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Been a busy day today so noodles came in the evening instead of first thing in the morning. Usually, instant noodles are the first thing I eat in the morning. Well, today it’s vegetable tom yam Cup Noodles. Let’s see how they come out – very curious how they’ll be inside!
Cup Noodles are made by Nissin in all sorts of varieties worldwide. They make them specifically for different regions – the ones for sale in India have an Indian taste; ones in Brazil have flavors that appeal to Brazilians. One flavor that is kind of universal is chicken. I would guess that every country has some kind of well known chicken dish. I wonder if they have chicken in Antarctica? I guess it would be freeze-dried and imported. Is Antarctica even inhabited? Maybe wikipedia will know…
I first heard of a dish called Chilli Crab a few years ago, and was told it was the ‘signature dish of Singapore.’ Since the advent of Instagram, I’ve seen this particular Cup Noodle variety dozens of times and always have been quite curious about it. Let’s take a look at this regional Cup Noodles variety!
Whether you call is Tom Yam or Tum Yum, it’s a tasty, spicy and citrus flavored soup that originally heralds from Thailand. It is often served with seafood (shrimp seems most common) and garnished with coriander, better known in the United States as cilantro. When I first saw something mentioning coriander in Tom Yam, I decided to go to the store and find some. I ended up with a $5 little jar of powder. At the point I realized they call it cilantro here, I felt a little stupid, albeit a more educated. Coriander adds a nice little flavor to things. The thing is that you can’t get it here in very small amounts. For usually between 50 and 90 cents, you get more coriander than I would have any clue of what to do with, and I suppose it could be frozen, but I don’t think it would be as fresh and happy as it is when it’s just bought. So, I always feel a bit wasteful when I buy it. On the bright side, I think it’ll come into play a few times in this week, so that’s at least a plus. Well, let’s try this Tom Yam and use some coriander!
Seafood curry! This sounds and looks really interesting. I think this is the first that mentions including cuttlefish, too! I got curries cuttlefish at a dim sum joint nearby a few months ago. It’s pretty good stuff – chewy and had a nice curry sauce. I’ve got some nice things to add to this one I just got at the store the other day. For the last few months, I’ve been trying new things from the seafood counter at the Asian markets around me. I’ve tried quite a few fishball varieties, sliced squid, and got some interesting looking fish cakes! Let’s have a look at this seafood curry from Nissin Singapore!
Let’s kick things off with this Cream of Chicken Cup Noodles. I’ve heard of creamy chicken instant noodle, but never cream of chicken! What’s more interesting to me is the part of the world this is coming from; I would think this a more US or British flavor, but Singapore? I looked around online and found this recipe for creamy soups on a Singapore Home Cooking site – I would never have guessed creamy soups would’ve been popular there! Anyways, let’s give it a try!
This one was sent to me by Abbie C. of Hong Kong – thank you again! Curry – and cheese? Been very curious about this one, that’s for sure. I like curry a lot – one of the flavors that’s always strong and varies so much from culture to culture. Let’s see how it pairs with cheese and noodles in this cup.
I got an email a few weeks back from a fellow named Hikaru T. from Courrier Japon magazin. He was interested in doing an article about my Top Ten list and asked if that’d be alright. I usually ask for a couple copies of the finished product and some cool instant noodle from the country where the magazine is. Well, he said okay and so here is the box that arrived today!
Hey look! This is the last of the Nissin varieties made for Colombia. They’re made here in California by Nissin Foods USA, but only for sale in Colombia. This is identical to the beef flavor Cup Noodles we have available here. I reviewed that one way back – #334 in March of 2011 – seems like forever ago. Let’s see what I think about this one nowadays. Let’s check it out!
I’ve been really wanting to review this one before now but I decided to do it for the Christmas review quite a while back. I don’t usually barge in with a different review during Meet The Manufacturer, but it’s Christmas so here it is. The ABC President Meet The Manufacturer will continue after Christmas. For now, let’s check out this cup. I’ve had cups that have come with little doo dads before; a ticket for a contest, a sticker, a little card… But this is something completely different. A little model kit! Let’s check it out!
Got a package the other day from reader Abbie C. of Hong Kong! She offered to see if she could send a couple things I’ve been looking for: Hello Kitty and Pokemon branded noodle products. As I’ve said before, my wife likes Hello Kitty and my son is aPokefanatic!
