Tag: japanese

#240: Sanyo Foods Aunt Mentaiko Durum Spaghetti

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So first off, I’d like to thank Walnuts4Gold from reddit.com for helping me figure out the name of this stuff. The only thing I had to go on was the phone number on the bottom. From that I figured out with a little research that Sanyo Foods makes these noodles. Then Walnuts4Food sent me a link with some other varieties including this one. This one is the Mentaiko variety. What’s mentaiko? Wikipedia states it is…
Mentaiko (明太子?) is the marinated roe of pollock, and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. Mentaiko originated from myeongran jeot (명란젓) of Korean cuisine and was introduced to Japan after the Russo-Japanese War. Kawahara Toshio, a Busan-born Japanese, adapted Korean mentaiko to Japanese tastes in Fukuoka in the 1950s. The name is derived from the Korean word for Alaska pollock (mentai, 명태 : myeongtae in Korean) and the Japanese word for “child” (子, ko?). The typical seasoning and flavor is slightly different in Japan.
Mentaiko is made in a variety of flavors and colors and is available at airports and main train stations. It is usually eaten with onigiri, but is also enjoyed by itself with sake. A common variety is spicy mentaiko (辛子明太子, karashi mentaiko?). It is a product of the Hakataward of Fukuoka City.

It makes perfect sense  that this must be what it is….

Click image to enlarge. Pretty easily followed instructions… ...see full post

#82: Nissin Demae Ramen Miso Flavor Instant Noodles

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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> ...see full post

#78: Nissin Demae Ramen Seafood Flavor Instant Noodle

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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. ...see full post

#63: Nissin Souper Meal Chicken Flavor with vegetable medley

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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. ...see full post

#34: Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup Shrimp Flavor

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Maruchan: Noodle Soup – Shrimp Flavor
Stars: **

Notes: I don’t know why, but the ramen companies that cater to the U.S. customer really dropped the ball here – there’s only one packet and the noodles are of very poor quality. However, this type of ramen’s saving grace is it’s ability to be used to make a bastardized version of ‘Spaetzel,” a Scandinavian dish. Get it here.
 ...see full post

#31: Myojo Ippeichan Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodles

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Myojo: Ippeichan Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodles
Stars: ****
Notes: This stuff was way cool – it comes in a box with four seasoning packets. So ya take em’ out and fill it up to the line with boiling water for 3 minutes. Then, you drain it [the lid has very keen drain spouts] and mix in the flavors. There’s vegetables, nori, soba sauce and this very odd packet of mustard mayonnaise. Wish that Dijonnaise tasted half as good. So yeah – very good box of ramen, and lives up to it’s claim of being Japanese style. [AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”B0028PDFQG”]
 ...see full post