The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Been a busy day today so noodles came in the evening instead of first thing in the morning. Usually, instant noodles are the first thing I eat in the morning. Well, today it’s vegetable tom yam Cup Noodles. Let’s see how they come out – very curious how they’ll be inside!
My son’s favorite instant noodles of all time are (drumrolls please), Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor. It’s about as domestic as you can get. I’ll admit I like it a lot too – basic noodles and decent chicken broth. He does let me make him stuff that’s a little more adventurous from time to time. Today’s going to be one of those days.
Many of you familiar with the sight of this package may say – hey waitta minute – what are you calling this? In fact, this is known by a few names! Here in the United States, it’s called Nissin Demae Ramen. In Japan, the four characters in big print translate to Demae Iccho. In Singapore however, Chinese is often spoken, and they translate to Chu Qian Yi Ding. I’m pretty sure it means something like delivery boy’ or something – the little guy on the package. Anyways, this is pretty easily gotten the world over, however this is the Singaporean made one! Let’s check it out!
Cup Noodles are made by Nissin in all sorts of varieties worldwide. They make them specifically for different regions – the ones for sale in India have an Indian taste; ones in Brazil have flavors that appeal to Brazilians. One flavor that is kind of universal is chicken. I would guess that every country has some kind of well known chicken dish. I wonder if they have chicken in Antarctica? I guess it would be freeze-dried and imported. Is Antarctica even inhabited? Maybe wikipedia will know…
XO Sauce is an interesting thing; I think this Wikipedia snippet is a good way to start –
Developed in the 1980s in Hong Kong for Cantonese cuisine, XO sauce is made of roughly chopped dried seafoods, including scallops, dried fish and shrimp, and subsequently cooked with chili peppers, onions, and garlic. This dried seafood-based sauce bears similarity to the Fujianese Shacha sauce. Spring Moon, the Peninsula Hong Kong‘s Chinese restaurant is often credited with the invention of XO sauce, although others claim the sauce’s origin in the urban area of Kowloon.[2]
I first heard of a dish called Chilli Crab a few years ago, and was told it was the ‘signature dish of Singapore.’ Since the advent of Instagram, I’ve seen this particular Cup Noodle variety dozens of times and always have been quite curious about it. Let’s take a look at this regional Cup Noodles variety!
Toiday, I’m reviewing another new one from Nissin Singapore – Kyushu Black. Kyushu style ramen is different in that it features broth with a cloudy nature and rich flavor. Nissin Singapore’s Kyushu Black looks from the package to feature this. The black part? Black garlic oil! Looks interesting! What to add…
Looks like we’ve got some hot weather coming to the northwest this week. One weather report is saying it will get into the 90’s which is pretty darn hot for these parts. My wife and I were talking about it the other day and she mentioned that the last time we had a summer with such hot temperatures, the winter was equally as extreme – got lots of snow! I hope that it turns out the same way this year because I really like snow quite a bit. Granted, there are quite a few challenges getting around being legally blind, but it’s neat stuff all the same.
Got a package yesterday! These are samples from Nissin Foods Singapore!
These are two new varieties of ramen noodles – Tokyo Shoyu and Kyushu Black! Sound interesting!
Here’s another one that Annie T. over at MyKuali sent me – thank you very much! This looks interesting; a fusion of Tom Yam and Mee Goreng? Tom Yam is a spicy, citrus infused soup that”s very popular in Southeast Asia, Thailand in particular. Very curious about this one – let”s have a look inside.
There’s a reason there are three Prima Taste products are on the top ten list – they’re amazing. Two big sachets with serious ingredients and noodles that are so nice and tasty. I’ve really enjoyed the products they’ve made and hope they make lots of more noodle varieties in the future! Let’s give this one an up close and personal look.
When I first had curry it was when I was a kid. My mom would make curried chicken liver over rice and it was really good. Yep – liver. I really liked some things I don’t think my 8 year old son would touch with a ten foot pole! My mom would use curry powder and it came out really good. Since then, I’ve relished on many, many different curries. I think my favorites by far have been in paste form; there’s such variety and strong flavors that are involved – a true playground for the senses. Let’s have a look and see why this one made the last two top ten lists.
Here’s another one sent by Annie T. of MyKuali! Thanks! This one sounds interesting, and I have something neat to go with it considering my recent fascination with fish balls – prawn flavored fish balls! These noodles are from Singapore, as are the fish balls! Let’s check it out!
The folks over at Prima Taste sent some nice gifts the other day! Let’s have a look!
A fancy wall or desk calendar!
Wow what an interesting past few days! Two days ago I reviewed some Taiwanese noodles that were very green. Yesterday, some Japanese ramen with jet black broth. Today? Purple noodles! These noodles are made with purple wheat – which is rich in anthocyanins. Here’s a good article for more one purple wheat. As for Aglio Olio – what’s that? Well, it’s basically garlic (aglio) and oil (olio). Capiche? Alright, let’s check it out!
At the beginning of this year, I’d never tried any of their products. When I did, I was blown away; so much so that they ended up ranking 1st and 2nd place on my Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Tiume 2013 Edition list. I’m very curious how this one will fare. Chilli Crab is considered to be the signature dish of Singapore. To ring in the new year, I thought I’d start out with this one. I decided to post it right when the clock strikes midnight the very first time of 2014. Where’s that? Turns out it’s in Kiribati, which is GMT+14! For those in my timezone which is GMT-8 (Seattle time), that will be 2am on December 31st. With that, I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2014 – let’s check this out! By the way – I just found out there are a couple new ways to cook this one – check them out here!
Here’s one that was sent by Martin A. of Devon, England. Thanks again! There are many varieties of Koka noodles that aren’t yet available in the United States and this is one of them. Let’s check it out!
I know, thewse aren’t noodles but I thought it’d be nice to show some of the other things that Prima Taste sent. This one’s for making rendang – a spicy curried beef.
Curry. For me, it’s up there with bacon, pizza, fried chicken and dim sum. Curry has this flavor that has always enthralled me and can be prepared in so many different ways. Here we have Prima Taste’s take on curry with their Curry La Mian.
Here’s the box that the samples came in…
Six of each…
…of two varieties: Laksa LaMian and Curry LaMian! Really looking forward to trying these!
Here’s one that my sister brought me back from a trip to Canada earlier this year. So to recap, bought in Canada, Singaporean flavored, made in China – capiche?
Here’s another of KOKA’s varieties – this time in a bowl and with rice noodles. Notice in the directions that it specifies how much water to add – that’s pretty awesome.
Here’s another one – curry flavor!!! This is the four pack.
I ate the contents of this package!
Here’s another of the KOKA line to re-review – tomato flavor! Here’s the four pack.
Here’s one of the samples sent to me by Khong Guan marketing manager James Parr – thanks again! I haven’t had this is a very long time – since the 230’s! This is what a four pack looks like.
Let’s kick off National Noodles Month with a special new feature – Meet The Manufacturer!
I have been able to get the opportunity to do an interview with Singapore’s Tat Hui Corporation, makers of KOKA noodles! I have compiled a list of questions to ask and now would like YOU to round out the list – what would you ask them? This will be open until Monday, 2/13/2012. At the end, I will list the questions picked to send them! Make sure you include your first name and last initial and where you are from in the response! Good luck!
Mi Hai: Crab Flavor and Prawn Flavor Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: This is some really decent stuff – not a whole lot to it, but definitely tastes like crab and prawn.
The noodles are better than expected too. One note though, it does tend to give me extremely bad
heartburn. I don’t like that.
