Teumsae Ramen / I'm Not Dead!!

First thangs first. I'm not dead! I haven't updated the site in a while but I've still been ramenatin' it up, but mostly been working and going to school. The semester just ended so I've got some free time before the next one starts. I'll make an effort to make more posts! In fact, here's one right nah!

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at Super Oriental Market

Ok, so Teumsae is kind of a big deal in Korea (I'm assuming South). It's a big chain of ramen restaurants, and they have a line of home foods as well (a la Taco Bell, White Castle, etc) and this is the basic ramen of that lineup. There's not a single word of English on the package other than Since 1981 at the top, but there is a smug looking Korean chef on there. That tells me pretty much everything I need to know. It does however have an English ingredient list on the back, and from what I can tell it looks like this is a spicy beef flavor. One of the first ingredients is red pepper extract, and there's beef flavor extract and beef bone extract (bone extract?) among other semi questionable things. Enough jibba jabba, here we go!

Pretty standard deal here. It's a 120g Samyang size noodle block with a veggie pack and a seasoning pack and there is definitely a lot of both to be had in this package. They don't skimp on anything. Seasoning smells strongly of paprika and pepper, while veggies are green onions (of course), red pepper flakes and seaweed. A little too much seaweed for my taste, but let's cook it up and see how it goes.

WTF is up with Blogger's photo uploader? Get it together, y'all!
Anyway, I'm gonna be honest. This one's good, but it's not great. It is very spicy, and when I say very spicy, it may very well be the spiciest ramen I've ever eaten. Spicier than Shin Ramyun even! So in that respect it does not disappoint. Sometimes it's good to have your nose run while you eat, you know for your sinuses and stuff. Along with the spiciness, though, is something that is hard to describe. I want to say it's a fishy taste but I'm not sure. It's kind of a strange after taste that's not bad per say, but gives you a "what the hell did I eat?" kinda feeling. Basically these are very hot so if you like spicy ramen give em a try, but keep in mind it has a slightly funky taste. I'm giving these a 7/10 for the spiciness.

Interesting article...

What's the deal with ramen noodles? This article from The Straight Dope website contains a lot of cool information about how ramen is made and some of its history. Worth a quick read.
Check it out!

HERE

Indomie Special Fried Curly Noodles

Country of Origin: Indonesia
Bought at Super Oriental Market

"Curly noodles? What the hell?" you may be thinking. Well think about it for a minute. They are curly, and they are noodles. It's just what ramen noodles are called in some parts of the world. These particular ones are part of Indomie's special noodles that come in special packaging and are supposed to be better than the standard stuff. Let's see how they stack up.

This is supposed to be like Mi Goreng on steroids. It's got essentially the same spices, soy sauce, chili sauce, white and brown goop, and some veggies. If you compare this noodle block to other Indomie blocks you'll see a difference in the way the noodles look.

That looks a-pretty tasty! This stuff is really, really good. It came out a little bit too salty but the quality and awesome texture of the noodles makes up for it. It tastes very similar to the regular Indomie Mi Goreng so you'll know some of what to expect, just with better noodles. Can't go wrong with this one. 9/10.

Nongshim Kal Guk Soo Korean Style Noodle Soup

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at Choi's Oriental Foods in Huntsville, AL

This one may win an award for best noodle name. KAL GUK SOO!! That's just damn fun to say. I wish I could get excited about these in some other way but I've already tried them as I write this review... you'll see what I mean in a minute.

So here's the sorta funky looking noodle block and two packs of stuff. I don't like it when I see this style of noodle in a pack of ramen because I tend to associate it with low quality ramen like the Payless Pancit Shanghai or the Vifon Pho Bo. I am reminded, however, that I am the Ramenator and must prevail for the ramen munchers everywhere.

So I cook it up. It took about 5 minutes in the microwave for the noodles to get tender enough to where I'd even consider eating them. Not a good sign. Then I pull it out the microwave and smell what I'm about to ingest and am hit in the face with the smell of stank-fish. I had to hyphenate that to get an accurate amount of stank across. Have you ever smelled stanky fish? Then you know what these smell like. And guess what? They taste like stank fish, too. Yuck and double yuck. Don't get these. Shame on you, Nongshim. You make so many delicious varieties of noodles but this one slipped by your quality control. There may be some out there somewhere that enjoy these. God help you. These are nasty as hell. 0/10.

