Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
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!
Mu sister got me this one on a trip to Canada earlier this year! Thanks! This one’s interesting since it has those JML logos on it. Anyways, let’s dig in!
Been a while, but here we go with the 17th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News!
I search the ‘net for interesting news and view on instant noodles and beyond. Here you go!
My friend Todd T, clued me in the other day about a new Asian grocery on 99 in south Everett and we checked it out. Well, I found this interesting one. Vietnamese kimchi ramn! Check it out!
Well, time for another try with cold noodles! Been really enjoying them recently – curious how these will fare – look pretty fancy!
Spent some time hanging out with my friend Matt B. the other day and we went to HT Oaktree Market on 100th & Aurora in Seattle and found this new one. But what is Asam Laksa? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:
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 a big bowl of noodles sent a while back by Michelle L. of New York. Stew beef sounds good to me!
Thanks to Moon Hee Wi of the JoongAng Ilbo for sending me these! She wrote this article about me. So I’ve reviewed the Chapagetti that’s available here in the US, but this is the Korean version so it gets its own review. I’ve always done this and now I’ve got more reason to. I was talking to a manufacturer of instant noodles from Korea and they said that they use chicken in their instant noodles. The only problem is that the Food & Drug Administration doesn’t like Korean chicken for some reason. So they have to import chicken from a big poultry supplier in the USA into Korea, process it and package their product and then ship it back to the US for the blessing of the FDA. Not sure if that’s the case here, but regardless, it’s interesting to think that this kind of this has to happen to bring instant noodles to us from abroad.
Here’s one that my sister brought me back from a trip to Canada earlier this year. So to recap, bought in Canada, Singaporean flavored, made in China – capiche?
Saw this at H Mart a while back and it piqued my curiosity. Was kind of pricy for a little cup – close to $3… Wonder what’s in there.
Here’s another one from my friend in Jakarta, Indonesia – thanks again! This is another Indonesian noodle soup – not a dry noodle. Let’s give it a try! By the way – ‘Baru’ means new.
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.
This is different – usually you don’t see a clear window in on the noodle block inside! Let’s have a try with this one.
All good things… Well, these weren’t all that good but they were a lot of fun! Thanks go to Mark K. and Erika L. for getting these to me! They sent a slew of different flavors of Mr. Noodles and they were really my first foray into the world of Canadian instant noodles! Now it is time to give the last pack a try. Here we go!
Here’s another great one sent to me by my friend in Jakarta, Indonesia – thanks again! This is some really neat stuff – like Mi Goreng on steroids! Pedas means spicy! Extreme! Check it out.
I can’t even imagine how long ago I last reviewed anything from Wai Wai – pretty stoked on it! Let’s try seom Thai noodles!
Found this the other day at KS Mart in Lynnwood (that’s where I git my kimchi!). This is from China – never had a Chinese made mee-goreng before! Usually I like the Dragonfly stuff though. Let’s give this 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!
If you’re new to The Ramen Rater’s Show Your Noodles, every week you can email me a picture of some noodles you’ve made. include your name and location and I’ll post it on the weekly roundup! Fancy or functional, it doesn’t matter. I mean, you could do literally anything you want with some instant noodles – use your imagination! Want to be part of next week’s Show Your Noodles? Just email me at hans@theramenrater.com. Let me know you first name, last initial, and city/state or country! My wife does the judging – here we go!
So I got an email from my contact at Nissin Foods in Gardena California mentioning a package was sent. What could it be?
I don’t usually review these but I saw this one and I thought it looked kind of interesting. Basically, take instant rice and shred it up and then use instant noodle packets and steep it for a few minutes. Basically it’s like rice noodle mush!
This one comes from Courtney N. from British Columbia, Canada! How rad – this is from Seven-11 in Japan! Looks interesting…
Oh man I thought this was a new one! I reviewed this at #93! Here’s something from the Philippines! Been awhile since a review from there. Pancit Canton reminds me a lot of Indonesia’s Mi Goreng; the noodles are drained and then stirred with the dry and wet ingredients and served. Let’s try this one out!
