The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
So today I thought I’d try some more of these interesting Vietnamese noodles. Yesterday’s review was very enjoyable – especially with the little thing about ‘spicery’ on the packet. So here we go with Sour Shrimp Flavor. Yup – another really long named instant noodle pack. I’m kind of liking it.
So I thought why not – a sunny day here in Edmonds. Pork? Yes, pork sir. After my sweety had some Unif stewed pork noodles a couple weeks ago I thought I’d best try some form of pork noodles. Other than Maruchan’s entry into the pork race that is. So here we are. Quite possibly the longest name in noodles so far, Saigon Ve Wong Kung-Fu Artificial Pork Flavor Instant Noodles Vietnam Flavor.
So here’s the second Wei Lih product to enter my stomach through my facehole. Artificial beef flavored stock huh? Is that what you get when you boil an artificial Steer with flowers on its head?
Okay so first off, here we go with the MAMA noodles. I really didn’t expect to like these but what can I say – not too bad. Mi Ga it says on the top left – Ga means chicken in Vietnamese – I know that much. Interesting as this is a Thai product.
So here’s something new. I’ve been avoiding it a bit as I wasn’t sure if I really would like it. But I remembered I’m the ramenrater, fearing no ramen and all that crap so here it is. The big one. My review’s preview is simple (think of this said with an extremely strong hwhuh sound on each word) Hwow – this stuff hwas hwonderful and I hwould eat is daily.
So this was a neat little presentation. Came with its own bowl and lid – looks to be reusable as well.
Click image to enlarge. Slightly spicy. The mushrooms don’t actually have a lot of flavor. The mushrooms were a bit mushy. There’s some yellow stuff that I don’t know what it is… The little yellow bits taste like egg… The noodles are good but they’re hard to eat – they don’t want to stay on a fork and are slimy. I wouldn’t say this stuff is anything special. 2.3 out of 5 stars. Get it here.
This is Christine’s first official ramenrater appearance! Look for more reviews by her soon!
So I think its kind of funny – the last ramen I rated was Wai Wai Tom Yum Shrimp – it used only 1 1/3c of water. This stuff used 2 3/4 cups – the most called for yet! This is Paldo Korean Noodle Chicken flavor. This’ll be my first review of a Paldo product.
So here we go with some Wai Wai. This stuff is made in Thailand and the noodles can be eaten straight out of the bag like a bag of chips. This was a much smaller package than usually seen here on ramenrater.com. In fact, the directions call for a mere 1 1/3 cups of water [320cc] instead of the usual 2 to 2 1/2 cups.
So was thinking what ramen to pick today and then saw this. On special for 33 cents I couldn’t pass it up. I also got a 33 cent bunch of green onions for the dinner I’m making tonight so a pretty cheap trip to the ole 99 Ranch. So Onion flavor – should be interesting…
I last tried this variety when I was about 15 years old I think and I absolutely hated it. I have been avoiding it like the plague ever since. I suppose 20 years later, its time for another go.
So here’s something I’ve had in the cupboard for a while and been kind of waiting for just the right time to try. Assorted clams – hmm. An assortment of clams. It just sounds really strange. I guess we’ll see what we got here.
I think after this, sesame flavor and spicy seafood flavors are left! So let’s get it on with the spicy flavor! Woo haw!
So as I’ve mentioned before, my options as far as varieties of Nissin Demae Ramen are dwindling quickly. I think I’ve got a couple after this one so here we go with Miso. Kitten was wondering what the heck miso actually is, and since I couldn’t give her a decent answer other than a kind of Japanese soup, I hit up wikipedia for some info…
Miso (みそ or 味噌?) is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus kōjikin (麹菌?), the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called misoshiru (味噌汁?), a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still very widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining world-wide interest.
This one came with a couple packets, one being soup base and the other being seasoning powder. I am imagining the seasoning powder was the miso. It had a slightly musty scent to it – if asked to define, fermentation wouldn’t be too far off the beaten path for the olfactory reaction here.
On the left is the seasoning powder. I was thinking of using a spoon and making a yin yang or some kind of neat design with the two colors of noodles but thought better of playing with my food.
So here’s the finished produc (click image to enlarge)t. Made something to drink (Crystal Light knock off from Walmart) and so the noodles cooked a bit longer than they normally do. They were a little slimy to be honest, but kind of a fungus like slimy. I don’t know if there truly was fungus among this, but all said and done this wasn’t a shabby bowl of noodles. The noodles kind of turned into a greasy udon-esque affair. The broth was a little salty but the flavor had some complexities I wasn’t accustomed to which I found interesting; a mustiness and pungency that I found interesting. Did I like it? Sure – not a bad bowl of noodles as I said. Will I jump off a chair and tell people to run and get it? Nope. This one gets 2.75 out of 5 stars. Get it here.
"Miso." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2010. Web. 25 July 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miso>
Hot out this morning! Walked over to 99 Ranch for my daily fix.
I was in the mood for something a little different and picked something new and kind of safe. My stomach’s been a little funky – gut-bomb burritos in enchilada sauce and ice cream last night I wager.
Today, Kit & I walked to 99 Ranch Market together which was a lot of fun. I wanted to pick an interesting instant noodle to review, so I went with this one – Sapporo Ichiban Kitsune Udon.
Seeing things like this make me want to break out into a musical number like Peter does on Family Guy. Nothing more lovely than a huge mountain of instant noodles. I really enjoy seeing such things. Today, I got an extra ingredient for dinner, but I’m also going to toss it in the instant noodles too so we’ll see if it works.
