The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I thought I’d make one for my wife today. Kit loves cheese. I mean she really loves cheese! I don’t know anyone who gets happier when cheese is mentioned! I thought this would be a perfect one for her. Cheese noodles for a cheese lover. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one we got up in Canada earlier this year during my birthday trip! I wasn’t sure at first if I’d reviewed these; a long time ago I reviewed a series of products by Vina Acecook called King Cook. This is King Chef, so it’s different! I wasn’t sure when I was looking at them up in Canada – glad I went ahead and snagged them. The more noodles, the better. Let’s have a look!
I got a message from my pal Moses over at Paldo America while back asking if I’d like to review some instant ramyun that hasn’t been put out yet but is being sampled with college students to see what they think. I was absolutely rceptive to the idea – prototype instant noodles sound very interesting! Let’s see how barbecue ramyun tastes – this is the first of two versions, the other I’ll try soon.
Hey look! A friend at Paldo America said he had something to send me!
It’s a pot! It’s square for square ramyun blocks!
Here’s a little cup that’s been sitting in my box for a while. Sounds good – something a little spicy and seafoody! Let’s check it out!
Here’s something new and different from Nongshim. The name might seem a little odd, but it’s a play on the name of a traditional South Korean beef soup called Seoulleongtang, which has a broth which is simmered for a long time with ox bones. I’ve liked non-spicy South Korean beef noodle soups in the past – let’s see how this one fares!
Today I’m trying something really interesting. This is Paldo’s new spicy octopus ramyun! I thought I couldn’t make this stuff without adding some octopus, but I’d never cooked it before and was a little reserved and slightly nervous. Octopus? Hey, why not! I went to the Korean grocery and picked some up. It was a bit of a surprise how many different kinds of packaged octopus there are. I settled on frozen baby octopus. Let’s see how it turns out!
Ottogi sent me a box of noodle samples a while back in hopes of doing a Meet The Manufacturer series. Unfortunately, timing and language barriers made that hard to come to fruition, so I figured I ought to review some of the varieties they’ve sent over time. This one’s Japchae – a traditional South Korean dish of clear noodles, vegetables and meats. Good stuff, at least what I’ve tried in a restaurant! Let’s have a look to see what this is like.
Here’s a new one from Nongshim for the vegetable crown. At first, I thought it would be a tofu based variety; the reason was that I’ve gone to a local Korean restaurant and ordered ‘Soon Tofu’ a few times, which is a spicy soup with tofu in it. Well, ‘soon’ translates to ‘soft.’ Well, tofu is a vegetarian friendly construct, so I thought I’d give it a try today with this new one. A few people have been asking about this one, so with that, let’s check it out.
Thanks go to James K. of KoreAm for translation help as well as educating me on this one! Ramen? Nope. Ramyun? Nope. Udon? Nope. This is tteokguk! Tteok is South Korean rice cake. They’re flat and chewy! It’s often served on Lunar New Year and other special holidays. Let’s give it a try – Happy Lunar New Year!
I did an appearance on a show called Cam Fu & Friends which was recorded at Microsoft on January 7th, 2014. Cam the host and I met because of instant noodles a while back. He did instant noodle reviews on The Noodle Freak for a while and then went on hiatus from it, telling folks to come check out my site, a real honor. So we actually met in person the first time the other day. He really was hoping I’d do a review on the show, and so I had to come up with something to review. Well, this one fit the bill; easily prepared during the taping! Further below, you can watch the video! Let’s check this one out.
On my Top Ten Spicy list, the package version of this is #1. Hottest thing ever – hands down! Well, they also sent me the cup version – let’s see how spicy this sucker’s gonna be!
Here it is! Now you can get a big cup of Namja here in the states! I reviewed the South Korean Namja King Cup before, and there are differences between the two. If you’re wondering, Namja means ‘men’s’ or ‘guy’s’ – still wondering if they will make a ramyun for the ladies. Let’s check this new one out.
Whoa hey what’s this? Here’s another snack made from instant noodles! This one’s from South Korea – let’s check it out!
Gotta love the name. This is a South Korean combination of Jjajang (a black bean dish) and noodles. They usually end up nice and hearty with just a sauce and no broth. Let’s check it out!
This was sent to me by Kristina W. of Arizona – thank you! Jjajangmyun is basically a noodle that is coated in a black bean sauce. Let’s check it out!
Here one that came from Korea by way of Kristen W. of Arizona! Thank you so much! I’ve wanted to review this one for a long time! Let’s check this unique variety out.
So these last two days have been crazy – so many people from Taiwan just coming in droves to the site and declaring their passion for the instant noodles of their country! You should be proud of yourselves; I’m never going to look at Taiwanese noodles the same again, that’s for sure! I’m sure I’ll be reviewing more very soon so keep your eyes on The Ramen Rater!
