact at Umai Crate if it was possible to get a sample box I could feature and introduce my readers to Sugoi Mart and get one variety in particular – the one that will be review #4000. They were good with the idea and here we are – it arrived yesterday! Let’s take a look at all in the box!
Got an email a week or two ago from the creator of a neat new healthy instant noodle product called Noodie. They wanted to send me some, and of course I’m always up to trying something new. I didn’t expect to find something so unique though and I’m really stoked to give them a try – the packaging and the product are just as fascinating as can be – let’s check it out!
It’s time to unbox a Zenpop.jp box – you get seven varieties of instant noodles to try! I would say that almost every time I’ve gotten one of these, I’ve never tried any of them before which is really awesome. Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount! Let’s check it out!
So for a while, I’ve wanted to play with a bread machine. Well, we got one. We could have bought one brand new and had it in a day or two off of Amazon, but my friend Matt is very proud of the machine he got from a Goodwill Thrift store, and I decided that was the kind I wanted as well. We went to three one day, and then a fourth the second day. In this particular scenarion, fourth time was the charm and we found a Toastmaster 1.5lb loaf bread machine for $12.99 in Redmond, Washington – home of Microsoft and a particularly fancy Goodwill store.
Bread and instant noodles doesn’t sound like an apt combination, but here we are. Here is the recipe we tried and our results. I will say I’m happy with the results – a dense and moist loaf with a nice crust – and very good flavor. It’s exactly as advertised, folks – it’s a loaf of bread made with Indomie – and it tastes like Indomie.
I should mention that the recipe is adapted from the one that came with the bread machine for white bread. We used it as a guideline and made a couple of tweaks. If you’ve got a bread machine, give it a try!
We did a full video on what we did here, but the full recipe is below as well as detailed imagery of the result.
Ingredients 1 noodle block from Indomie Mi Goreng (cooked and drained) 4 sets of seasoning packets from 4 packs of Indomie - both the dual sachet of dry and triple sachet of wet Lots of shredded coriander (cilantro) 1 cup warm water 2 tbsp sugar 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 1/4 cups all-purpose sifted flour 2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
Mr. Lee’s Noodles started out in the UK. Priding themselves as a healthier option, they use freeze dried ingredients to give a better taste and freshness which is really quite a nice departure from the norm. Their varieties of noodle products are rice noodles, so they made the connection to offer congee varieties as well – let’s check them out!
Summer is alas going away soon. However, it’s a great time to chillax and try some new things and subscription boxes are a neat way to do so. These subscription boxes come straight to your door and have some neat stuff inside! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles! Here’s the latest unboxing of the September 2021 Umai Crate!
I got contacted a couple weeks ago about receiving some samples from Hong Kong. An interesting new beef noodle made in Taiwan for the Hong Kong market. Well, they arrived today and very excited to give them a try. Let’s check out what’s inside the package!
Check it out! It’s Exotic Noods! A box every month of absolutely awesome noodles from around the world! Use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
Summer is here! It’s a great time to chillax and try some new things and subscription boxes are a neat way to do so. These subscription boxes come straight to your door and have some neat stuff inside! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles! Here’s the latest unboxing of the August 2021 Umai Crate!
