I think one of my favorite things are noodles that have something differe – like these. Purple noodles are pretty fascinating – first off, they’re purple. I remember hearing about ‘Space Potatoes’ a while back – somehow crossing the stuff that makes eggplants purple with a potato. I think blue potatoes would be kind of neat, but how would they taste? Well, let’s see how these noodles taste!
Tag: taiwan
Meet The Manufacturer: #1841: Forest Noodles Sunbaked Noodles With Spicy Sauce
Today, we’ve got a sunbaked noodle. Forest Noodles dried their noodles in the sun – which means no sun, no noodles. This variety is served cold – let’s check it out!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1840: Forest Noodles Sweet Potato Noodles With Sesame Paste Sauce
Today, we start with Forest Noodles’ sweet potato noodles. They’re sun-dried (no sun, no noodles). I think it would be neat to have a sun-dried noodle company here in the Seattle company, but it’s so cloudy around here that it probably wouldn’t work very well! Maybe in the summer months though… anyways, let’s see what we’ve got here!
Meet The Manufacturer: Product Samples From Forest Noodles
A big box from Taiwan! What’s inside?
Nicely packed with bubble wrap!
A Forest Noodles brochure.
Meet The Manufacturer: Interview With Forest Noodles
I was contacted a while back by a Taiwanese company I’d never heard of called Forest Noodles. I thought hey – I live near the forest! They had samples sent and I sent interview questions and so here we are! I interviewed MingYo, Founder of Forest Noodles – welcome to a new Meet The Manufacturer – on with the interview!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1830: Zeng Noodles Sichuan Pepper Flavor
Today, we finish off this trifecta by Zeng Noodles with a straight Sichuan Pepper variety.
Here’s the back of the package (click image to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add noodle block to 800ml boiling water and cook for 5 1/2 minutes. Drain. Add in contents of sachets. Stir and enjoy!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1829: Zeng Noodles Hu Sesame Flavor
I think when people here in the United States usually think of something sesame flavor, they think immediately of sesame oil. In Taiwan, sesame is something much different; sesame paste like tahini and peanut combine. The first time we found this out was when my wife got some noodles a few years ago that said sesame flavor and were like this – she’s not a fan of peanut butter, so it didn’t work out so well for her. Very curious about this one though – let’s check it out!
Meet The Manufacturer: #1828: Zeng Noodles Scallion With Sichuan Pepper Flavor
In the past year, I’ve tried quite a few varieties with Sichuan Pepper in them and really gotten a feel for this kind of flavor. In a way, Sichuan Pepper has almost a minty taste to it; it’s really quite different and unique. Let’s check it out!
Meet The Manufacturer: Product Samples From Zeng Noodles
A big box from Taiwan!
Fist thing – an envelope!
Meet The Manufacturer interview answers! Thank you!
Meet The Manufacturer: Interview With Zeng Noodles
#1820: Ten-In Veggie King Buddha Jump Instant Noodles
Here’s one I got from the folks at Exotic Noods, the first subscription instant noodle service I’d heard from! It’s one big bowl, that’s for sure – and heavy, too! I looked into Buddha Jump on wikipedia and found this –
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition
A new year brings the The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of all Time 2015 Edition. After reviewing over 1,750 different varieties, these are my favorites hailing from Taiwan. Taiwan’s instant noodles are different from those of any other country; so curious about what direction their flavors go next. With that, let’s dig in to the new list for 2015!
#1779: Chering Chang Instant Non-Fried Noodles Tomato Flavour
I’ve tried quite a few tomato flavored instant noodles over the years. What’s kind of interesting s that many of them hail from Taiwan – including this one I’ll be trying today, I can count three in all, and that could be missing one or more. I like tomatoes – they’re pretty tasty and have a seemingly endless global appeal. Let’s have a look at this Taiwanese variety with a tomato taste.
#1762: Mom’s Dry Noodle Sesame & Pepper
Here’s another new one from Mom’s Dry Noodle. This one’s got something inside none of the others do – FIVE sachets. Five. That’s a lot! Let’s crack the bag open and see what’s inside.
#1756: A-Sha Veggie Noodle Carrot Noodle With Original Sauce
I gotta say it’s been a lot of fun reviewing all of this veggie series by A-Sha – so many flavor profiles I’ve not tried before! We finish with their carrot noodle. Carrots are good, but how do they do in a noodle? Well, let’s see!