Another one I got while in Canada for my birthday. I’m sure many folks will immediately ask ‘where did you get this’ and ‘where can I get it,’ and I’ll just say I’ve only seen this in Canada. See, they get stuff in the Vancouver area from not only the Nongshim plant here in the states but the one in Shanghai, China. Got a couple more coming down the pipe of reviews soon that hail from China. Let’s check this out!
Time for some extremely spicy noodles! This is another one from eMart, makers of Dare You Habanero Ramyun. Dare You weighs in at 5,930SHU (Scoville Heat Units) – the hottest I’ve had thus far. This one’s 3,960SHU – not as fiery hot, but definitely not to be trifled with! Jjampong is a seafood soup. You ready?
Today is the last review of the Samyang Foods Meet The Manufacturer spotlight. Rest assured, there will definitely be more of their products reviewed in the future – I only do a maximum of 15 reviews in a row for a company during a Meet The Manufacturer and they sent more than 15, so lots of neat stuff coming! I want to thank Samyang Foods for their samples and everything else – really nice people!
So here in the US, this is simply called Assorted Vegetable – although I think the 60 Ingredients is definitely important. I’d love to know what all of the ingredients are… Let’s check this one out!
Most people who are keen on South Korean ramyun have heard of the craze for ‘white broth’ ramyuns. Nagasaki Jjampong was Samyang Foods’ entry into the white broth realm, but they made another variety – Nagasaki Crab Jjampong – that has a milder taste. Let’s check it out.
Well this one looks to be extremely spicy. Samyang Foods sent some instructions along as everything on the back of these packages are in Korean. Well, they also added a little advice:
Here’s Samyang Foods’ spicy beef ramyun bowl. Let’s give it a peek!
Close-up of the top (click image to enlarge).
Okay so what’s Hot Chacharoni? Well, its a form of jjajangmyeon. What’s jjajangmyeon? Wheat noodles with a black bean sauce! Pretty much every South Korean instant noodle company has their own take on the popular dish, but this is the only one that I’m aware of that is spicy! Let’s check it out.
Here’s another of the HoMyeonDang private label varieties. This is a stir noodle – drain the noodles after cooking and add the sauce and stir. Let’s check it out.
First, I want to wish my wife a Happy Birthday! Love you! Well folks, here it is. This is the ramyun that started it all. Here’s an except from my interview with Samyang Foods about their first product:
This sure looks fancy! This is a premium private label variety made by Samyang Foods. HoMyeonDang is a restaurant in South Korea – here’s their website. They’re a organic noodle bar! Crab jjampong! Let’s check it out…
Beef flavor – you might be wondering what the difference between this and Samyang Ramyun is. Well, I think this one’s not as spicy possibly. Also, the key that Samyang Foods sent show this as having added milk. I’ve reviewed the export version before – this has only one packet as opposed to the export having veggies too. Well, let’s give it a try!
Here’s Samyang’s foray into the white broth realm. White broth ramyuns are spicy – usually with a jalapeno flavor heat. I’ve tried the pack version before and enjoyed it – let’s check out the big bowl version!
Kimchi! I love kimchi – not only is it hot and spicy and crunchy and awesome, it’s purported to be one of the healthiest foods out there. My favorite comes from a store in my area called KS Mart. They make it in the store and it doesn’t taste at all like the varieties that are branded. I’ve tried to get some people I know to try it, but they think it smells bad and are terrified by it; I just don’t understand. Anyways, here’s kimchi ramyun by Samyang Foods. I think the smiling onion and cabbage say it all – but what I wonder; is the onion planning on eating the cabbage with the chopsticks?
Here’s something new… So this is a ‘stir noodle’ (brothless). I’ve seen Jjajang variations which are stir noodles, but never a spicy seafood one. Basically what you do is cook the noodles and veggies, drain, and then add the liquid and stir, stir, stir. This sounds really interesting!
Samyang sent a nice big box!
\
Upon opening, I was greeted by a big envelope.
It had information about all of the included instant noodles – very handy!
Interview * Samples From Samyang Foods * Samyang Foods Sutah Ramyun * Samyang Foods Ganjjampong * Samyang Foods Kimchi Ramyun * Samyang Foods Nagasaki Jjampong * Samyang Foods Beef Flavor Ramyun (SK Version) * HoMyeonDang Premium Noodle House Crab Jjampong * Samyang Foods 三養라면 (Samyang Ramyun) (SK Version) * HoMyeonDang Premium Noodle House Tofu Fried Noodle * Samyang Foods Hot Chacharoni * Samyang Foods Bajirak Kalgugsu * Samyang Foods Yukgaejang Beef Ramyun * Samyang Foods Buldalk Bokkeummyeon (Hot Fried Chicken Ramyun) * Samyang Foods Nagasaki Crab Jjampong * Samyang Foods Assorted Vegetables (60 Ingredients) Ramyun (SK Version) * HoMyeonDang Premium Noodle House Don Ramyun
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!
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.
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…
The FedEx guy apologized for the box getting a beating…
Its contents however were resilient!
