The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Today started well, then got a little crazy then got better – I started at 5am with reviewing some noodles. Then the power went out around 7am for over two hours! A bit later, the mailman knocked on the door with a big package of Taiwanese noodles! Tseng was in The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 list this year – and they have some new products! Let check them out!
Here’s another one of the newer A-Sha tray designs. This one’s original flavor, which is kind of a soy sauce flavor I believe. Let’s check it out!
The next edition of The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time will be coming out in about a month, and so I’ll be cramming in as many late ones to arrive as possible. Today, one of a trifecta by A-Sha Dry Noodles – microwavable trays! Definitely something I’ve not seem out of Taiwan before that I can think of. Anyways, let’s give it a whirl in the ol’ microwave!
Today, we bid a fond farewell to Jingqi at the end of this Meet The Manufacturer. Lots of great flavors and the noodles! Well, let’s delve into this final variety!
For thje past four days, I’ve been enjoying a noodle lunch with my son Andy – today’s our last one for this Meet The Manufacturer, He’s really been enjoying them a lot! Let’s check out the sesame flavor sauce and original noodle in the thinner gauge.
I liked the black eyes beans noodle version of this one with the basil sauce quite a bit, however I’ve been excited to try it with this style noodle as well! Let’s check it out!
The Top Ten Taiwan list is coming late September and a few Taiwanese companies are sending me their latest products ! Let’s see what A-Sha Dry Noodle has to offer!
Now I’ve tried all the different sauces with one type of noodles – now we’ll go through and see how they work with the other noodle! Today it’s the cyanobacteria noodle once again – good stuff! Instead of the wider lasagna-like gauge, this is the thinner one. Ginger oil sauce too! Let’s check it out!
In the last review of this style of noodle, I really liked its breadth and thinness. Curious to see how it plays with a sesame sauce. Let’s find out!
I always like looking at the purple sweet potato noodles when I come across them. Something interesting about eating food in a shade of purple. Spicy and purple? Sign me up! Let’s check these out!
Not often do I come across a noodle product with the word ‘bacteria’ in the title, but I am definitely not fearful of it. I found this post about cyanobacteria, also known as spirulina/blue green algae. Very interesting! Let’s give it a try!
As there are 2 kinds of noodles and 4 flavors of sauce, I’ll be alternating back and forth between the noodles during this Meet The Manufacturer to keep things lively! This one looks interesting – the noodles are infused with pumpkin and comes with a thick basil sauce. Let’s check it out!
A very large box arrives!
Very nicely packed!
Lot sof varieties!
Here are three of them (click to enlarge) Looking forward to trying them all – thank you!
Interview with Jingqi * Product Samples from Jingqi * Jingqi Black Eyes Bean Pumpkin Noodles With Basil Sauce * Jingqi Aloe Vera Guan Mian Cyanobacteria Noodles With Ginger Oil Sauce * Jingqi Black Eyes Bean Purple Sweet Potato Noodles With Spicy Miso Sauce * Jingqi Aloe Vera Guan Mian Original Noodles With Sesame Sauce * Jingqi Black Eyes Bean Cyanobacteria Noodles With Ginger Oil Sauce * Jingqi Aloe Vera Guan Mian Pumpkin Noodles With Basil Sauce * Jingqi Black Eyes Bean Original Noodles With Sesame Sauce * Jingqi Aloe Vera Guan Mian Purple Sweet Potato Noodles With Spicy Miso Sauce
A coompany called Choumama recently reached out to me and asked if I’d try their product. Here’s the box today!
So far, I’ve tried Oni Hot Pot’s Ghost Pepper, XO Sauce and Seaweed and Pepper varieties. This one is a bit of a departure though – I think the only tun aflavored instant noodles I’ve had in the past were the Skipjack Tuna varieties from Indonesia. Well, let’s check this one out!
Been a little while since I’ve done a snack noodle review, so here we are. This one is by Wei Lih and hails from Taiwan. Let’s give it a look.
Here’s something from Taiwan today. A-Sha makes quite a few different sauces and styles of noodles and this is one I don’t see very often. They’re very thin as you’ll see, and they come with the original sauce which has a nice soy sauce component. Let’s check it out!
Instant noodles sold in bowls are very popular as they provide a certain convenience to those ‘on the go.’ They’re great to pack in a bag for a trip or for the office at lunch. These are the best of the best that I’ve tried out of my over 2,060+ reviews to date. With that, open lid halfway, pour in some boiling water, stir – and enjoy!
I’ve been getting a LOT of boxes lately! Here’s one I wasn’t expecting!
Two new varieties (click to enlarge)! I’ve reviewed the two on the top, their ghost pepper and xo sauce flavors. On the botton are the new tuna and seaweed flavors! Thank you – looking forward to checking these out!
Here’s the second variety I was sent by the folks at Oni Hot Pot of Taiwan – thanks again! The first variety was a spicy one – this sounds a little more on the seafood kick. Let’s have a look, shall we?
Here’s another one that I haven’t had in an extremely long time. I remember I did like it, but that’s about all I remember. Just found it – review #101 – from August 8th, 2010! Yeah almost 6 years ago. I started reviewing instant noodle in 2002, but I only got to around the 60th review by June of 2010 – that’s when I really got back into it and started reviewing again. Let’s have a look!
