Wow it sure has been awhile – repackaging and over 14 years! I thought hey – I’m planning on doing a Definitive Guide to these, why not revisit chicken. My last sampling was review #215. There’s something about these trays that drives me nuts. Now, they’re not designed with the thought that there’s a guy somewhere will be scanning the bottom of the tray. Well, this guy here does and it’s horror. They’re shrink wrap, so they dont want to lay flat and fold over, etc. They also get tons of reflective glare. Anyways, yeah. But whaddaya do. Best ya can. Let’s cook it up!
Tag: hans lienesch
#4952: Maruchan Yakisoba Cheddar Cheese Flavor – United States
It was 2011. Nobody’d heard of COVID?. Everything was somewhat peaceful as far as I remember. 13 years ago. That was the last time I’d tried this one. There are a ton of these Yakisoba varieties – some are no longer made – the taco one was my 1000th review. Four Cheese, Tomato & Basil, Sweet * Sour – if you want to see them all here you go. But today, it’s cheese! Let’s cook it up.
#4951: Maruchan Yakisoba Orange Chicken Flavor – United States
Hey look – another new one! I’m thinking maybe I’ll have to sauté some chicken and add in some Mandarin orange… Very curious how this noodle will impart such a flavor; in a good way, or like some Tang powder mixed in. Let’s find out.
#4950: Mamee Chef Curry Laksa Flavour – Malaysia
When I saw this one at HMart I was very enthused. I did review this or a similar version recently, but the packaging has changed so maybe there’s a little different stuff going on. I’m a big fan of curry laksa – and this one generally is quite wonderful. This review is also a marker for something coming up – I’m only 50 reviews away from #5000. I’m still at a point of ‘what the heck will #5000 be? I feel like I should do something wonderful; return to my roots. Well, until then I will continue on my path through the world of instant noodles. Let’s go!
#4949: Haichijia Instant Broad Noodles Sichuan Pepper Flavor – China
Time for another one of these HaiChiJia broad noodle bowls. The last one was extremely good. Hoping this one’s got a good balance – too strong of Sichuan peppercorn kind of puts me off. We shall see…
#4948: Maruchan Yakisoba Chili Cheese Flavor – United States
Hey look – a new one! Big thanks to Maruchan for sending – they sent me a nice assortment of these – maybe time to do a Definitive Guide on these hmmm… This one sounds like fun – let’s do it up.
#4947: Mi Sedaap Style Of Singapore Spicy Laksa – Indonesia
Happy birthday to me! This one looked really neat and what’s crazy is I found it locally at S*Mart. I visit that place once a year usually and find a ton of great stuff I’ve never seen before. I even got some mint for garnish on this one. I wanted to get a mint plant and a basil plant yesterday at the fruit stand, but it’s still too early – they didn’t have any. I mean, it is still winter here. Regardless, let’s cook!
#4946: Nissin Demae Ramen Aka Tonkotsu Flavor – Hong Kong
Back in 2017, I got to try this one. It’s interesting to find here in the states now, and has some differences. I’m guessing it’s still made in Hong Kong, however there are a couple of differences. Back then it was aka tonkotsu flavour – now the ‘u’ is dropped. Sachets look different as well. Today’s my birthday, so I picked three to review that I thought would be fun to do out of my stash. So, the last review, this one, and the next one are ones I’m doing today. Let’s cook it up!
#4945: JML Super Spicy Beef Flavor – China
Another find from S*Mart. This is pretty non-descript. Maybe from a multi pack? I don’t know, but it certainly is interesting. This one’s made by JML (Jinmailang). Let’s delve into it.
#4944: Omachi Instant Noodles Rib Soup Style – Vietnam
It’s been an interesting go in these past few reviews! A couple trips to less frequented local shops for the local people have yielded a lot of varieties I’ve not seen before as well as those I’ve not reviewed in well over a decade. This one’s a never tried comer from north of here. Let’s give it a go.