Samyang LeebaikYang Ramen

Country of Origin: Korea
Bought at Choi's Oriental Foods in Huntsville, AL


I was in Huntsville a couple weeks ago for my very sweet aunt Charlsie's funeral (RIP) and had some time before the funeral so I found some noodle joints on the internet and headed to the nearest one. Choi's is a nice store, not huge but has a lot of stuff crammed in there. I picked up a sacka noodles while I was there and this is one of the ones that I got. I had never seen this one before, I think it may be new. It's made by Samyang so I'm expecting it to be good.

Everything on the package other than what you could see in the first pic is in Korean, including everything on the packs. The green one is a veggie pack and the read one is seasoning that kinda looks and smells like paprika and pepper. The noodles are kinda thick, not as much as the Neoguri that I reviewed recently but a little thicker than standard noodles. Me likey.

So here ya go. Looks pretty standard. When you let this one sit for a few minutes the noodles soak up a lot of the soup and it makes it taste about 20 times better! It kinda tastes beefy, but doesn't taste like the regular Samyang ramen... as in not as good. It is ok though, nothing special, but not great. It does have more vegetables than most ramens do, though it's mostly green onions and carrots. I'd get the regular old Samyang beef ramen over this stuff any day. I'm giving this one a 6/10.

Indomie Soto Mie Flavor

Country of Origin: Indonesia
Bought at Super Oriental Market

It's been a little while since the last update. I started going back to school so less time for ramen. Not to say I probably won't be eating more of it since that's what you do when you're in college. Anyway, here's an Indomie noodle I haven't tried yet and theirs are usually pretty dang good so of course my hopes are high. Here goes!

Pretty standard Indomie package. Chili powder, spices, and BUMBU sauce!! The secret's in the bumbu. I have no idea what soto mie is or what it may taste like but only one way to find out!

OK, so looks pretty standard for Indomie noodles. Upon the first taste I was attacked by a barrage of salt and lime, so I've dubbed this the Margarita of noodles. Just add tequila!
Seriously, though, these are quite possibly the saltiest noodles I've ever eaten. They taste kinda like the Kalamansi flavor Pancit Canton I tried a while back, but these are just flat out not as good... in fact there is just too much salt in these to the point where it makes them not good at all. The Lucky Me noodles would beat these hands down any day of the week. Less salt would make these passable, but I have to say I'm kinda disappointed in Indomie for these. 3/10.

Wanna take a ramen bath?

How bout a coffee bath? Or red wine? At a Japanese theme park you can do ALL of these! Check it out:

HERE

You have got to check out this article... seeing is believing.

Nongshim Neoguri Spicy Seafood Flavor

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at Tokyo Asian Food in Hoover, AL

I've had this one for a little while and it somehow slipped to the back of the ramen shelf. It looks incredibly tasty judging by the picture on the package... hopefully it's got a star cut potato and all that other stuff inside there. I'm most excited about the udon type noodles that this one promises. Udon noodles are big fat noodles and are crazy delicious. Without further speculation, here we go!

Check out those noodles! It's a little bit hard to tell from the pic but if you compare this one to some of the other noodle pics on here then you will see a big difference. These are way fatter than other ramen noodles, and while I wouldn't call them udon (which I guess is why it says "udon type") they are a lot bigger. The excitement is killing me!!

You can definitely tell from this pic what the difference is. These are pretty damn good and I'm pleasantly surprised since most seafood flavor ramen I've had was nothing special. These had a decent amount of spice to them and I love the texture of the bigger noodles. This is not one to miss if you are a ramen fan. 9/10.

Nongshim HooRooRook

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at Tokyo Asian Food in Hoover, AL


Who looks? WHO LOOKS???
I don't really know, but the packaging is very encouraging to paranoid people. Maybe someone really is watching you eat these noodles... they could be lurking around the corner right now, waiting to hear the microwave beep and then.... they probably do nothing. Or jump out and say GOTCHA and run away. But the question still remains.... who looks? Me for right now. Looking at these noodles anyway. These are non-fried, which means they're just dried so they'll stick together. This makes them a lot more healthy, or rather less bad for you since instant ramen is probably one of the most processed foods you can eat. Anyway, here goes.

