The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I went out walking yesterday morning and it was cold – like 17 degrees cold. That’s -7 to those blessed with the mtric system. Anyways, wind chill dropped it to 8 and it was cold – bitter cold. While out walking, I had a thought – it would be fun to make something weird in the kitchen after I did my regular reviews for the day. So, that’s what I did and here it is.
Any time I get some kind of new kitchen implement, I am asking myself ‘how can I do something with instant noodles with this thing?’ Well, so far I haven’t figured this one out yet, but it’ll happen – something amazing and wonderful.
Recently, my wife and I inherited an air fryer. We’re pretty late to the ‘revolution’ of a tabletop convection oven on steroids that can make crispy french fries and chicken nuggets like nothing else. But of course, you probably guessed instant noodles wouldn’t be far behind. This is my first attempt, but most certainly not my last. I didn’t do any research – I decided to just wing it after making a few things over the past two days. Let’s see what happened!
Today is December 25th, 2022. I thought the perfect gift to all of you nice people that look at my reviews and experiments would be to add a lot of stuff to a plastic bowl and put it outside and let it freeze. So, that’s what I did. It is your holiday gift! For free! You are very welcome! Hope everyone seeing this is having a great holiday season and that it ends soon and that 2023 is lacking a lot of insanity that the previous year contained.
Here’s something simple to do with Indomie instant noodles. They’re celebrating their 50th anniversary this year – they sent me a bowl about ten years ago since they were celebrating their 40th anniversary. If you like Indomie, I think you’ll like this. Should work fine with any mi goreng.
I often get samples of www.japancrate.com’s Umai Crates – they’re boxes full of Japanese ramen and extras – and one of those extras are recipe cards. I thought hey – here’s an interesting one and decided to share it today. By the way if you want to get an Umai Crate, check out the Japan Crate site and use THERAMENRATER as a promo code at checkout for a discount! These would make really great holiday gifts for people who are into Asian food and culture – lots of neat stuff to find in these boxes.
I left it up to the wise folks in the Ramen Junkie group on facebook (you should really join if you haven’t) and of two choices they picked this for me to make into bread. It didn’t go as planned, but it was addictive and tasty and so here it is in all of it’s glorious ingloriousness.
The world has gone bonkers. We’ve got that pesky Coronavirus gnashing it’s teeth, and numerous other oddities making daily life less enjoyable that usual.
Are you ready? Here’s a recipe from Lane of Antlers, Oklahoma – thanks! Watch me cook it up on a special episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time EXTRA!
I usually wake up at 5 in the morning, take a ton of pictures, edit them, get a post ready and then around lunchtime do the actual pictures and cooking and review. I’ve done it this way for a while and it’s a pretty good schedule for me, especially with a one year old in the house with his own schedule. Today I thought I’d take a day off and maybe have something different for lunch.
When I was very young, we had a visitor from a music group come into our classroom. He told us about a song his band did that was written by a band member when he was sick. He talked to us about how when you don’t feel good, sometimes your mind can go in different directions; that it can be a good time to embrace creativity. I thought that kind of odd, but have also found it to be true. I remember playing Asteroid on my old Atari 2600 and using a different strategy and getting a really high school – I was home with the flu.
Well today, I’m under the weather. I’ve been sneezing and runny-nosed and achy – you know the drill. Well, inspiration reared it’s head again. With all the things people have been trying with instant noodles lately, I thought maybe this would be good. I would absolutely love to see some pictures if you guys attempt making it! With that, I introduce the instant noodle cheese bite.
I eat instant noodles. Every day. As of writing this list, I’ve reviewed 1,219 different varieties of instant noodles. Many people ask me if I get sick of instant noodles. Part of the reason I always say no is that I add things to my noodles to make them a more complete meal after I’ve reviewed them. I have seen quite a few lists online purporting to ‘hack’ or ‘pimp’ your ramen. Well, I’m not going to say that you will be able program it or hire it out, but it should be a bit more enjoyable and well-rounded. With that, here are my top ten favorite things to add to instant noodles for 2013.
I saw a recipe that sounded interesting a few weeks ago, and decided I wanted to try it. The issue: I only had one bowl of Samyang Foods’ Budalk Bokkumyeon, a fiery and spicy fest whose close relative the package version made the Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2013 list. I emailed Samyang Foods about it and they kindly sent some as well as some other new varieties.
So my friend Adam B. over at Ladies’ Choice Productions clued me into an article in Hip Rock Magazine called “Reigning Ramens: Stellar artists introducing a new ramen noodle recipe.” Looks like this is a monthly column where they do a bio about a hip hop/metal band and get them to submit a recipe.