#4943: Chun Noodles Rich Sesame Flavor – Taiwan
Found this one at S*Mart in Bellevue, Washington. Who doesn’t like noodles? Well, these have been interesting to research and so far no great luck. I think we expected this to be onion oil flavor, but I’m getting flax and sesame (sesame seems more likely) upon searching and translation. Let’s give it a go!
#4941: Nissin Demae Ramen XO Sauce Seafood – Hong Kong
I reviewed this one a few years back, but it looks like things have changed slightly so I thought it would be interesting to try again. Let give it a whirl.
#4940: Acecook Mi Lau Thai Artificially Flavoured Chicken – Vietnam
Found this one at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett, Washington. Dunno if I’ve tried this one… Upon checking, yes I have right here. Review 272 back in 2011. Looks like a packaging change. Let’s give it a whirl.
Maruchan Ramen x Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings Collaboration Snacks
If you’ve thought ‘hey I wonder what a Funyuns and Maruchan Instant Lunch had a baby, what would it taste like?’ then you’re a very strange individual. But that’s what we have here. Granted, these aren’t the product of some strange snack mating ritual, but hey it’s a snack nonetheless. I’ve seen them just about everywhere lately. I’ve also seen people’s thoughts on them, ranging from dislike to completely evangelism. Well, here’s an unboxing time of the product accompanied by a taste test. Thank you to @officialfunyuns and Maruchan for scooting this my way!
#4939: Bashu Family Biang Biang – China
I’m pretty sure there’s no panda in this. I’m a big fan of biangbiang – wide sauce noodle. Let’s give it a try.
#4938: Wai Wai Tom Yum Shrimp Flavor – Thailand
Now here’s one I haven’t seen since 2011 and thought could use another taste. I really enjoy tom yum and was wanting to review a Wai Wai variety, but the others they had at Evergreen Asian Market weren’t what I was looking for. So here we are – let’s cook it up!
#4937: Baixiang Hot Pork Bone Flavor Soup Noodles – China
Found this over at S*Mart, too. Hot pork bones! Wahoo! I’ve always liked this brand – usually their stuff is pretty decent. I wonder what the versions in China are like… Would like to try them, that’s for sure. Well, let’s try this export version.
#4936: Maruchan Mendukuri Backfat Shoyu Ramen – Japan
Here’s one that came from the now defunct ramen arm of Zenpop. They sent a box as a parting thank you, unfortunately the box only had one variety I’d never reviewed and this was the only one. Let’s give it a try.
#4935: Vifon Asian Style Instant Rice Noodles “Phnom Penh” Style – Vietnam
Found this one at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett, Washington. I found quite a few Vietnamese varieties there I looked up in my archives, found a bowl version of this which was my fifth review. Those early early reviews are definitely out of order, but it was definitely one of the first 30 I tried back in 2002-2003. Well, let’s give this one a try.
#4934: Ve Wong Kung-Fu Brand Instant Oriental Noodle Soup Artificial Beef Flavor – Taiwan
This one’s kind of surprising to me as it looks like I’ve never reviewed it but that really surprises me. I really had thought I had. Got this one at S*Mart – but you can find it at pretty much any Asian grocery. Let’s give it a try.
Maruchan Sends New Yakisoba Varieties
Maruchan USA reached out to me recently and asked if I’d like to be among the first to try their new Yakisoba varieties – and of course my answer was yes. They sent a mega box of stuff and here we’ll delve into this range.
#4933: Haichijia Instant Broad Noodles With Sesame Paste – China
Hey look at this! I’ve reviewed the large cups before with pics of Bobby Yip on them. Found these larger sized bowls at S*Mart in Bellevue, Washington recently. Sesame paste broad noodle sounds quite nice – let’s give it a go!