 

Here's what you get in the package. You get a round noodle block like in Shin Ramyun and three good sized packs of stuff. Check out all the stuff dumped out of the packs:

 

Check out all that stuff! Lots of ingredients here. Speaking of, an ingredient here is cod fish. Like Captain D's fish. Pretty cool huh? Time for cooking!

 

Here's the done deal. Looks like there's a lot going on in that bowl. Well, here's the deal.

It's pretty damn average. I don't like the texture of the noodles due to them not being fried, they are very flimsy and stringy. The soup tastes very very average, kind of a vegetable ramen flavor. Just not much to say about these. So... who looks? Look no further for average noodles! 4/10.

Hah! The picture was called "If the Shoe Fits"

 

And how many times have we all been in this situation?

Nongshim Beef & Ginger Bowl O' Noodles

Country of origin: USA (yeah, I know)
Bought at Big Lots!!

Ah, Nongshim. Makers of Shin Ramyun and a host of other delicious noodles. They ARE a Korean company but these say "made in USA" so I'm not going to lie for them. Those crafty Koreans...
But I digress. Beef and ginger flavor ramen sounds pretty good to me, and it's even in one of those neat little bowls that you can't microwave. Seriously, don't ever try to microwave one of these. It will catch on fire. That small little notice on the right that says Do Not Microwave needs to be about 10 times that big.

So here's what's in the bowl. Bowl shaped ramen block and a decent size pack of stuff, and you can definitely smell the ginger in it. Let's add the stuff to the noodles and steam em up!

I really like these bowls. They are a good size and they look cool to me. I thought I'd leave Ridge Racer 64 in the background just to see if I get any kind of reaction to it....
Anyway, upon first taste you will realize that these are delicious. I mean, they are really really good. There's lots of ginger flavor in these and it mixes nicely with the other flavors in the bowl. Like a.... mixing... bowl?
Anyway, these are just damn good. I'm giving these a 10/10. You should be able to catch these for about 75 cents a bowl at Big Lots so grab a few and try em for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Ve Wong Kung-Fu Vietnam Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Vietnam
Bought at Super Oriental Market

So I know it's been a little while since the last update, but I've been eating more ramen recently so the updates should come more often now. I reviewed the Vietnam beef flavor a while back and it was pretty good so here's the chicken variant. Don't you just love how they set such high expectations with that delicious looking picture of chicken on the package? Yeah buddy, that ain't in there. Anyway, here we go!

Regular ol' noodle block, a powder seasoning pack, a goop seasoning pack, and a good size pack of veggies. The veggie pack has green onions, carrots and cabbage. Cabbage in my ramen = big thumbs up which is a little strange since I don't really like cabbage any other way, but some cabbage in the soup can really add something to it I think.

Hah. This bowl has a secret that maybe I'll reveal to you all one day. Maybe.... but if I told you at this point I'd hafta kill ya. Deadly bowl secrets aside, here's the finished product. Looks pretty average, and I didn't realize before I cooked it that this soup also has some fake chicken thingies in it. I've had several run ins with fake beef thingies but never fake chicken thingies... which are absolutely tasteless, but that's how thingies in ramen usually are. Like eating paper. BUT!! If you look past the fake chicken, this stuff is a very good chicken ramen. The noodles as with the other Vietnam Ve Wong ramen are better quality than the ones made in Taiwan, and it just tastes pretty dang good. I'm giving this one a solid 8/10 for being a bowl of chicken flavored goodness.

Doll Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at Super Oriental Market

Unfortunately, these pics were affected in the same batch as the ones from the last review, so more crappy pic quality, but this should be the last time. Promise! : )
I needed something good to get the sesame taste out so I figured I'd try these since the other Doll noodles I ate were pretty good. Let's check 'em out.

Regular ol' noodle block and two packs of stuff, one seasoning and one oil. The oil smells very chicken-y. Time to cook!

Here's the finished product. Looks average, right? Well it is. Very. I'd say this is basically the same thing as chicken flavored Top Ramen, so I'll give it a 5/10. Deliciously average indeed.