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 we go with the 28th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News! I scour the Internet for articles about ramen and instant noodles and bring them to you! Here are some recent stories you might find interesting!
In the last week, I’ve had a lot of traffic from upset Taiwanese that none of their country’s beloved instant noodles made the list. I saw videos like this one and then this angry one. I felt a video message would be appropriate, and here it is.
Another one from my March birthday trip to Canada. I tried to translate this one but no luck – the name I got from the distributor’s sticker, so if anyone knows for sure this is the wrong name, please let me know. Let’s check it out!
Found this one at Uwajimaya in Bellevue and thought it was worth a try. I do like Worcestershire sauce!
This is one you can probably find quite easily in a grocery store here in the United States. Let’s have a look.
Another from my trip to Canada for my birthday. Wow – what a past two days here! The Top Ten 2013 list came out to a clamor of Taiwanese disapproval – Taiwan didn’t make the list. But, hopefully out of it all I’ll get contacted by one of the companies in Taiwan, but so far nothing. On to other things though – that being this interesting bowl by Nongshim. This one’s made in Shanghai, China. Let’s check it out.
If you watch this from beginning to end, not only proven yourself a true fan of the instant noodle, but also seen pretty much every single instant noodle review and re-review I’ve ever done. Clocking in at an hour and forty-nine minutes, this is pretty heavy duty. Enjoy!
Yep – another one from my Canadian birthday trip! Let’s check this one out.
Export sticker (click image to enlarge).
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!
One of the last that Joe & Gil from the UK sent a while back – thanks again! I like chow mein, but what’s ‘super’ chow mein? Let’s see!
Another from my trip to Canada on my birthday! Vegetable! Let’s check it out.
Back of the packaging (click image to enlarge). Says it contains wheat and soy and may contain trace amounts of egg, fish/shellfish, nuts and sulphites.
Here’s the last of the three product samples sent by the nice folks at Maruchan – thanks again! Spicy shrimp sounds good – let’s check it out.
Here’s one that the folks from God Of Patena sent – thanks! Very little English on here – searched and translated via UPC code and kept coming up with ‘chanpon’ over and over so I’m calling it that. Also found it called ‘champon’ too, but more often than not it was ‘chanpon.’ Most things show it as a seafood broth, but as you can see on the package, it looks like ham or smoked pork. I also saw mention that this was a borrowed noodle soup from Chinese culture; like jjamppong perhaps? Let’s check it 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?
Another one from my Canada trip! Needed something I could make quickly today so thought this would do the trick. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one found in Canada on my birthday trip there. I’ve had Sichuan flavors before and not a big fan, but I’ve been pretty happy with Wei Lih’s products in the past – looks interesting! Let’s check it out.
Here’s another one from my birthday trip to Canada in March! Let’s check ‘er out.
Check this sucker out – this is one huge Cup Noodle! Scott from Nissin got this one for me during a recent trip to Asia – thanks! Let’s see what’s going on here…
I reviewed the instant in a smaller pack quite a while ago. It’s got a few seasoning packets and this one only has one big packet. Definitely not instant as the instructions ask for an interesting preparation method. Let’s dig in!
Ealier this year, I got a call from Japan, asking if I would like to be interviewed for a TV show. I answered in the affirmative! They were interested in my Top Ten list, but something shorter. I picked three varietiesand did the interview via Skype. The guy interviewing me is Charles V. Lee. He told me he’s the most popular comedian in Japan. He’s originally from Oregon! So how the show works is a random topic is picked and a question is asked. Then they find someone who knows the answer and they interview them. The term ‘patena’ means random. With that, here’s the video!
I was on Japanese TV at the end of February! The folks there were very kind to send some ramen from Japan!
Got a call from the office at my apartment complex about a package…
Awesome! So Nongshim America had a contest around Easter on their Facebook Page and I was one of the winners!
The FedEx guy knocked on my window the other day with a package!
Holy cow – a flat of Neoguri and a flat of Chapagetti! I did a review of Chapaguri a couple weeks ago and to say thanks, they made sure I can make it whenever I like! Thanks!
A package from Scott A. over at Nissin Foods USA!
Scott recently traveled to Asia and brought some really neat varieties back for me! Notice that cup on the lower left? That’s a King Cup Noodle – it’s friggin’ huge! The trays on the right are a new line from Nissin Foods USA called Pan Asian Kitchen. Thanks!
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!
