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Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! Today it’s one from Seven-Eleven in Japan. Seven-Eleven does partnerships with different companies (this on is made by Nissin) and has varieties they make only available there. This is Sumire Ramen, a miso variety. Let’s take a look!
Here’s another one that was sent to me by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a box sent to you every month with some great noodles within! From what I’m reading, it sounds like this one has a lot of garlic, green onion and leek influence on it. Sounds really good – let’s check it out!
Here’s one I got in the package sent by Javier over at Box From Japan – thanks! Box From Japan is a monthly subscription service that delivers different varieties of instant noodles to your door each month – fancy stuff like this one! Definitely worth checking out. Also, thanks go to Shinichi S. for help in translation! So let’s ask Wikipedia about Tonjiru:
Wow it’s Summer here today! Just hit 90 degrees and the clouds are rolling in – hoping for a nice lightning storm to watch tonight. I’m still reviewing instant noodles in this weather though – it’s 83 degrees in our apartment right now. Wish we had air conditioning! It rarely gets this warn in Western Washington though. Anyways, I thought some miso might be a good one to try today, and an organic one at that. The packaging has a Vegan logo on it, but I think I might add some meat in with it. Let’s have a look at this organic miso ramen!
Been quite a while since I’ve had some miso ramen, and this will be only my second Sunaoshi review. This one was in my hamper asking to be reviewed today and so I thought why not give it some attention. Ready? Set? Miso.
Most of us in the United States are familiar with Maruchan’s ramen packs and ‘Instant Lunch’ cups. However, most of us aren’t familiar with Maruchan’s popular products overseas in Japan. Miso is a fermented soybean paste – it’s good stuff, with a kind of musty scent. Notice on the front of this one: it’s also saying that it’s lower calorie. Let’s have a look inside.
Last week, we went on our big summer vacation! We drove from Lynnwood, WA all the way to Livermore, CA – over 800 miles. Did it in 14 hours – only 3 quick stops, too! We did a bunch of neat stuff – went to the Alameda County Fair, caught a Giants game in San Francisco, and went out for ramen – and not the instant kind. Nope – this is the moment I think many of you have been wanting to see more of. It’s not going to be a common thing around here anytime soon, but I thought I’d share my experience.
Here’s an interesting one. Myojo does this premium Chukazanmai line and there are quite a few different varieties! This one has me a little worried though. I haven’t really liked Szechuan style much of anything in the past. Hopefully this will turn the tide! Let’s check it out.
I’ve been asked about these low calorie noodles for a long time. Miracle Noodle is more widely known for it’s Shirataki Miracle Noodle. Those are made from yams. These are Kanten Miracle Noodles. So let’s see Wikipedia has to say about them:
I can honestly say that I want to eat ramen. Every day. Well, if not ramen, ramyun, udon, mi goreng, mee and every other kind of instant noodle out there! It’s fun! Sometimes it’s hard to decide which one to review though, and so my wife was kind enough to pick one out of the bin and toss it to me this morning – and this is it. Let’s have a look! Most people here in the US think of Maruchan as making their instant packs and ‘Instant Lunch’ cups, but they make a varied line of products over in Japan with more traditional flavors from the region. But to start things off before any reviewing, today is Valentine’s Day – happy Valentine’s Day to all! My wife Kit and I spent a special day yesterday in Seattle yesterday…
I was pretty surprised my son wanted to try this one; he asked if it was spicy or bitter. I told him I wouldn’t imagine so. Well, I guess we’ll find out!
Hey this looks really good! It’s a foggy day here and I can hear the ships out in the sea blowing their horns in the distance. Time for seafood! Let’s check this one out!
Here’s one from my friend Martin A. in the UK. This one’s pretty cool – very vertical! Those Brits, they sure come up with neat cups. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one sent by Scott over at Nissin – thanks! Turns out the expiration dates on these are short so thought I’d better hit it up! Rich miso flavor… Pretty fancy bowl – let’s give it a try!
