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Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘Mellow tonkotsu soup meets with piquant mentaiko (spicy cod roe)! The dish uses Kanefuku’s mntaiko, one of the main mentaiko manufacturers in Fukuoka. The smell of sesame oil and roasted sesame will definitely make your stomach anticipate this bowl.’
I was contacted recently by Sapporo Ichiban regarding a new range of products. In collaboration with Iron Chef Masaharu Miromoto and his Momosan Ramen restaurants, here’s the new varieties for the USA! Let’s check them out!
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘This is a special kind of “yakisoba” soupless noodle dish. Shoyu and miso based sauce is flavored with a toasty taste of shrimp, and the curly noodles catch the delicious sauce well. The savory sauce, the crunchy cabbage, and the meat. Everything in the bowl intensifies your appetite.’
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘Ripe jalapeno peppers are used to make the Yakisoba addictively spicy. Adding mayonnaise brings out the sour and savory taste of the okonomiyaki sauce. Even in this hot weather, the smell of the yakisoba will always intensify your appetite.’
This is interesting in a couple ways. First off, this variety has been called Original in both the cup and pack versions up til not – in the bowl, however, it’s getting the stamp of Soy Sauce. Not only that, I did see that they also have the Shio version available – not sure about the Miso but I do think I may have seen that. Let’s crack into this one and give it a try!
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘When the theme of the pack is all about salty noodle dishes, we can never leave out Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen. The soup has an authentic umami taste of chicken, pork, and vegetable. The aromatic flavor of sesame makes it complete and exceptional.’
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
In the past few years, I’ve noticed some shifts in the domestic instant noodle world. Shifting towards a little more healthy being the main thing, but also playing with more exotic flavors and ideas. Here are my favorite varieties out of the reviews up to #2,943 that are made in the United States. What you should also know is that if you live in the United States, these aren’t too hard to come by. If you’re a manufacturer or just a reader who has a variety you’d like to see reviewed, please contact me using the CONTACT form. With that, here’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten American Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition!
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘thanks to its fertile land, Hokkaido produces a wide variety of foods, and this ramen includes potato that grew in the rich land. The soup is seasoned with Red Miso, which has a strong taste and dark red color. You’ll be surprised to find how potato tastes in a great miso soup.’
Hey look at this! This came by way of Hobby Link Japan, a great site that has all sorts of amazing Japanese things including instant noodles! Thank you very much! Here’s what they had to say about this unique variety on their website –
This is another one from Zenpop.jp. Zenpop is pretty cool – they have different boxes you can get – Japanese stationery, snacks, ramen… It’s quite a variety. They’re pretty cheap, too. Here’s what they had to say about this variety:
Hey look at this! This came by way of Hobby Link Japan, a great site that has all sorts of amazing Japanese things including instant noodles! Thank you very much! Here’s what they had to say about this unique variety on their website –
Today we finish this MNeet The Manufacturer with the newest variety to be born of this range, the white chicken broth tonkotsu. It’s been quite a week of reviewing here! I did two on Monday, four on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday, four on Thursday and one on Friday. I’ve found that running through a series with a lot of varieties goes better when I do them in a shorter period of time as I don’t get any kind of burn out on doing the same brand, although I don’t think I could have this time. This was a very nice stroll through memory lane as I’ve reviewed all of these before. So today, we bid a fond farewell to Sanyo Foods and their wonderful Sapporo Ichiban range! Let’s give this one a try!
Well, hello there! You know, if I’m not mistaken, we’ve met here before. Oh yeah – multiple times on the top ten list back in it’s infancy! To be honest, this has been one I’ve loved for ages – perhaps decades. Boy, that makes me feel old… I think I should just let this variety speak for itself – let’s have a look at the contents and give it a try!
Well, today we’ve got the last of the cup versions. I thought ending up with beef sounded like a good way to go. Why? Oh, I don’t know. Actually, it just sounds nice to sample something beef flavored today to be honest. Let’s give it a try!
Here’s the one that everybody’s got – chicken. Very few instant noodle companies don’t have a chicken noodle soup on the market. I can think of a few, but they’re kind of far and few between. Chicken is kind of a universally accessible flavor and meat (well, except for Vegans). I think this probably will be a pretty good one. I gave it 4.0 out of 5.0 in May of 2015 when I re-reviewed it back then. I kind of remember people asking me to give them another look and so I did. Anyways, Let’s get to it!
Hey cool! I’ve been really looking forward to reviewing this one. You might not know, but this is the background for The Ramen Rater logo! It was review #652 – posted February 1, 2012. Six years ago! I really liked how the picture came out and thought hey – let’s make a new logo! But only recently have I said what the background was – didn’t think anyone would be interested. Anyways, now you know! Here’s a little about Shio ramen from Wikipedia –
Here we have the cup version of the flavor we started this Meet The Manufacturer series with – original flavor. This is soy sauce flavor, aka shoyu. Here’s a little about shoyu ramen from Wikipedia –
Today, we head to the second half of this series with the shrimp pack version. Cups and packs, packs and cups. As you may remember, I was pretty impressed by the cup version. I’ve tasted shrimp flavor instant noodles in a few different ways. Sometimes, it’s kind of like as buttery broth which doesn’t taste like shrimp, but one that shrimp may go well in. – kind of the way that oyster sauce doesn’t taste like oysters. The cup version with this brand has a nice sweetness that you find in shrimp. Let’s see how it translates to the pack version.
Alright, so I reviewed this one back in October of 2011. This was review #529- well over 2000 reviews ago. Just saying 2000 reviews ago seems crazy. Anyways to be blunt, I really didn’t like this one back then., My wife said it smelled like cooked asparagus. I’m curious whether it’s not going to be something I enjoy; about 7 years later. Hope I do! Let’s take a look.
