The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
On a recent trip to the Uwajimaya in Bellevue, WA I spotted this one. This is made in the United States and sounds really good. Tonkotsu is characterized by a milky white broth – usually pork, but this one is chicken! It sounds really good and seeing this is my wife’s Friday, I thought I’d surprise her by making her a bowl. Let’s check it out!
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!
I’ve been asked by quite a few people in the last few months to re-review this one. It sounds like a lot of you really enjoy this one! One thing to note is that I’ve also been asked repeatedly about instant varieties that are vegetarian. Most instant noodles made in the USA will contain meat and/or seafood. Why? Well, it’s pretty hard to import chicken and beef into the United States. Standards for agricultural products are pretty strict, so the logic here is that if a foreign company builds a plant here, they don’t have to deal with these restrictions since they’re in the country, using US meat products in what they produce. Knowing this, if you stroll down the aisle of an Asian grocery store, you’ll see quite a few chicken, beef and other flavors which usually are imported and do not contain any beef, chicken or pork. So just a little tip from me – look and see where it’s made on the pack – it might have fish, but should be meat free. These noodles are made in Garden Grove, California. Southern California is the spot where most instant noodle companies that open up plants congregate – easy access to big seaports and centralized distribution has a lot (if not everything) to do with this. Anyways, let’s check out this much requested re-review of Sapporo Ichiban chicken noodles!
Here’s another one my wife got me during my annual birthday trip to Canada this year – thank, Kit! So this is the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein. There are a couple differences between this and the version for sale in the United States packaging wise, but does it taste different? I’m guessing it’s going to be about the same but it could be different. Let’s find out as I tear into the Canadian version of Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein!
The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan, but since that time, they’ve expanded in popularity all over the world, including of course, the United States. Seeing this, instant noodle companies thought it wise to start building plants here in the 1970s. Since then, many brands operate factories here in the US, mostly in southern California. This is a list of my favorite varieties produced here, encompassing my 1,461 reviews to date. With that, here’s your top ten, America!
Here’s some more noodles I picked up last July in Canada. It’s been a while now, so I’ll tell you the story of the July trip. I saw a blog post from a guy up in Vancouver, BC who was talking about my top ten list. He had a really neat little graphic icon that looked cool, so I tried to figure out where it was from. Finally, he was the one who let me in on it. It was a graphic someone had made of my top ten list! I was curious to find out where it had come from…
It’s only a few days until Momofuku Ando Day, and what better time to introduce the very first Japanese Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list? In 1958, Momofuku Ando initially brought these convenient products to the world. At first seen as an overpriced novelty, they’ve grown in popularity; 100 billion instant noodle products were enjoyed in 2012! Here are my favorites, manufactured in the instant noodle’s birthplace of Japan.
Wow a noodle review on Thanksgiving? Yeah – although I did it yesterday and scheduled it to auto-post… Rest assured as you read this I’m probably helping make Thanksgiving dinner up at my mom’s. Sesame ramen eh? I bet turkey would go good with it… I’ll do some kind of turkey recipe soon. Let’s check this one out.
Here’s another one from the folks at Record China news in Japan – thank you! My son is a really big fan of Pokemon. He’s got every one’s name, what they evolve into and all Pokemon lore stuffed in that PokeDex brain of his! If any of you reading have kids that like Pokemon, you know of what I speak. Well, I’ve wanted to get some Pokemon noodles for him and this is the first! I know there are more out there and hopefully I’ll find them sooner or later! Let’s check it out!
Check this big sucker out! This one was sent by a guy who runs a store in Japan called Yanaktei (www.yakantei.com). Kind of looks pizza minded eh? Let’s check it out!
The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan, but since that time, they’ve expanded in popularity all over the world, including of course, the United States. Seeing this, instant noodle companies thought it wise to start building plants here in the 1970s. Since then, many brands operate factories here in the US, mostly in southern California. This is a list of my favorite varieties produced here, encompassing my over 1,100 reviews to date. With that, here’s your top ten, America!
It’s been over a year since the last Top Ten List came out and it’s time for a new one. You’ll see some from the old list and some new ones! With that, Welcome to the new Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time – 2013 Edition!
A couple of weeks ago I was looking for articles to add to The Ramen Rater Noodle News and found an article with a YouTube video attached. Apparently, a recent college graduate had made something that involves cooking instant noodles and it would start selling at Walmart. I thought I’d see if I could contact the guy and get a sample of the product to review. Well, he sent a couple and here we go! Chris Johnson is the inventor of the Rapid Ramen Cooker. It promises speedy delivery of your instant noodles via the microwave! Before the review, here’s an interview I did with him recently via email.
Yet another one I am very surprised I haven’t reviewed in the past. Curious to see how this one fares.
We were at 99 Ranch Market yesterday and I noticed that Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein has a new packaging. Wondering if it’s got a different flavor as well.
Here it is – the new Ramen Rater Top Ten List! It was originally released on Foodiggity.com on January 9th, 2011 as an exclusive guest post I did. Now, here it is on The Ramen Rater for your perusal with links to all of the corresponding reviews! Enjoy!
Soon as I saw this, I was really excited. I really like Shio (salt) ramen. I don’t know what it is, but it works! What’s more is this stuff is made in California. I found it at H Mart in Lynnwood, Washington. Let’s dig in!
This week there were two submissions! Awesome!@ Keep em coming! I’ve decided to let my wife decide which is best for the contest – so here we go! Just a reminder, if you want to send in a noodle pic or two, send them to info@ramenrater.com and please put ‘Show Your Noodles’ in the subject line!
Aha -= this is one of my favorite! Number four on the Top Ten Instant Noodles of All Time as reviewed by The Ramen Rater. Thanks go to Greg B. of Marathon, Florida for sending a pack my way!
A new find today at a big Korean supermarket nearby. Been a while since I’ve reviewed anything by Sapporo Ichiban. What’s interesting too is that the packaging proclaims that it’s new! Also on the back it says it’s three servings! Boy, this economy sure is hitting everyone hard! Now instant noodle rationing!
After spending a few days on it, here’s the list. If you have anything you think should be added, please let me know – II’d love to make this the most complete list on the Internet of instant noodle information! You can find it in a tab on top of the site as well.
As promised, here’s another of Sapporo Ichiban’s cup line. Again, we see the cooked and ready product being inundated with more piping hot water. Weird picture…
A couple things to start out with here as this picture is somewhat ridiculous. So they’re adding water to the cup. The water is up to the line already and not only that, the contents appear to already be done cooking; the veggies are clearly re-hydrated. Kind of weird I thought.
Yep! The Ramen Rater Top Ten List is here! Check it out by clicking here!
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
Sapporo Ichiban: Chow Mein
Stars: ***1/2
Notes: Now this stuff is quite different – and quite good as well. It definitely
tastes like a greasy, heavily sauce laden noodle. The broth is dark brown
mainly because of all the soy, but it’s not all that salty. It is quite good
and I highly recommend it. One of the more compelling packets in this one is a little cellophane pouch of ‘green laver.’ It’s seaweed powder and adds a delicately mossy green shade to the concoction if added like pepper evenly to the top. This is a must for the adventurous and keen on the weird factor.
Sapporo Ichiban: Shrimp Flavor
Stars: ** 1/2
Notes: Wasn’t all that jazzed about this stuff – I do think I like the Maruchan Shrimp a
tad bit better. The difference however, is that this package of noodles is very
dense – lots of noodles! A plus, but not enough to make me stoked. Get it here.
