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I thought this one sounded interesting while I perused the noodle aisle at the Edmonds, WA 99 Ranch Market. I suppose it could be full of Sichuan peppercorn, either oil or dry powder, but I tend to doubt it. But, the proof is in the tasting – let’s give it a try.
Every year I pick my favorites out of all the reviews I’ve done. In the past, I’ve had lists that have multiple companies with multiple entries. I decided this year that I would change that. Starting with this list, only one entry per company will be on the list. I’ll mention other noteworthy varieties in the text of each one which I think will give more opportunities for folks to try new things. This new way of doing things will be reflected in this list, the upcoming Bottom Ten, Top Ten Bowls, and Top Ten Cups lists.
If there’s one thing that’s a certainty, companies from Taiwan tend to send me product samples more often than from any other country. They’re constantly innovating and refining, coming out with neat new things. Taiwan is a great place I’ve had the luck to visit twice. On one visit, I went to a large store and they had two aisles of just instant noodles that I really wish I would have taken pictures of. Now, what you’ll see on this list is mainly Taiwanese dry noodle. An ‘instant’ noodle is one that you can simply cover in boiling water for a short time and they spring to life. These require cooking. I hope to hear from Taiwanese instant noodle companies in the coming year; this is an invitation to you! It would be really nice to release a list of instant noodles alongside a list of dry noodles. This list is comprised of reviews of Taiwanese noodles up to #4650. Please check at the bottom for some special messages as well. With that, I hope you enjoy The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2024 Edition!
Here’s something interesting from a company that usually brings things that are interesting! A tom yum variety from Taiwan. I’m game – let’s check it out!
I’ve gotten some really unique flavors from Little Couples over the years and this one is no exception! Let’s have a look and a sneak peek at what I created with them!
The last one of these I tried was really nice – and this should be no different with Mom’s Dry Noodle’s track record to date. But you never know, so let’s check it out.
This one seems a little different. So, it says 3 flavors in 1 noodle.
Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil noodle for 5~6 minutes, then 30 seconds with lid on. Drain. Add in sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The last one by this brand I tried was spectacular – a wide and chewy dry noodle with a savory sauce. This one brings a thinner noodle. I’m really curious – let’s give it a try!
Back in 2013, I gained the ire of many Taiwanese netizens when varieties from over there didn’t make the top ten, and some made the bottom ten. In a ‘noodle diplomacy’ initiative, I asked companies who thought they had some special stuff to send it. A-Sha was the first to answer the call, introducing me to the Taiwanese dry noodle. Ten years later, here we are with their Meteor Noodle – a threesome of flavors with a unique noodle.
I just finished reviewing NoodleMix’s konjac noodle bowls – now time for their dry noodles. This is their ‘signature’ flavor – let’s give it a try!
First off, thanks to the folks at A-Sha USA for sending these over! There are two different boxes, four varieties in total. I thought I’d go with this box first. So, I live under a rock; I’m not exceedingly hip to things that aren’t noodle related or politics related. God, I’m old. I do know there is a Korean group called BTS that’s quite popular, and a messaging service called LINE. Well, LINE did a collab with BTS and made BT21 characters, and A-Sha collaborated with LINE and made these noodles featuring these characters.
I was contacted recently by a company called ShanShi, asking if I would sample their product. I never turn down the chance to try something new (it’s what I do) so ofr course I accepted with gratitude. Here’s a little background from them – ‘It is a dish from QinWeiGuan. The Garlic Noodles comes with a very strong garlic taste and is quite spicy. It is an easy and fast way to enjoy garlic without the burden of peeling garlic and getting it ready to eat. About QinWeiGuan QinWeiGuan is a restaurant in Taipei that is established for almost 20 years. Inspiring from different Chinese traditional local cuisine, in addition with years of research and feedback from customers, QinWeiGuan has developed its unique taste that can only be found in our restaurant.’
Here is the second variety from the Galaxy Variety Noodle Box – this one’s spicy! As mentioned in a review posted a few days ago, this is a tie in with LINE, a messaging/social app, and A-Sha. Also, the BT21 characters have something to do with Korean popular music group BTS. With that, let’s cook up some noodles.
First off, thanks to the folks at A-Sha USA for sending these over! There are two different boxes, four varieties in total. I thought I’d go with this box first. So, I live under a rock; I’m not exceedingly hip to things that aren’t noodle related or politics related. God, I’m old. I do know there is a Korean group called BTS that’s quite popular, and a messaging service called LINE. Well, LINE did a collab with BTS and made BT21 characters, and A-Sha collaborated with LINE and made these noodles featuring these characters.
This sounds really interesting – so this one has a special tea which comes from Chiayi, Taiwan. In their text, Little Couples mentions the ‘meticulous cultivation of tea leaves’ and that they’re really special. Let’s give it a try!
This is a new one – a pretty regular variety from A-Sha, however they’ve done a lower sodium version. Just over 1,000mg per pack – that’s really quite good. This is/will be available at Costco stores, so snatch some up while you can if you like dry noodles! Thanks to A-Sha for sending this over!
Well, folks – this is it. I’ve had a lot of fun reviewing this special Sanrio tie-in series over the last short while. Everything’s quite good. Now we come to the end of the line with this Badtz-Maru variety. Badtz-Maru is one of Hello Kitty’s friends – let’s give it a try.