It’s been quite a while since I’ve had this one – thought it’d be a good one to finish Meet The Manufacturer: Paldo with. Hot day, cold noodles. I should also mention the last time I had this was review #118 – over 700 packs ago – and my tastes have changed a bit. I’m happy to say I like cold noodles nowadays.
Here’s another interesting one – Jjajangmen. The last time I reviewed this, I had mixed it in like it mentions on the back. This time, I’m going to put it on top like in the picture!
Here’s Paldo’s standard hot & spicy variety. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be the hottest days of the year here in the northwest – temps are supposed to hit 94 degrees today and 96 tomorrow. Hot and spicy sounds just about right! What’s Hwa though? Couldn’t figure that one out but here’s what the health info on soy peptide is! Anyways – I’m hungry – time to noodle it up!
In the US, it’s Kokomen, in Korea it’s Kko Kko Myun! They also have not only the package variety, but also in a King Cup! Let’s see if it’s as good as the package version.
Oh man I’m thoroughly ticked off. Melky Cabrera just got caught taking testosterone and now is out for 50 games. I’m a huge SF Giants fan and this is just painful. Just went to my first game a few weeks ago too. Feel kind of cheated in a way. Anyways, no reason that jerk’s gonna mess up my noodle day! This is something I’ve never even heard of! Seolleongtangmyeon? I looked it up on Wikipedia:
I saw a YouTube video recently where a man is trying to handle the heat of this instant ramyun. He couldn’t – to the point of cursing these noodles. Another reason that Paldo’s Teumsae Ramyun is #1 on the Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles of All Time list. But Teumsae; what is that? Teumsae is a well known restaurant chain in Korea. They’re well known for their spicy ways as well!
Rabokki huh? Ramyun and Ttebokki perhaps? Let’s check this one out!
The back of the package (click image to enlarge). I went with the second set of instructions (the lower ones)
Hey rad – a big cup of kimchi noodles! I’m a big fan of kimchi these days and hoping this is just what the doctor ordered today!
Here’s a new one from Paldo – Namja. Namja translates to “man” or “guy” – I think they’re saying this is very hot and spicy. I wonder if there will be a product that is made for women as well? Well, let’s see if I’m man enough for this bowl of noodles!
Usually when asked ‘what was your first noodle product,’ the answer I get from a company is chicken flavored instant noodles. Well, chicken flavor instant noodles are these and they look like a nice big bag of noodles! Been awhile – last time I had this is was review #88!
How often do you see Korean instant noodles that aren’t spicy? Well, here’s one of those rare times. Pronounced Gohm-tahng (thanks Moses from Paldo America!), this is a traditional beef noodle soup.
This product is one that Paldo makes for sale in Japan. Shoyu (soy sauce) is a very traditional Japanese style of ramen.
Here’s something different – Cucumber Bibim Men! Bibimbap is a common Korean dish involving a sauce with mixed vegetables and rice. The ‘Men’ here is pronounced ‘main’ as in chow mein as in noodles. So what this is is a cold noodle deal – you boil the noodles and veggies, drain and rinse with cold water a few times, add the liquid packet and stir it together. Curious if I’m going to like this – I’ve had Bibim Men a long time ago, but my tastes have changed so we’ll see.
Finally after a long wait, Kkokkomyun has come to the United States as Kokomen! This is the instant that brought about the whole ‘white broth’ craze in Korea. Here’s an excerpt from my interview with Paldo:
Wow check this out! Paldo sent me this prototype of a new product – a bowl of instant noodles that only takes a minute and thirty seconds to cook. Pretty amazing – but how does it taste?
I asked my wife Kit to pick which pack of noodles to begin Meet The Manufacturer: Paldo week and she picked this one. Sounds like a great place to start!
