The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Here’s one from Nissin Japan. Not a lot of English on this package so I had to do some research. What I found is that this is part of a series of spaghetti instant noodles. You add boiling water to the noodles and veg and let steep for one minute, then drain and add the oil and dry powder packet contents. Let’s give it a try!
Here’s a variety of Oh! Ricey I’ve not seen before – we found it on our trip to Canada. Pork spareribs sound good!
Here we go with the 27th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News! I scour the Internet for articles about ramen and instant noodles and bring them to you! Here are some recent stories you might find interesting!
Here’s the second of two packs sent to me from The Netherlands by Sister Laoban – thanks again! I thought some Oriental Chicken instant noodles sounded good for Easter.
Recently, I was given the great opportunity to visit the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Oregon. People who work with noodles and other wheat products from all over the world come here to take part in the Asian Noodle Technology and Ingredient Application Short Course. The course is taught by Dr. Gary Hou, an expert in the production of wheat noodles like ramen and yakisoba. I found out about the course via a news feed I follow and decided to email Dr. Hou and see if I could cover the instant noodle workshop for The Ramen Rater. I was very pleased when he answered in the affirmative, and so on March 27th, we got up early, hopped in the car and drove to Portland! In the following pictures and video, I’ll describe how instant noodles start as raw ingredients and become the blocks of noodles we all know so well. I’ll go through everything from photos first, and then there’s a video at the bottom of the process. Enjoy!
Here’s one of the new Maruchan Bowl products. There are three varieties – a non-spicy chicken which I reviewed a while back, this one and a spicy shrimp. Maruchan sent me these in a neat box – first samples from them (hope to get more of their stuff in the future)! Well, let’s check it out!
Here’s yet another from my birthday trip to Canada! A big cup of Chinese noodles – let’s check it out!
Woke up to an email from Stan at eMart telling me he had sent some samples and that they would possibly arrive sometime this week. A little later, there was a knock at the door and a USPS guy asking me to sign for a box – a big box!
Found this one up the road at KS Mart in Lynnwood, Washington. Looks really interesting – an egg block huh? I imagine it will be like a seasoning block or something… Funny; I had a sesame one yesterday too. Well, on with the sesame flavored noodles!
Here’s another one we got in Canada on my birthday! I was surprised to see a Demae Ramen bowl – always nice to see something new on the shelf! This one’s from Hong Kong. Let’s check it out.
Here’s the last of the varieties from Poland that were kindly sent by Joe & Gil of the UK! Borscht! I’ve never actually had real borscht before, but I read up on it on the Wikipedia page:
Here’s another one from my wife and I’s trip to Canada for my birthday! Only had a Four Seas instant once before – my sister had brought it back from Canada for me – see a theme here? Let’s check out this chicken big bowl.
Here’s a little pack of Wai Wai noodles!
Here’s the sticker put on by the distributor.
Here’s something new – a spicy teriyaki beef tray. Spicy teriyaki? I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of such a thing! Well, let’s see if it’s a good’un.
I read an article about the dangers of instant noodle cups a long time ago which prompted me to write an article last year. Well, I recently saw another one so I thought it was time for a rebuttal. I emailed ConsumerAffairs.com and they were interested, and so without further adieu, here is my article! Thanks to Jim H.! If the link isn’t working, click on the image below for a large image of the article.
On my birthday, my wife took me up to Canada and I got 55 new varieties of instant to review – here’s one of them! I’ve reviewed Mr. Noodles before and found them to be marginal at best. Let’s see how the bowl version here goes!
Well my friends, onward we march with the first post-1000 review! This is Dosirac with Cyrillic writing on it. I thought at first this is sold in Russia, but on the back there was a clue. I looked up the url mentioned – it turns out the .MN means Mongolia! Neato! So what’s Dosirac? It translates to ‘lunch box!’ I’ve had many of the versions that are sold in trays, but never have I seen a pack version. Let’s give this a try.
Approaching the Canadian border!
A weirdly shaped building; probably full of video cameras pointed at people crossing the border.