Onto the third review! There are four varieties of these you can find over at www.ashadrynoodle.com. This one is another of Hello Kitty’s friends. I don’t believe it’s frog flavor, but probably more akin to the Hello Kitty supercute soy sauce flavor with some heat. Let’s give it a try!
Here’s the second in a series of four Hello Kitty & Friends varieties from A-Sha Dry Noodle of Taiwan. This one’s made for the US market. So far, impressed as the soy sauce one was excellent. Let’s continue on with some friendly scallion sauce noodle – should be able to find them at www.ashadrynoodle.com.
This is the third of three varieties from this company and I’m very curious. This one has a lot of sachets with it – a lot. Check them out below! Let’s give it a go!
Here’s one that came from Daniel over at www.exoticnoods.com – check ’em out – you can use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount, too! So I saw these at a local Asian market and was curious, but didn’t want to buy a multipack, so receiving this was really great. Taiwanese dry noodles. Let’s check ’em out!
Got a new one the other day that the folks over at A-Sha Dry Noodle sent. I really don’t know anything about it other than that they were interested in me trying it. Looks really good with that chunky paste on top – let’s give it a try!
Here’s a Vegan variety that was sent by James from Lakeside, CA – thanks again! So these are very thin dry noodles from Taiwan. Usually they’ve been hit or miss, but we shall see. The sick continues. At some point soon, we’ll know if we have the COVID or not. Let’s give these a try.
This is an interesting one. It appears this is a variety made just for the United States by Taiwanese company A-Sha, however it is produced in Vietnam. What’s more interesting is that it’s a Hello Kitty licensed product and it’s spicy – better do a mukbang! How spicy could it be with the cutesy factor? We’ll find out.
These showed up a little while ago at my door all the way from Taiwan – I love a good dry noodle and really curious about these. I first spoke with someone from the company about 2 years ago and now they’re here! Let’s give them a try!
The day before Thanksgiving I didn’t have anything ready to go for review, so I decided why not crank out a loaf of bread? I used Lai Noodle, a product from Hi-Lai Foods of Taiwan. They’d just sent a ton of great samples and so I thought it would be interesting to try. Here we go!
When I saw this variety at our local 99 Ranch Market, I definitely wanted to try it out and so I contacted the manufacturer. I was a little confused, but a lot enthused! Thai food from Taiwan? But I remembered I did have some really great Thai food while I was in Taiwan in 2017. Thai Town is a Thai restaurant in Taiwan and looks like they have some very good varieties of food to try. They, like many other restaurants, have branched out to create varieties you can make at home. This one sounds right up my alley. Thanks to the folks at Thai Town for sending some packets over! Let’s give this one a try on the cusp of my 4,000th reviews.
Here’s a unique and tradition variety from Taiwan. I’ve had fish head curry in Penang, Malaysia before, but this sounds like it’s quite different. Very curious about this one – let’s give it a try!
The last variety I had from Little Couples was their Fish Head Casserole, which was quite good. This one sound good too. It’s a collaboration between Little Couples and the Prince Hotel. Let’s check it out!
Ever since I first tried this one I was hooked. The noodles, the flavorings – just screams Taiwan. It’s made appearances on my annual big top ten for years as well as the number one spot on the Taiwan top ten. Check it out!
Well this is certainly a fancy box! This one hails from Taiwan and was sent by the company. It’s really neat to see all the super premium varieties coming out these days – this one sounds real good – let’s find out!
Here’s something I’m trying for the first time; goose oil. Never heard of it before now, but I’m guessing it’s something good where these noodles are concerned. Kung Fu, do you thing!
Little Couples Dry Noodle of Taiwan recently contacted me to let me know they had a new variety – well, they sent two of them! Very excited to try them. Let’s have a look at what they’ve been cooking up over at Little Couples!
Here’s one A-Sha sent – thanks! It’s from one of their boxes you can get at Costco. Neat to see noodles where I know the sellers in a place like that. So these are super thick and chewy with a non-spicy sauce. Let’s give them a try!
Something new from Taiwan just hit my mailbox recently – this is a dan dan variety from Mom’s Dry Noodle (their dan dan noodles have been on my top ten global list for a few years now). This one’s different though – lots of spicy oil and it’s Vegetarian friendly. Let’s crack it open and see what’s going on in here!
What a week – just so busy lately! My daughter just started preschool and so another part of the day is taken up by Zoom meetings – not a bad thing and really neat to see her start school! Yet it is a difficult transition for me; I’ve had everything so timed and set up for reviewing that change is difficult – but not impossible. Adjusting had been hard but it’s going well.
Today, it’s the last of the varieties by Philosophy Of Tongue Taste and their Noodles Accompanied by Happiness range. Pepper sesame! Let’s give it a try.
Okay so here’s another one with really colorful graphics. Silhouetted celebratory humands, against a scenic backdrop with the night sky. This one has ‘red oil’ – which I’m guessing is going to be a spicy one – but I could be wrong. Let’s find out!
Here’s the second variety shipped by PLN Food Co. Ltd. of Taiwan. Really appreciate them going to all the trouble shipping these over – I can’t even imagine how much it costs to ship a 90 pound box express international via FedEx! This one’s got a spicy paste involved and sound really good – let’s check it out!
Here’s the first of two varieties that PLN Food Co. Ltd. of Taiwan sent over. This is not an instant variety – this is a frozen variety! They went to extreme lengths to send it over for my review and I’m really excited to try them! Let’s have a look.