Time for some chicken! Actually, there are quite a few chicken varieties in this range and they’re about to start showing up in this review series. Today,m we’re going to start off with their chicken instant ramen cup. Sounds like a plan – just so you know, the last time I tried this was way back at review #405! Let’s get to it and give it a try!
Beef flavor isn’t usually something I think of when I think about ramen. I generally think of pork, chicken, fish, seaweed, etc. Beef leads me more towards ramyun to be honest. But these are varieties catering to the taste of the United States – and beef is definitely a western kind of flavor as well. Let’s see how a beef noodle goes in this variety. Looks like I did a re-review ion 2017 and the first time I reviewed it was #205 in 2010! Okay – let’s get to it!
Here’s one of the four fancy varieties from Sapporo Ichiban – their miso ramen variety. Miso is a fermented soybean paste. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia
Sapporo Ichiban offers four standard pillow pack style noodles, four special varieties, and four cup varieties. It makes it easy to do a different one every day during this Meet The Manufacturer series. I have, however, reviewed them all before, but it was a very long, long time ago. I usually don’t like to do re-reviews, but I think in this case I’m very happy to make an exception. I’ve been wanting to do a Meet The Manufacturer with Sanyo Foods America for years and getting the chance to has been a lot of fun!
Thought starting things off with the original variety would make sense. So they told me that original flavor indeed was soy sauce, which also is known as shoyu ramen. Here’s a little about shoyu ramen from Wikipedia
Was really happy to get samples directly from Sanyo Foods Corp Of America for this Meet The Manufacturer series. As I said previously, one of my goals has been to do Meet The Manufacturer series with all the instant noodle companies in the United States. Let’s see what’s inside!
Interview With Sanyo Foods Corp Of America * Product Samples From Sanyo Foods Corp Of America (1 of 2) * Product Samples From Sanyo Foods Corp Of America (2 of 2) * Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Original Flavored Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Original Flavored Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Shrimp Flavor Oriental Noodle Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Miso Ramen * Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Beef Flavored Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Chicken Flavor Oriental Noodle Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles Hot & Spicy Chicken Flavored Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Shrimp Flavored Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Original Flavor Oriental Noodle Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Shio Ramen Japanese Style Noodles * Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Chicken Flavored Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Beef Flavor Oriental Noodle Soup * Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein * Sapporo Ichiban Tonkotsu Ramen White Chicken Broth
This one comes by way of Japan Ramen Box. Japan Ramen Box is a new subscription box outfit with neat varieties to check out! Go visit their website and have a look!
Here’s another interesting one from Zenpop.JP – thanks! So Zenpop is doing monthly boxes of all sorts of things Japan-related including instant ramen of course. This is a big tray from Sapporo Ichiban – here’s what the folks at Zenpop have to say about this one –
Here’s another one from Zenpop.JP. Zenpop offers a lot of diverse Japanese boxes – lots of assorted things like ramen and also stationary among other things. Here’s what they have to say about this variety –
Recently, I added a chat feature to The Ramen Rater, allowing readers to comment and ask me questions directly. It’s been very eye-opening; great to hear about why people are here and what they’re interested in seeing. One thing I have been asked repeatedly is ‘when will there be an update to the Japan list?’ Well, I heard you. The last list came out in 2014. I’ve been reviewing a LOT of Japanese varieties lately, and it looks like there will be an influx of Japanese varieties for the foreseeable future crossing my desk. This most likely will be an annual list from now on. With that being said I should also mention that with the huge amount of varieties that are released annually in Japan, many are discontinued. While this is the ‘of all time list,’ spanning all my reviews, I try to make sure that what is on it is available. This is very hard with Japanese varieties. Finally, I should mention also that if you’re an instant noodle manufacturer from Japan or elsewhere for that matter and you’d like me to review your products, I encourage you to use the contact form and drop me a line. That being said, let’s take a look at this new list, encompassing my favorite and most memorable reviews from the over 2,500 reviews I’ve done to date.
Once you get outside the United States, cilantro is known as coriander. This is actually the second coriander variety I’ll be trying from Japan. Didn’t expect that to be a popular flavor for Japan, but hey, why not. I really like coriander. This one comes from Zenpop.jp. They have monthly ramen boxes that are a really great deal – definitely, check them out! Okay – let’s crack this one open.
Here’s one that came by way of Zenpop. Zenpop has monthly boxes of instant noodles from Japan you can get as well as a very popular line of Japanese stationary. Here’s what they have to say about this variety:
There are some varieties that I hear people raving out about a lot and I start thinking ‘I should re-review this one.’ Well, today’s the day. I even have a little story about these which is sort of funny.
Sad to say it but this is the last of the varieties sent to me by Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com. He’s decided to end the subscription service for instant noodles, however you can still get neat boxes of Japanese candy! Check ’em out! Well, here’s what he had to say about this variety:
Here’s another one sent to me by Javier from Box From Japan. Box From Japan has subscriptions for all sorts of neat Japanese things. I regret to say that I was informed that they won’t be taking subscriptions for their ramen boxes for now – hopefully that will start again soon. He mentioned that you can purchase instant noodles from them here. Here’s what he had to say about this particular variety:
Here’s another one sent to me by Javier from Box From Japan. Box From Japan has subscriptions for all sorts of neat Japanese things. I regret to say that I was informed that they won’t be taking subscriptions for their ramen boxes for now – hopefully that will start again soon. He mentioned that you can purchase instant noodles from them here. Here’s what he had to say about this particular variety:
Here’s soimething I’ve never seen before – smoked chicken ramen! This one hails from Japan and was sent by Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com. You can subscribe to receive a box with 4 different Japanese ramen bowls every month – it’s pretty awesome and honestly since it includes the shipping pretty cheap. Let’s see what Javier has to say about this one:
