Tag: mama

Meet The Manufacturer: #2175: MAMA Instant Flat Noodles Clear Soup

It’s been fun trying these rice noodles – I don’t often have a bunch of them in a row and I was curious how it would be after a couple days but I’ve really enjoyed it thus far. Usually Meet The Manufacturers can honestly be a little trying – the same brand for a couple weeks. But I’m definitely enjoying this one! On with the show! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2172: MAMA Instant Rice Noodles Phnom Penh Style

It’s kind of neat – this is the first Meet The Manufacturer I’ve done with only rice noodle varieties! Today, it’s Phnom Penh style. Phnom Penh is the biggest city in Cambodia and this variety purports to take the flavors of the place and bring them to the rice noodle. Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2171: MAMA Instant Flat Noodles Tom Yum Flavour

I have all the noodles that MAMA sent in a big bag and going to blindly pick them out every day! Today, I pulled out this rice noodle – wide! Plus, tom yam flavor – definitely a good foot to start out with. Tom yam has a spicy and citrussy flavor to it – crisp and refreshing and tasty! Let’s have a look! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2016 Edition

This is the fourth Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups list I’ve done since 2013 and I just looked at the first one – none of them are still on this list! I will say one thing though – the ones on the 2013 list are all really good too. It’s hard picking a list to be honest; maybe a top fifty? Naw – ten is enough. Maybe when I’ve done 5000 reviews a top fifty might be in order. But for now, here’s the best of the best – my absolute favorite cup varieties from the 2,100+ reviews I’ve done. ...see full post

Re-Review: MAMA Oriental Style Instant Noodles Hot & Spicy Flavor

Just to begin with – Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Someone was commenting about the different between this one and a more recent review of a MAMA hot and spicy variety from Bangladesh. Then they said they ordered some on Amazon and got a different version from either of those – the Oriental Kitchen pack version! Wow – lots of different kinds. This one is more along the lines of ramyun in it’s noodles being much thicker (the kamaboko and peppers are also kind of a dead giveaway). Let’s check it out – last time I had it was for review #159! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Reader’s Choice Top Ten Instant Noodles 2016 Edition

A couple days after The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition came out, I got to thinking. Every year, a lot of people enjoy my list, a lot also complain. They’ll say things like ‘how can this not be on here,’ or ‘you have no clue of what youre talking about’ – you can guess the rest but it sometimes gets downright rude. I usually tell people to go and review as many instant noodles as I have and make their own list and we can compare notes, but nobody’s ever taken me up on that. At the same time I thought of this, I came to the realization that although they might not agree with me, they’re still people who love their varieties of instant noodles. I thought that they (you) should have a voice. So, I started a poll. I didn’t want to make a list of varieties for people to pick from – that would sway things in those varieties’ favor. I told people to just write in the flavor they liked and what brand made them. A week or so ago, I ended up with a difficult task. See, a lot of them were listed as the brand name but no variety (six people put Maggi, but Maggi what? From India, From Malaysia? Which one?). Some got cut, but most got counted. There were almost 300 votes and here are the results. I’m going to start a new poll tomorrow and this will be an annual thing! Let’s begin! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition

It’s been quite a year for The Ramen Rater. I’ve reviewed 357 new instant noodle varieties. I got to visit an instant noodle company in Thailand. I just hit my 2000th review. Since the beginning of this ‘noodle journey,’ I’ve wanted to try flavors from around the world and have been able to do just that. This new list is a compilation of the best of the best; the most memorable and most wonderful of the 2,004 varieties I’ve sampled thus far. If you are an instant noodle company and I haven’t reviewed your products, please contact me – I would love to review them. I decided to include what I added to them this year – however note the products are scored before anything is added. With that, let’s have a look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of all Time 2016 Edition. ...see full post

#1964: MAMA Instant Noodles Coconut Milk Flavour

When I tried the cup version of this, I liked it so much it got on the Top Ten Cups List for 2015. I’ve been waiting for the right time to try this one; since there’s probably only one in all of the United States I’m guessing, I really wanted to make it the right day. Well, since it is soon to expire, it’s the right day. Let’s have a look and see if it’s as good as the cup. ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition

The Ramen Rater's Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition really has been a long time coming. After trying over 150 different Thai instant noodles throughout the years, I thought it was about time for a Top Ten Thailand list. If there is one thing that is ubiquitous when Thailand is mentioned, it’s tom yum – whose flavors figure strongly in this list. So print out a copy and run to your local Asian grocery and get some tasty Thai noodles! Hopefully there will be a 2017 edition of Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles as well – if you are an instant noodle manufacturer in Thailand, please contact me about doing a spotlight of your products! Also, I’ve decided that I will be sharing the add-ons I use in each variety here – note that all tasting/reviewing is done PRIOR to anything being added out of fairness. Hope you enjoy the first ever The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition. ...see full post