Here it is. The one thousandth review. I’m pretty surprised; really didn’t expect to get this far! But I have and don’t see and end in sight – reviewing instant noodles is a lot of fun for me and looks like all of the people who check out the site like it too!
My wife was under the weather last month and I thought I’d make her something special. She liked some Saimin I made recently and she really likes udon. Another of her favorites is cheese. Well, I decided to bring all of that together and make cheesy udon with SPAM in it. Here for you is the method to the madness.
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).
Hey look at that! The new Shin Ramyun Black cup! Been wanting to review it since I first saw it. I reviewed the other Shin Ramyun Black cup (which was onion flavored) a while back and really enjoyed it immensely. This one’s being promoted by PSY! Yep – Mr. Gangnam Style himself. Let’s check it out…
Here’s one that was kindly sent by Mika over at Sakurai Foods in Japan – thank you! In Japan where ramen is a way of life, there are varieties which are seasonal and this is one of them. This is a winter varietal miso stew. I imagine the winter versions are more ‘stick to your ribsy’ and the summer ones (like one I saw on the Sakurai Foods site) are cold noodles. Awesome! Well, let’s get started.
Right now, I’m at number 996 and going to pause. I will start reviewing again on Sunday, March 10th 2013. Why? Well, I figured I’d give myself a birthday present. #997 on Sunday, #998 on Monday and #999 will be on Tuesday. #1,000 will be reviewed and videotaped on Wednesday and posted on Thursday, which is my birthday!
Here’s one of the new Maruchan Bowls that they recently sent samples of. The only Maruchan bowls I’ve had before were only made in Japan – like the Midori No Tanuki and the Akai Kitsune Udon, both of which are in the Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls list. Today I’m having the chicken variety.
Wow how cool – samples from Maruchan! first ever!
I saw something about the new Maruchan Bowls on their website and asked my contact about them. Well, they sent me this neat box!
The FedEx guy apologized for the box getting a beating…
Its contents however were resilient!
A box from California…
Wow how awesome! If you’re keen on South Korean noodles, you’ll probably recognize that this is the pack version of Paldo’s Dosirac tray. Paldo sells a lot of these in Russia.
Here’s a package that was sent to me by someone who goes by Sister Laoban from Holland!
Here’s another one from Joe & Gil of the UK! Thanks again! So here we have a pack of noodles that are made in Malaysia for sale in the UK. Beef! Let’s check it out.
Here we go with the 26th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News! I scour the Internet for articles about ramen and instant noodles and bring them to you! Here are some recent stories you might find interesting!
I’ve been wanting to re-review this one for a while, and so here we are. Potato noodles! Chewy! Let’s check it out.
Hey look – Tom Yum Shrimp! I really like Tom Yum – spicy, lemon, and shrimp! Let’s check this one out.
I got a couple sent to me from Holland by a reader names Sister Laoban – thanks! I’ve tried Good Noodles before when someone sent me some from over there once before. This one looks interesting – satay.
Here’s the other of the two Prima Taste La Mian varieties they sent. Laksa is a dish that’s extremely popular around the world that comes from Singapore. Wikipedia defines it: “Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and Indonesia.”
I know, thewse aren’t noodles but I thought it’d be nice to show some of the other things that Prima Taste sent. This one’s for making rendang – a spicy curried beef.
Curry. For me, it’s up there with bacon, pizza, fried chicken and dim sum. Curry has this flavor that has always enthralled me and can be prepared in so many different ways. Here we have Prima Taste’s take on curry with their Curry La Mian.
Here’s the box that the samples came in…
Six of each…
…of two varieties: Laksa LaMian and Curry LaMian! Really looking forward to trying these!
This is a Meet The Manufacturer that’s been a long time in the making – and well worth it! Prima Taste is a company out of Singapore that makes all sorts of meal kits and now ‘LaMian,’ which is a line of instant noodle products. Here’s the interview I conducted with them via email.
Found this one while strolling through our new Walmart Neighborhood Market just north of here. It’s kind of like you take a Walmart, make it a Super Walmart and then ditch the Walmart part so it’s just groceries. Found this is the Asian foods section and not with the Top Ramen and Cup Noodle. Kind of weird.