Nakama Noodles Unboxing – August 2024 + Coupon Code
Today, I’m unboxing MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles box. You can get their monthly selection of 8-10 varieties – and this box they sent was full of varieties I’ve never reviewed before, plus they include PACKS!!! I’ll be doing unboxings for them and have a coupon code you can use – THERAMENRATER (of course)! Watch the video below – you’ll see why I’m excited.
#4932: Omachi Instant Noodles With Tomato Sauce – Vietnam
Here’s one I found over at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett, WA! I’ve had this many years ago and never simply found it in the ‘wild.’ My buddy Stumpy, who now resides in North Little Rock, AR found it for me while living in Everett in 2012. Here’s that review. Twelve years ago – not The Beforetime, but quite a while ago. Let’s check it out – by the way I found plenty more from this brand today and that was really exciting – been wanting to find stuff from these folks for awhile.
Exoticnoods.com Sends Rad Varieties!!
A big thank you to Daniel over at www.exoticnoods.com – you should check out his boxes! They’re multinational, so not just from a singble country. Good stuff! He sent some varieties that can be found in those boxes. Let’s check ’em out!
#4931: MAMA Oriental Style Instant Noodles Chand Clear Soup – Thailand
Found this one at S*Mart yesterday. I remember a very short time ago a person asked me if I’d review this one again. It’d been a great while, So I just thought I’d look and see how long it had been. The last time I reviewed this is when it was review #35! The date on it is June of 2009! My God! I haven’t reviewed this since The Beforetime. The Beforetime was the time before I met my wife Kit; when the universe was darkness. As I remember, I made the decision that IO wanted to move my website from being like this and transcribing the posts to the blogger platform. Then, I decided to migrate the site over to WordPress.com. I think that this is when I did that – back in 2009. This review could have been done between 2002 and 2009, most likely around 2004 is my guess. But today I’ll try this one again – definitely with much more experience. Let’s give it a try.
Mom’s Dry Noodle / Surfmama – Taiwanese Laksa With Fishball!
I’ve tried quite a few different varieties from Taiwan and other points around the world. What’s interesting about this one is that it’s a Southeast Asian variety (Malaysia, Singapore) coming from Taiwan. Sounds interesting, especially t me as a fan of curries and fish ball. Let’s take a look! Big thanks to Kyle over at Mom’s Dry Noodle / Surfmama for sending it my way!
#4930: Ottogi Yeul Ramen – South Korea
I think I’ve mentioned recently being almost out of instant noodle varieties to review. Well, I went to HMart today. It’s a Monday. That doesn’t usually happen as it’s probably a two hour or more walk each way. Anyways, I went with my wife, the lovely Kit. See, she got a tooth pulled that was giving her trouble on Friday. Then she had to go back because they missed a couple bits on Saturday. It’s been pure hell for her. Today, we went back to the dentist to look – was worried about dry socket (nope) and infection (nope) – but they gave her more meds and other stuff so hoping that helps. Anyways, got to spend the day with her as she works in a call center and talking on the phone all day when you have trouble opening your mouth as it hurts… This is one that should hurt pretty good – I’ve been wanting to do this spicy one for quite a long time. Well, let’s give it a go!
#4929: Maruchan Yakisoba Spicy Chicken Flavor – United States
Well, a couple reviews ago I started with how my back was screwed up from doing a lot of work on the weekends setting things up. Well, it still is sore, and today I planned on walking a lot but there were three D’s that kind of ruined that plan… Damn cold, damn windy, damn rainy. So, damn. I walked to the local store and got a couple things including this one to review. I don’t think I’ve reviewed it in a great while, so here it is and here I go.