#1939: MAMA Instant Noodles Shrimp Creamy Tom Yum Flavour

Another one from the big batch I got after our Thailand trip from the MAMA noodles people. Thanks again! So this has been one of my favorites in the past – the regular Shrimp Creamy Tom Yum has been on my annual top ten list in the past – but this is the Myanmar version. I’ve noticed in some varieties a little but of a smoky taste – wonder what we’ll find here? One way to find out – let’s check out this shrimp creamy tom yum! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Snacks Of All Time 2016 Edition

Instant noodle… snacks? Yeah! Snacks of all kinds have come from instant noodles – candy, crunchy bits, you name it. They’re popular all over Asia and also the United States; have you ever taken a pack of instant noodles, crushed them and added in the seasoning and shaken the bag up and eaten them like potato chips or popcorn? Well, this is popular elsewhere as well! Let’s check out my favorite instant noodle snacks from over 1,900 reviews. Enjoy! ...see full post

#1912: MAMA Instant Noodles Chicken Sichek Flavour

I still haven’t found anywhere with any kind of straight definition of sichek, but it seems to me that it’s just a kind of dry noodle dish, kind of like mi goreng. The tom yum variety I had a few days back was quite good, and so today with Andy over here and his penchant for enjoying all things chicken, I thought I’d make this one for him. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

#1909: Asia Gold Instant Noodles With Chicken Flavouring

Today I’ll be reviewing another one I got after visiting Thailand – I went to a special event held by the company that makes MAMA instant noodles. They make different brands and this one’s made in Hungary for the European market. Let’s check it out! Oh, by the way – this one will be for my son Andy – he’s a fan of anything chicken instant noodle. He’s got a blog himself – Andy’s LEGO Stuff – go check it out! ...see full post

#1902: MAMA Seafood Tom Yum Sichek Flavour

Another one from MAMA when I went to Thailand. They sent me a slew of different kinds made in their factories all over the world! This one’s from Myanmar. I haven’t seen the word ‘sichek’ before – and I can’t find anywhere that will translate it. I’m just going to infer that it might mean soup, but now that I look at the cooking method, this one is drained so perhaps it’s a term for a dry noodle? No clue honestly, but let’s give it a look! ...see full post

#1859: MAMA Instant Noodles Chicken Green Curry Flavour

This is yet another of the samples I received upon returning from my trip to Thailand to visit the MAMA noodles company in May. These are for the Cambodian market. MAMA’s Green Curry hit the top ten in this year’s annual list – excellent stuff! I should note today is the first review I’ve done in a few days. Why? Well, I should start by mentioning that this will come out a few weeks after today – I am way ahead, which is nice. A couple days ago, we had a huge windstorm here. Gusts up to 70MPH – in some remote areas they were over 100MPH! Trees fell not only from the wind, but from all the recent rain which made the ground soft. In my county, at one point there were over 200,000 people without electricity. We were without power for 29 hours – everything in our refrigerator has gone bad – including all of my garnishes! Luckily, I hadn’t gotten anything new and was due to get some things, but still a lot of food will be getting thrown away. The only plus of the event was that I got to haul out my shortwave radio and was able to pick up broadcasts from Slovakia, Cuba and Japan to name a few! Usually there’s so much interference that I can’t receive anything. Anyways, power came back on last night! Hooray! ...see full post

#1826: MAMA Instant Noodles Stewed Beef Flavour

I made some instant noodle the other day with beef balls in them and Kit really thought they were good, so I thought I’d make this one with some beef balls in it for her today! This one was sent to me after my trip to the Thai President Foods European Agent Meeting in May! It was really great – while I’m not a distributor for TF, they were super kind to invited me to come and check out Thailand and their factories. I did a travelogue you can check out here. I found out they don’t only make products in Thailand but have factories throughout the world. This one comes from Cambodia – let’s have a look! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Easy-To-Find Instant Noodles 2015 Edition

A lot of people have come to my site from the United States, knowing only a couple varieties, those usually being chicken or beef, pack or cup. If that’s you, this is kind of a beginner’s guide to exploring the different brands and varieties that are pretty easily sourced here in the States. You can find many of these in your local grocery store, although some might require a trip to the Asian grocery, or to Amazon. But all of them can be found here, unlike many I review that only are sold in their local countries. Many of these have even been on my top ten lists, past and present – so get ready to have some of my favorite and most memorable varieties that you can easily find here in the United States! ...see full post

#1808: MAMA Vegetarian Instant Cup Noodle Tofu & Shiitake Flavour

This is one I saw posted on facebook by one of the nice folks I met at MAMA in May. I was very curious about it and so I asked if I could get some samples – thank you! This one and the vegetarian tom yum are made specifically for October. Why? Well, there’s a special Vegetarian Festival in Thailand during October! Here’s a little about it: ...see full post

#1767: MAMA Instant Noodles Shrimp Tom Yum Flavour

Here’s one that should be familiar to instant noodle fans from almost everywhere, and especially those from Cambodia! This one is made specifically for the Cambodian marketplace. I got this sent to me after seeing it at the 2015 TF Eurpean Agent meeting I was invited to check out earlier this year in Bangkok, Thailand! Curious to see if it’s different than the one sold here in the US. Let’s find out! ...see full post