#1751: Mom’s Dry Noodle Spicy & Sour Flavor
Here’s a new one that just was released! These varieties by Mom’s Dry Noodle have been pretty impressive. This one’s spicy and sour – sounds quite interesting. I’ve tried such flavors from Malaysia before – kind of a description of Laksa, but being from Taiwan I think this is going to be a lot different. Like curry, spicy and sour flavors are different whever you go. Let’s check out this new one from Mom’s Dry Noodle!
#1744: A-Sha Veggie Noodle Baby Grass Noodle With Toona Sauce
I pride myself on trying a new instant noodle every day, but it’s really special when I get to try a new one with a flavor I’ve never tried before. Behold noodle enthusiasts: Baby Grass. I’ve been wanting to try this since I’d heard of it. Here’s what A-Sha’s website has to say about it: “Our Baby Grass Noodles with Toona Sauce bring out a fresh, earthy flavor. An extra source of fiber and a light healthy taste” The noodles have the Baby Grass flavor, but what is Toona Sauce? I think this snippet from Wikipedia has something to do with it – “T. sinensis (Chinese Toon) is used in Chinese traditional medicine and eaten as a vegetable in China (leaves and shoots).” Anyways, let’s have a look at this truly unique variety from Taiwan’s A-Sha!
Unique Veggie Noodles From A-Sha
A box showed up a couple days ago from Hann-wei over at A-Sha! Let’s see what’s inside!
New Products Coming From Mom’s Dry Noodle
Got some really fresh new samples from Kyle over at Mom’s Dry Noodle a couple days ago! Let’s check ’em out!
#1730: Wu-Mu BBQ Pork Flavor Chow Mein
Here’s yet another I got up in Canada during my birthday trip this last year. This one sounded especially good – chow mein! BBQ pork! How can you go wrong? Well, my hope is that one can’t go wrong! Let’s find out.
#1729: Vedan Zan Vegetarian Instant Noodle Series Shiitake Mushroom Flavor
Here’s one we found up in Canada during my birthday trip earlier this year. This one’s a little tricky to figure out; the distributor/import sticker mentioned shiitake, but another site I saw mentioned carrot, and indeed there’s a carrot on the package. Anyways, this one looked kind of interesting so let’s have a look.
#1727: Wei Lih Jah Jan Men
Well lookie what we have here. This is the ubiquitous Taiwanese Wei Lih Men bowl. In fact, it’s two bowls. Let me demonstrate.
#1725: A-Sha Veggie Noodle Black Sesame Noodle
This year, Taiwan made The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 edition for the first time with A-Sha’s Veggie Noodle Tomato variety. This one is part of the same line, which also includes carrot and ‘baby grass’ flavors which I’m also hoping to try soon! Let’s have a look at this interesting variety.
#1710: Chering Chang Instant Non-Fried Noodles Vegetable Curry Flavour
I had a different version of this variety make The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time last year – I don’t know if it’s just a different way of packaging or what, but I’ve got high hopes on this one! Let’s check it out! It’s curry time!
#1700: A-Sha Dry Noodle Hakka Flat Noodle With Za Jiang Sauce
Wow – number 1,700! Only 300 more to try until I hit the big 2000. Today, it’s a variety from A-Sha Dry Noodle of Taiwan. These are ‘Hakka’ noodles. Here’s a little info on the Hakka from Wikipedia:
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2015 Edition
Another year’s gone by and here we are again with the new bowls list. A lot of really interesting ones this go around and some old favorites. At the point of putting this list out, I’ve almost hit 1,700 reviews. Of those, these are in my opinion the best tasting and the most memorable varieties. With that, allow me to present The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls 2015 Edition.
The Ramen Rater’s Trip To Thailand: Day 6 – The Long Road Home
#1679: Ten-In Veggie World Vegetarian Braised Beef Instant Noodles
Here’s one I got from the folks at Exotic Noods. It’s one big bowl, that’s for sure – and heavy, too! Let’s see what’s inside.