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.
A big box…
Full of…
New stuff! Scott A. over at Nissin Foods USA sent a couple new items – Habanero Lime Chicken and Habanero Lime Shrimp Big Cup Noodles, Spicy Teiryaki Beef Chow Mein and a couple from Japan – another Nissin Raoh (this time miso) and the pack version of the Nissin Raoh Rich Soy Sauce & Backfat! Awesome! Thank you very much!
Miso is a classic flavor for ramen broths. Miso is a thick paste which is made from fermented soybeans and rice or barley and commonly used in Japanese soups and sauces.
Today is the last of the Sakurai Foods Meet The Manufacturer. I have enjoyed trying such a great range of products from Japan! We finish with the one that made this Meet The Manufacturer happen. I email lots of instant noodle manufacturers, trying to get Meet The Manufacturer interviews to happen. I hadn’t contacted Sakurai Foods before and gave it a shot. Here’s my re-review of their miso vegetarian flavor.
Here’s another one from Sakurai Foods, this time a bowl of miso ramen! I read that the bowl is made of recycle sugar cane stalk – pretty cool!
So Lifehacker came out with an article about The Ramen Rater a couple weeks ago and I noticed something about Yamachan Ramen in the comments on it. I contacted them and they were very interested in doing a Meet The Manufacturer. Very shortly, I received this box in the mail…
Welcome one and all to another Meet The Manufacturer! This time it’s San Jose, CA based Yamachan Ramen!They make fresh ramen products – here’s the interview I did with them.
So yesterday I tried the mild miso and today I’m hitting up the rich. This one says it’s ‘Sapporo miso’ – curious to see what its like.
Here’s another one of the fresh ramen samples from Yamachan. I’ve not been a big fan of miso in the past, but I’m open to this – looks fancy.
Okay so I thought this was interesting. Look at the noodle block in this one – very different isn’t it? Well, Let’s give this one a try – this one was made in the USA in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Here’s another pack from Michelle L. of New York – thanks! The last Wei Chuan I tried was tomato flavor and quite good – let’s see how this one is.
Mr. Udon, I presume? I was looking in the fridge yesterday putting groceries away. A couple sodas wouldn’t fit – something was blocking them. Two packs of Mr. Udon noodles that I got early lasrt year. Hmmm… I wondered if they were still good – May 2012 exclaimed the expiration date! So let’s give this stuff a try before it goes bad!
Another Koyo. Very curious how this one does; hoping the tofu is palatable.
Here’s the package back… Click image to enlarge.
Haven’t liked a ton of these thus far but let’s give this one a chance.
Back panel… Click image to enlarge.
Here’s probably the last of the Menraku varieties available, another tempura.
Yep – directions. I like that they are pretty vigilant about not microwaving the Styrofoam…
I woke up with a sore throat, runny nose, sore joints and a bit of sneezing. I’m sick. This sucks. I thought maybe some miso would bring me back from the brink. I guess we’ll see how it goes…
Freaking awesome! From the folks that brought Everybody Likes Good Good Eat snacks, we now have Good Good Eat Super Ramen!!! Can’t wait to try this!
So here’s another Shirakiku. I’ve enjoyed a lot of their products – most memorably their kizami shoga. This will be the second of their instant noodle line I will review. Here we go!
So here’s a new one. I had to add the brand as I’ve never had nor seen this brand before. Not a lot in English aside from the distributor, Hosoda Bros. Inc. and www.sakuraifoods.com.
Thought Miso would turn out to be kind of boring so I’ve been putting it off. But it was a choice today between Sapporo Ichiban Miso and Ottogi Jin Ramyun and Kit picked the Miso so here we go!
Another package of Korean ramen. This looks interesting – Miso flavor…
This is a trip – both are powder packets. I usually see a powder and an oil but rarely two powders.
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>