Today’s walk to the Asian supermarket was a lot of fun. Was nice to be able to chat with my lady on the phone whilst perusing the noodle aisle of 99 Ranch Market. I gave her the choice of which I should get – Miso, Seafood or Prawn flavor Nissin Demae ramen. I had a feeling she’d go for the prawn flavor…
So today I made Kitten some noodles for breakfast! This is some tasty stuff!
Seasoning powder, seasoned oil. That’s it. This is pretty surprising for an Indomie pack of noodles as there’s usually a ton of different packets. She didn’t want it too spicy so I kept the chili powder out of the mix.
Ah the glorious 99 Ranch Market. It takes about 40 minutes to walk there (at a very fast walk), pick out some noodles and then walk home.
So this is one of the few flavors left at 99 Ranch Market for me to try to here we go. Felt like a rather we stuffed package which gave me hopes of an interesting and unique meal with surprises and multiple packets…
I’ve been enjoying trying every flavor of Nissin Demae that 99 Ranch carries lately, so onward we go with the five spices artificial beef flavor.
Since these noodles are Chinese, I thought I’d include our pugs in on cooking them. They were extremely helpful with the preparation.
UPDATE! There is a new review I did of this product HERE. In this review below, I made the package incorrectly!
So this looks to be one of the more exotic flavors out there as far as the more ‘domesticated’ ramens go. What I find curious is whether this is marketed towards the Hispanic or the Filipino populations. The combination of chili and lime are popular in both cultures and products marketed with a pepper and a green lime are very common.
Okay so I was falling asleep the other night and thought to myself “I wonder if there is pork flavor ramen… Does it exist, and does it taste remotely like pork?” Answer: yes there is and other answer is not really.
Some might consider this to be beyond nasty, but I’ve found faith in humankind when it comes to these cheap, tasty noodles. Perhaps you will too as ramenrater.com reviews Sapporo Inchiban’s Chow Mein style Japanese noodles.
So after years of reviewing instant ramen noodles, here it is. Finally. Hold onto your coiffure taming device: oriental flavor. I have always considered this to be the most boring of all flavors as it really isn’t that adventurous. We’ll see if it stays in that realm of blandness as I review the latest instant noodles for ramenrater.com.
So these instant noodles are very prevalent in this area and I imagine easily procured anywhere in the USA. This is Nongshim Shin Ramyun Gourmet Spicy flavor and it was purchased at a regular grocery store.
Decided to do a new piece of art today and set up a little Ramen Rater testing station kind of thing! Got some more things to add to it, but here it is for right now…
Nissin
Cup
3 Stars
So I currently have a cold/giraffe flu and thought perhaps a liquid suspension of sodium and noodles would help. Being the microwave gourmet I am these days, I went for the big sucker pictured here. 1420mg of sodium and some Flonase and I’m starting to perk up! This was a marginal cup noodle. The noodles themselves are rather weak by comparison to Cup Noodle for example. Of course, one plus is the multiple packets. I’m a packet junkie as all Ramen Rater readers know. You get a little dehydrated veggie packet, one with soup base and then one that you add at the end with the mysterious beckoning ‘Finishing Touch.’ The veggies rehydrate quite well and provide a decent amount, but just like all other things, there’s never enough. As I said above, the noodles lacked gumption. As for the ‘Finishing Touch,’ its an oil – probably sesame. All in all, it wasn’t anything to call home about, but nothing to call the police about either. The whole deal surrounding this product is just that its enormous. Get it here. UPC bar code 070662007020.
Maggi: Rice Noodle Mania – Lemon Masala
Stars: * 1 / 2
Noodles: Rice Flour
Packets: 1 “Tastemaker”
Country of Origin: India
Maggi: 2 Minute Noodles – Curry Flavor
Stars: * * 1 / 2
Noodles: Wheat flour
Seasoning Packets: 1 ‘Tastemaker’ Packet, medium sized
Country of Origin: India
Maggi: Vegetable Atta Noodles Masala
Stars: **
Country of origin: India
Seasoning:1 Packets, 1 dry
Noodles: Atta
Maggi: Chinese Noodles Lemon Chicken Flavor
Stars: *** 1/2
Country of origin: India
Seasoning: 2 Packets, 1 dry 1 oil
Noodles: Wheat flour
Notes: This stuff was really good – had had a few beers beforehand and decided to
try it as a preventative hangover cure. Didn’t work all that great for it’s intended purpose, however it was good. The package contained a packet of dried green onions, seasoning oil and soup base. The noodles [rice variety] were strangely enough sealed in their own plastic bag. I cooked the noodles and green onions and dropped in a couple eggs and then dropped that mixture [drained of course] into a bowl with the oil and flavor base and stirred. Was a very burly dealio.
Indomie: Chicken Curry Flavor
Stars: ****
Notes: Ah now this stuff is classy. First off yes, it tastes like curried chicken. There’s oil, cabe [chili powder], fried onions, and bumbu sauce [the powdered base]. Another fine Indomie product to be sure. Best with a couple small pieces of BBQ pork on the side, a fried egg on top and some pickled ginger garnish. Get it here.
Smack: Vegetable Beef
Stars: * 1/2
Notes: Receiving the one and a half stars primarily because of its’ bold daring name,
‘Smack’ is still even in this form not my drug of choice. An American Union
Made noodle through and through. Says it only takes three minutes, but the
noodles were dense and very spiteful. The flavor was a standard, unoriginal
vegetable beef which you’d find in a can of soup. Would only recommend this
brand to those who would just use the noodle for frying with eggs, and still I don’t
think eggs require that much punishment.
Tung-I: Chinese Beef
Stars: ***
Notes: This was quite good – the base tasted like nothing I’ve tried before. Very much
like a Mongolian beef sauce – was really good.