Here’s another one of the new varities available in Colombia. Gallina means hen
and from what I was told by Hector C. from Panama (who lives in Costa Rica) that
it is kind of like the veal of chicken ; young hen. I researched a bit online and
found a few recipes for soups from Colombia mentioning Gallina. Wikipedia had
this to say of the Colombian variety of ‘Sancocho:’
Robert F. of Hoboken, NJ was kind enough to send one of these – thanks! Very curious how it will be… Only one way to find out!
Got a box today from a reader! What’s inside?
Sweet – I’ve been very curious about this one! Thanks to Robert F. from Hoboken, NJ for sending this along!
I did an interview with a news agency in Japan recently called Record China –
They sent a box of amazing goodies from Japan I’ve been hoping to finbd for a while!
Spicy and shrimp sounded good for breakfast today. Let’s check this one out!
Here are the side panels (click image to enlarge). Contains meat. Also contains wheat, soybean, egg, milk, shrimp and krill.
Cups were the second instant noodle innovation that really took the world by storm. Nissin founder Momofuku Ando of Japan decided that a cup would be a really handy way to have instant noodles on the go. His creation came to the market in 1971. Forty-two years later, the instant noodle landscape is filled with many different cup designs and contents – some all inclusive only needing hot water,m and some requiring a little more with packets – and some even with forks! Of all the varieties I’ve tried to date, here are my favorite ten.
Whoa check this one out! Scott over at Nissin sent me this one that he got on a recent trip to Japan – thank you! Bazinga! Let’s see what is in this trippy cup!
Check this sucker out – this is one huge Cup Noodle! Scott from Nissin got this one for me during a recent trip to Asia – thanks! Let’s see what’s going on here…
Wow – here we are; this is the precipice of a very large psychological number! First things first – thanks to Joe & Gil of the UK for sending such a nice mix of interesting noodles! Okay so this is a Pot Noodle – they’re always interesting as the British seem to come up with some really interesting flavors to lend to instant noodles and this is definitely one of them. Doner Kebab. So, what is a Doner Kebab? Well, click here for the seriously huge amount of info from Wikipedia,. Basically what they’re saying is that you have a meat that’s roasted on a vertical spit and then sliced thin and garnished with tomato, lettuce, onion and other things. At least that’s what I’m getting from it. The packaging mentions this is lamb flavor, but beef is also common (and what I’ll use as a garnish).
A big box…
Full of…
New stuff! Scott A. over at Nissin Foods USA sent a couple new items – Habanero Lime Chicken and Habanero Lime Shrimp Big Cup Noodles, Spicy Teiryaki Beef Chow Mein and a couple from Japan – another Nissin Raoh (this time miso) and the pack version of the Nissin Raoh Rich Soy Sauce & Backfat! Awesome! Thank you very much!
When I recently redid The Big List, I noticed some things. One of them was that I have never reviewed this one, nor it’s Beef or Shrimp fellow Instant Lunches! Talk about an oversight on my part… I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do a Meet The Manufacturer with Maruchan soon – thanks to everyone who has asked me to do one, it’s just I’ve never been able to successfully get in touch with them. Well, here we go with a close up and personal with Maruchan’s Instant Lunch: Chicken Flavor.
Here’s a new flavor of Cup Noodles!
Back of the cardboard packaging (click image to enlarge).
I got a comment from a place called Ramen Place asking me to check out their web store. Lots of things I’ve not seen before! So I sent an email off to www.ramenplace.com early this week asking if they’d be up for donating some varieties. I got a resounding and very nice yes! Here’s a big box that came from them – As you can see, it’s dwarfing Otis the Pug!
We went and got makings for Korean BBQ at the store yesterday and I found this unreviewed cup so I figured let’s do two cups today. Here we go!
I’ve seen a few articles as of late about people burning themselves because they tip over cups of instant noodles. This is ridiculous. These articles start citing that the design of these cup is flawed. Also, it is mentioned that many of the victims are children! I think anyone saying “here little tyke, be careful, it’s hot” ought to have their heads examined. . If you don’t know how to correctly operate and consume a cup noodle, I will herein inform you as to how.
So for the 400th review, I went with one I’ve thought should be interesting – seafood curry. These are Cup Noodles that are not for sale usually in the United States. I’ve found two – Crab Flavour and Seafood Flavour, but this Curry Seafood Flavour came from Canada.