#4928: Choi Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup – United States
Here’s the second one I got yesterday. I walked over to Lake Forest Park – about three miles from here I’m guessing. The store I got it at is called Albertsons. It’s weird; I’ve noticed different stores have different moods. This particular store is weird. I waited for a cashier at the check out for a couple minutes who finally appeared and told me they were busyt talking to another employee about their father’s salmon recipe. ‘Great’ I thought; ‘I have been waiting here…’ Then she starts talking about lawn implements and asks me how to fix her lawnmower. I just want to buy this instant noodle and leave. What also is strange at this store is that you get halfway towards the back, cellphone reception disappears. But yeah; the store is strange – it’s like when the new guy in towan walks into a saloon in a western and the music stop and everyone looks at him. Anyways, I’ve reviewed the pack version and it was quite good. Hoping this one is as good if not better. Let’s find out.
#4927: Snapdragon Tonkotsu Ramen – United States
This last weekend I redid my desk and mounted my computer underneath it. It went really well, but jacked up my back. Yesterday, I decided to take it easy (well, I didn’t) and walked to another town and got a couple varieties to review. This was one of them. Hopefully it’s enjoyable. We shall see…
#4926: Bulramen Carbonara Artificial Spicy Chicken Flavor Stir-fried Ramen – United States
Here’s the last one I found on our recent run over to HMart. Well, all the other iterations of Bulramen haven’t been my favorites, that’s for sure. Hoping this one does a little better but not expecting it to. But I’ll give it a chance.
#4925: Maruchan QTTA Carbonara Ramen – Japan
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop box – here’s what they had to say about it – ‘What is this?? Did my Japan box turn into an Italy box? Look again, it’s QTTA Carbonara(men)! Wordplay aside, this is really ramen noodles in the famous Italian sauce. Japan is an island nation with many people not finding many opportunities to travel abroad, which leads to foreign flavors being very interesting. How close is this ramen carbonara to the real thing? You be the judge!’
#4924: Pamana Champorado Chocolate Rice Porridge – United States
Here’s one that you might find on an instant noodle aisle. It was sent by James from Lakeside, California. It looks like I’m just about out of varieties to review at this point here in February 2024… Hmm… That kind of works out alright as tomorrow is Friday and I’ve done 3 varieties a day every day this week and a couple days last week, trudging towards the big 5000. Chocolate rice porridge is most certainly not ramen, but it’s worth a look. So let’s look.
#4923: Nongshim Baehongdong Jjoljjolmyeon – South Korea
This one was found at HMart. So let’s delve into jjolmyeon – here’s Wikipedia’s info –
#4922: Acecook Mariuma Nagasaki Agodashi Udon – Japan
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
#4921: Migelas Protevit Rasa Kari Ayam – Indonesia
Big thank you to Pher Engi for sending this one along! Ah it’s Wednesday and time to cook. Mi is noodles and gelas is like ‘glass’ as in a glass of water. It’s also like cup, so these are cup or mug noodles. Kari ayam is chicken curry!. To the stove!
#4920: Fire Bull Stir-Fried Ramen – United States
Okay so I found this at HMart and I believe (could be wrong) it’s from the same people that make Bulramen. It’s certainly made in South Korea, but for sale in the United States and packaged for that reason. Anyways, let’s try some beef flavor noodle.
#4919: Nissin Cup Noodles Campfire S’mores Ramen Noodles In Sauce – United States
Well, here we go again – and I like that. This is a fascinating newcomer to the range of unique Cup Noodles for customers in the United States. Pumpkin Spicy, Breakfast, Everything Bagel, and now some s’mores. I really enjoy these new varieties to try – they’ve been popping off with new and unique varieties in Japan for years – neat to see new stuff here in the USA! I’m really curious how this one will be. Let’s give it a go.
Noodle Revolution – Noodles Made From Egg Whites!
I kept seeing these on Amazon and so I decided to reach out to the company for samples, which they kindly sent – thanks! Noodle Revolution is really a fascinating product. These are noodles made almost entirely from egg white. I’ll show you what I did with them in this unboxing. You can purchase them here. The ramen style thicker, vermicelli thinner. I thought upon stirring, the vermicelli would just turn to mush and break up, but that certainly wasn’t the case. Not at all rubbery, with a good mouthfeel and softness. I was really impressed by this – check em out!