#1673: Lishan Food Manufacturing Black Cock Brand Vegetarian Chicken Noodle
Some days are tougher than others. This is one of them. This has been the focus of my ire for the past hour or so. I have been trying to figure out what it’s called exactly, and hoping to find an ‘official’ website for it. No dice. I asked some people on facebook and got a little help, though. The brand is 力山食品工廠. From what I gather, you steep these, but with how much water I am unsure. It’s also got some other interesting things inside, aside from the swastika on the package and twin dragons. The swastika isn’t a reference to Nazi Germany, however to Buddhists who are vegetarian, as well as not allowed to eat ‘fetid’ vegetables like garlic or shallots. Anyways, let’s look inside this unique Taiwanese variant!
#1667: Deshome Aloe Thin Noodles With Camellia Oil Vegetable Sauce Flavor
Camelia oil – this is a new thing to me. I was curious – why camelia oil? Wikipedia had this to say:
#1648: Wei Lih Instant Noodles With Onion Flavour
This is one I got last month on my birthday trip to Canada! What’s interesting is that it’s one I tried to get along with a couple others from one store up there the previous year but there was some kind of thing that to use a card you’d need to spend at least $20 or something, and since the noodles I found were a far cry from that, I skipped it. I really was bummed – this is nowhere to be found here in the USA so thought this time around I’d see if the place had it – and it did! Let’s check out this Wei Lih onion variety.
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition
The top ten instant noodles list is an annual post I do which is always quite a treat for me. I started reviewing back in 2002, but I really got going with it in June of 2010 – I’ve done nearly 1,600 reviews since then. It still boggles my mind that after trying so many, the industry continues to innovate and bring flavors forth that truly amaze me. With that, here are my absolute favorites – The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition.
#1640: Long Jun Hang Tainan Yi Mien With Onion Oil Sauce
These tend to be a little hard to figure out; what flavor? What brand? Luckily, I had help from Bobby Y. on the first of these I found, and knowing some of the standard flavors of Taiwanese instants, the translation I got of a page that came up from the bar code on Google was logical. Anyways, Let’s try this onion oil flavor Taiwanese noodle offering.
#1638: A-Sha Veggie Noodle Tomato Noodle With Vine Ripened Tomato Sauce
Got this sample recently and been really wanting to try it. Well, today’s the day. They told me that it has a very strong tomato flavor and is ‘robust.’ I have been asked by people quite a few times ‘so whatever happened to the tomato flavor instant noodles? They were really good!’ I’ve never really figured out what the heck they were talking about, guessing that they were referring to a domestic brand most likely. Well, let’s check out A-Sha’s take on tomato!
#1627: Vedan Wei Wei A Instant Noodles Hot Beef Flavor
Here’s one I got a couple weeks ago on my birthday trip to Canada! I’ve had a few varieties by Vedan before but this one sounds really good. Hot beef is always a good bet. I think I’ll try it with some Chinese sausages in the mix! Let’s check out this Vedan Wei Wei A Hot Beef flavor!
#1618: Deshome Aloe Thin Noodles With Camellia Oil Spicy Bean Sauce Flavor
Deshome makes some pretty unique noodles, using ingredients I’ve never thought would go into a noodle. Aloe, bee pollen, and now, camellia oil in a sachet.Fascinating! Let’s have a look at this camellia oil variety from Deshome of Taiwan!
Product Samples From A-Sha Dry Noodle
Got a box from A-Sha yesterday – let’s see what’s inside!
Hey neat – from left to right, we have a new black sesame variety, hakka noodle with za jiang sauce and a new tomato variety. Sounds interesting!
A Message To Taiwanese Instant Noodle Manufacturers
After being asked ‘how can Taiwan make the annual The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time lists,’ I decided a video with an idea was in order. Here is a special message for Taiwanese instant noodle manufacturers.
#1600: Chering Chang Instant Non-Fried Noodles Shallot Pork Flavour
Today my wife asked me if I had any non-spicy noodles without much broth. It’s pretty rare for her to ask me to make her some noodles; she’s not the biggest fan of them, and really doesn’t like broth – she’s usually game for yakisoba or mi goreng as long as it isn’t spicy. I looked around through my stores of noodles – the ones in my son’s room, the ones under my desk, the ones that arrived the other day that are sitting in boxes in front of the fireplace. So this is the one I thought she might like. These are by a company that ranked high on my top ten Taiwanese instant noodles list that I contacted, asking if they could possibly send some varieties I couldn’t get here – and they did. Let’s see how we like them.
New Samples From Deshome Of Taiwan
A big box! What’s inside?
A detailed list!
New camelia oil noodles!
Cookies!