A-Sha’s noodle come in a few different gauges, this one being the thickest, Hakka style. They’re wide, flat and chewy. I looked in the hamper and immediately thought this sounded good today. Let’s check it out!
Okay so it’s been a while since I’ve gotten anything that’s supposed to be really spicy. Well, This one claims to have ghost pepper in it – that’s the Bhut Jolokia, a pepper that’ll rip your head off and then kick it down the road. This one hails from Oni Hot Pot, a chain of restaurants in Taiwan. Never heard of them before – although I have had Taiwanese hot pot here in the US before. Let’s crack this one open and see what’s inside.
Here’s one the folks at A-Sha sent recently. Hakka noodles from Taiwan are on the broad side and use very few ingredients. This one should pack some heat! Let’s check it out!
It’s been quite a year for The Ramen Rater. I’ve reviewed 357 new instant noodle varieties. I got to visit an instant noodle company in Thailand. I just hit my 2000th review. Since the beginning of this ‘noodle journey,’ I’ve wanted to try flavors from around the world and have been able to do just that. This new list is a compilation of the best of the best; the most memorable and most wonderful of the 2,004 varieties I’ve sampled thus far. If you are an instant noodle company and I haven’t reviewed your products, please contact me – I would love to review them. I decided to include what I added to them this year – however note the products are scored before anything is added. With that, let’s have a look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of all Time 2016 Edition.
Here’s another one I got from A-Sha’s US distributor recently – thanks! I saw this variety on the A-Sha Taiwan website and was very curious; who is the gentleman on the packaging? Well, I asked and this is what they had to say:
Very curious about this – let’s pop it open.
Wow (click to enlarge) – that’s one angry looking pepper!
Here’s another one I got down in Pleasanton, California a month or so ago. GGE is an abbreviation for Good Good Eat, as in ‘everybody loves good good eat.’ Kind of strange but we are talking about Taiwanese snack noodles here (see Leisure Meatballs). Anyways, let’s rip this bag open and check this snack out.
Hey – another box from A-Sha Dry Noodle! Let’s check it out!
Here’s what I saw when I opened the box (click to enlarge).
Here’s one I thought would be a re-review. I was on the 99 Ranch Market noodle aisle and though ‘hey this would be an interesting one to check out to test my new camera setup.’ Well as it turns out, I’ve never reviewed this one – very strange! As for my new camera setup, it’s been a rough go. I’ve never used DSLR in the past – only point and shot. It’s a pretty steep learning curve and the first day I had this thing I was ready to chuck it out the window! But after some time I’m starting to get the hang of it. Lightbulbs, lenses, f-stops, ISO settings and shutter speeds. It’s a lot to juggle and I still don’t think I’ve found the sweet spot yet. But I’m still working on it! Anyways, let’s check out the interesting looking beef variety from Taiwan.
Here’s one I got at the 99 Ranch down in Pleasanton, California a couple of weeks ago. So the GGE stands for Good Good Eat, as in ‘everybody loves good good eat.’ Yeah, I know – kind of weird. But hey – this is a Taiwanese snack noodle and they can be pretty interesting (see Leisure Meatballs). Anyways, let’s crack this bag open and look inside.
Today, we bid a fond farewell to the Love Cook Meet The Manufacturer. Been nice to try some new varieties from Taiwan lately! Oleum sesami is the scientific term for sesame oil. Very curious about this one! Let’s take a look!
Ah now here we go – spicy! Spicy sounds good today – it’s been cold, rainy and windy lately – not a very nice combo. Every morning Miles wakes up and I wheel his bassinet over to the window to spend a few minutes looking outside – usually it’s a cloudy day. But that’s weather in Washington state for you – winter’s like that. Spicy sounds good – let’s check it out!
So you might be wondering what ‘authentic sauce’ might be. I think this will be more like a soy based variety – with a few added spices. I think this is also referred to as Taiwanese sauce. The second review is ready to go!
To start things off, I thought something sesame sounded good. Today alsol marks the start of regularly using my new camera/copy stand setup. I’m hoping this will allow for much higher quality photos! I suppose we’ll see! Anyways, let’s check out this noodle from Taiwan!
A couple weeks later, I received another box…
A new bowl! Hooray! Really nice – thank you so much!
A box came in the mail from Love Cook! Let’s look within…
Wow what’s in here? Pictures of suggested garnishes (always helpful), a CD with them as well. Also, a card.
Interview With Love Cook * Product Samples From Love Cook 1 * Product Samples From Love Cook 2 * Love Cook Guanmiao Dried Noodles With Shallot Flavor * Love Cook Guanmiao Dried Noodles With Authentic Sauce * Love Cook Guanmiao Dried Noodles With Spicy Sauce * Love Cook Guanmiao Dried Noodles With Oleum Sesami
Instant noodle… snacks? Yeah! Snacks of all kinds have come from instant noodles – candy, crunchy bits, you name it. They’re popular all over Asia and also the United States; have you ever taken a pack of instant noodles, crushed them and added in the seasoning and shaken the bag up and eaten them like potato chips or popcorn? Well, this is popular elsewhere as well! Let’s check out my favorite instant noodle snacks from over 1,900 reviews. Enjoy!
