The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
So this is the 200th instant noodle I’ve reviewed! So bright eyed and vaguely bushy tailed at 6:30am, here we go! I’d like to first thank Kit for picking #199 and #200 for my reviews and also for cruising us around and going to all of these Asian groceries around here. If you like the Ramen Rater, go see her Asian and otherwise snack reviews site at http://www.supertastysnacks.com – she just started it last week and she’s got her first few reviews up! Looking good!
Rhee Bros? Assi? Hmm here’s what I found
The word ASSI comes from the traditional Korean title for a young married woman. ASSI brand symbolizes the Korean gril’s wedding costume, and was first introduced in 1976 and has grown into as our flagship brand. ASSI has been recognized as the standard for Korean food products.
So haven’t had any Tom Yum or Yam for that matter in quite a while. Nor have I had anything by Maggi in a while either. This stuff is from Malaysia! This is a first for me – noodles from Malaysia!!!
So I thought after yesterday’s meeting with the super spicy noodles, I thought I’d see if two days in a row of pain would work out pretty well. So Here’s some hot & spicy with soy peptide! Yum!
Warning – IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE HOT AND SPICY FLAVORS, STAY AWAY!!!
So first off, help with translation here would be great. I think the words on the front of the package have a bit more going on than Paldo Teumsae. Teumsae seems to be another company.
Some Kimchi flavor from Thailand! Should be interesting. I’m going to doctor it up today with quite a few ingredients. One thing kind of interesting is that there is currently a cabbage shortage in Korea, where Kimchi is so widely consumed. Here is an article about it – thanks for the info Kit!
So here’s the second that Kit selected for me to try today. I’ve been honestly avoiding this one for quite a while but I left her to decide my noodle sampling fate again today so here we go!
So I asked Kit to pick out two packs of noodles for me to try next. Here’s the first one. I’m curious whether it’ll be any good; the MAMA brand has reviews on here from 1 to 4 stars so we’ll just have to see. By the way, on the back in two places it says tom yum instead of tom yam like it does on the front. I’m going to go with tom yum being correct and the yam being a typo.
Some hot stuff from MAMA here today. We’ll see if it’s really hot and spicy…
Wow okay so for the 150th review here on ramenrater.com I thought I’d go for something really different. This is a big ass bowl noodle with fresh noodles! Should be interesting!
So some Korean kimchi flavored ramen. Looks good to me, especially since we’ve been trying out Korean BBQ lately – so let’s go!
So thought it would be nice to spice it up a bit and modify some Korean noodles for breakfast. So I picked the basis to be the Ottogi Jin Ramen.
So this is an interesting one. The package weighs practically nothing and the noodle blocks is extremely thin. Weirdness….
Beef. Not usually really an ‘out there’ or ‘exotic’ flavor. Seems like most Korean noodles are more along the lines of spicy or seafood. So I guess we’ll see how this one stacks up.
So sometimes I’m looking for some new ramen and see it but it only seems to come in a 5 pack. Nowhere else in the noodle aisle do they have it… That’s really annoying! This was one such variety but I finally found it at a new Asian market I found today out of nowhere across from 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds. Anyways, here’s Paldo brand Bibim Men Oriental Style Noodle
MAMA Pad Kee Mao… The pack is shiny and shows a seriously elaborate dish… Not really much of anything in English on this one.
Look at those big deadly looking red peppers! This should be interesting. Usually stuff you’d find around here domestically would be on the weak side if it had a pepper being shown. We’ll have to see if this stuff lives up to the flavor of hot taste! I’m also very curious if I like this better than Shin Ramyun. I’ve really been enjoying the Ottogi products…
I think after this, sesame flavor and spicy seafood flavors are left! So let’s get it on with the spicy flavor! Woo haw!
So it was ‘Summer Exotica Days’ at 99 Ranch and had me, Kitten and Andy all together trying new stuff. Andy tried some furikake on rice, bean thread noodles, plum and green tea drink ad shrimp wontons. Kitten picked my ramen today – the picture of the cartoon cow did it for her.
Ah the glorious 99 Ranch Market. It takes about 40 minutes to walk there (at a very fast walk), pick out some noodles and then walk home.
So these instant noodles are very prevalent in this area and I imagine easily procured anywhere in the USA. This is Nongshim Shin Ramyun Gourmet Spicy flavor and it was purchased at a regular grocery store.
Maggi: Chinese Noodles Lemon Chicken Flavor
Stars: *** 1/2
Country of origin: India
Seasoning: 2 Packets, 1 dry 1 oil
Noodles: Wheat flour
I’m a big fan of instant noodles – such a big fan that I started www.ramenrater.com to review different varieties. Of all things ramen, I’ve come up with this homemade noodle recipe, taking ingredients from all over the far east and orient.
Doll: Instant Fried Noodle w/Chili Sauce [Box]
Stars: ***
Notes: A nice sqare box of noodles – hot chili flavor was alright – not too hot though.
One thing I found very unique about this particular bowl was that it came with a a little packet of tea!
Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Favoury Pork Flavor
Stars: *
Notes: Aside from being ‘favoury,’ this wasn’t really all that good. More like ‘pork rancid favoury’ if you ask me.
Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Spicy Instant Noodles – Spicy Seafood Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This stuff’s actually quite different – it comes in a round cake of noodles, and fits quite snugly into the cooking pot. After cooking it, it really sucks up water and basically turned into a big bowl of seafood spaghetti! Wasn’t too shabby with some roman peasant bread left over from mother’s day.
Indomie: Chicken Cup
Stars: **
Notes: A little too salty for my taste; was missing some important things like really tasty flavor and seasoning oil. I suppose that’s the trade-off when having a small cup-o-noodles style cup. However, one of the coolest things in the ramen industry is the Indomie Folding Fork, which is included. It just folds and snaps into place! Sturdy too. So yes, it’s worth it for the fork.
Indomie: Chicken Curry Flavor
Stars: ****
Notes: Ah now this stuff is classy. First off yes, it tastes like curried chicken. There’s oil, cabe [chili powder], fried onions, and bumbu sauce [the powdered base]. Another fine Indomie product to be sure. Best with a couple small pieces of BBQ pork on the side, a fried egg on top and some pickled ginger garnish. Get it here.
Indomie: Curly Noodles With Grilled Chicken Flavor
Stars: *****
Notes: This has to be the penultimate achievement in the ramen producing world. First off, these noodles are great; they are flat and curly with an unsurpassed, fine character. The package comes with a myriad of flavorings, including sweet soy, bumbu sauce, seasoned oil, chili powder, and finally, an extra special packet. After boiling the noodles and mixing with the seasonings in a bowl, you add 1/2 a cup of boiling water to this packet and stir – it’s a soup base. This stuff is really good – especially when you put two fried eggs on top of the ramen, then pour it over slowly. Fried shallots on top of that with a bit of shedded pickled ginger makes the scene complete. I can’t recommend any ramen more than this one. This is top! Get it here.
Indomie: Fried Noodles
Stars:****
Notes: Another one of Indomie’s great line of noodles. These are your basic variety of noodles – just plain fried. Best with some form of meat/vegetable garnish. Get it here.
Indomie: Hot Fried Noodles
Stars:****
Notes: Exactly the same as the above fried noodles, only this one has a bit of hot chili with it. It’s quite hot and very good stuff – best with garnish, even better with fried eggs. Get it here.
Indomie: Shrimp Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: Not a bad bowl of noodles, although a little salty. Of course quite good when made with a bit of fried or scrambled egg on top. Get it here.
Indomie: Jumbo BBQ Chicken
Stars: ****
Notes: It’s pretty good – a big bowl of noodles that don’t really taste like barbecued chicken. However, it’s flavor is quite good and reminiscent of the Satay variety. Get it here.
Indomie: Jumbo Meat Ball
Stars:***
Notes: Strangely enough, this did have a slight hamburger-like flavor to it. It’s best quality is that it’s a jumbo pack – can’t get enough of this stuff! Basically very much like the regular fried noodles. Get it here in the regular size.
Indomie: Satay Fried Noodles
Stars: *****
Notes: This is the stuff that really got me into ramen. First off, five seasoning packets.
Second, by displaying sunny side up eggs on the packaging, I of course had to
try it for breakfast and quite enjoyed it. This is truly the alpha and omega of
the ramen hunter’s holy grail. The first ramen I found that required the noodles
be drained, then added to the dry bowl with the seasonings/oils and stirred. An
extremely spiritual experience. Get it here.
NOTE – there is an updated re-review of this pack – much better! 12/09/2011
Indomie: Special Chicken
Stars:****
Notes: Beats the living hell out of the domesticated ‘Top Ramen Chicken’ flavor. Although it does lack a soup base as do all of Indomie’s products but the special curlies, it’s very chickeny and great with eggs and even better with a bit of chicken. Get it here.
Kim Ve Wong Brand Jaopai Series: Vegetarian Instant Noodles Mixed Flavor Bowl Stars: ZERO
Notes: Never thought it possible to give a zero star rating to noodles, but this one gets it for sure. Sometimes, the noodles I try are almost too hot to eat, but I eat them anyways. However, these noodles weren’t at all palatable; they were horrid. A bowl with a retort pouch and a sesame oil packet and base. Very nasty, due to the low quality retort pouch innards. I wouldn’t wish this stuff on my worst enemy. Perhaps tasting the food they make prior to allowing it to leave the factory might be a good tip.
Kung Fu: Chicken Flavor Stars: *
Notes: Well, as far as this stuff goes, I can truthfully say NOTHING SPECIAL GPING ON HERE. I really was hoping I would be able to beat up bad guys and work it like Jackie Chan after eating it, but this was not even remotely the case. Basically a bowl of chicken flavor noodles. Very much like your standard Americanized noodles you’d find in a big supermarket.
Little Cook: Pork & Mustard Stem Bowl Stars: 1/2
Notes: This stuff is bad – very bad. Boasting great flavor because of fresh meat and
vegetables [retort pouch], the freshness wasn’t there. As with many bowl noodles,
the ramen’s quality is overlooked and the retort pouch is added. The pok was
spongy, like wet pork rinds and had a bitter, almost sour coffee taste.
Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Chili Mansi Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This is like the Kalamansi [Lime] flavor, but with a little kick. Perfect noodle to
go with gin and tonics. Get it here.