EDO Pack Sesame Oil Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Singapore
Bought at Super Oriental Market

Blargh! My damn pic resizing software resized my pictures to 25% of the original size TWICE so I got some really small pics and had overwritten the originals. Sorry bout the poor pic quality.
I figured I'd stick with some more sesame flavor noodles for now. They're just so.... sesame-y. I've never heard of or seen any other noodles made by this company and there are very few words of English on the package. Well, here we go!

There's a package shaped noodle block (standard size) and a pack of stuff that is actually two packs of stuff. There's some odorless and very plain looking seasoning and a good amount of sesame oil.

So here's the done deal. These taste like sesame oil and absolutely nothing else. I mean, seriously, nothing else. At all. Just sesame oil. If you love the taste of sesame oil then you will adore these. Otherwise, stick with the Doll noodles that I previously reviewed if you want some hot sesame action. I'm giving these a 3/10. Meh.

Doll Sesame Oil Flavor Noodles

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at Super Oriental Market

I love it when one of the few words of English on a package is "yummy." That's how you know you're about to eat something good. This one's packaging also wins an award for most overdone bowl of ramen and most stretching of the phrase "serving suggestion." I guess if you add shrimp, onions and other stuff to any ramen it makes it look yummy. On to the noodles!

So these are sesame oil flavored, which from my past experiences are either pretty tasty or very very overdone with the sesame oil and all you can taste is sesame flavor. Here, check it out:

Those are the cooked noodles waiting for their friends, bigass blue seasoning pack and sesame oil pack. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product... think I may have been feeling sick that day. Suffice to say that these were pretty good, the noodles were good texture and quality, and it had a good amount of sesame flavor, not too much but just enough. I would definitely recommend these if you like sesame flavor noodles. 7/10.

Wingfood Mie Sedaap Mie Goreng

Country of origin: Indonesia
Bought at Sunrise Market in Knoxville, TN

I know I'm getting a little lax with my updates, or slacking off some may say, but I am making an effort! Just been really, really busy. So anyway, here's a review of some Mie Goreng noodles from a company I've never heard of. The name alone is worth mentioning though, Sedaap! That's really fun to say.

So here's the deal. Regular looking noodle block, probably a little bit bigger than its Indomie counterpart, but you get not one, not two, but FIVE packs of stuff! I know it looks like four in the picture, there's an orange pack under the soy sauce there. Soy sauce, orange goop, kinda creamy and brown goop (yum), soup base, and a pack of fried onions to go on top! Sounds good.

Looks a lot like Indomie, too. They taste similar, but the Indomie noodles are hands down much better both in taste and consistency. It was good to see another company making some Mi Goreng style noodles, though. These also have a very foul smell that you'll notice as soon as you mix them up. I mean, it'll smack you across the face with stank. That coupled with the a little-too-chewy consistency gets these a 6/10. Not bad, but with these it may be best to stick with what's best.

Payless Pancit Shanghai Oriental Flavor

Country of origin: Philippines
Bought at Super Oriental Market

I figured I'd continue in the pancit canton vein. Here's some new stuff from Payless. The couple different Payless noodles I've had were pretty good, so let's check these out.

It's the same size noodle block as the Lucky Me noodles but these look a little funky and kinda feel like packing material. There's a veggie pack and a pack of paste that smells like soy sauce but has some other stuff in it as well.

The first thing I noticed about these was the God awful smell. I mean DAMN, these are some of the stankiest noodles I've ever encountered, and the smell fills up the room immediately. Ugh. The noodles just aren't good quality... they don't have a pleasant texture and are too chewy despite cooking them extra for such a small noodle block. They don't taste as bad as they smell but the smell just kind of kills it. The worst part is I've got these same noodles in another flavor that I'm planning to try... damn. 3/10.

Lucky Me! Pancit Canton Hot Chili Flavor

Country of origin: Philippines
Bought at Super Oriental Market

I've gotten to where I really like pancit canton noodles and other noodles that are a bowl o' noodles rather than a soup. I also like hot stuff, so these seem to be right up my alley. Let's check it out!

Snack size noodle block, just like the other Lucky Me's with a seasoning pack, soy sauce and some seasoning paste which smells kinda spicy.

Not a lotta noodles just like the others. These have kind of a chili spice with some red pepper flakes and such thrown in for a little extra spice. They're a little bit spicy, but just barely enough to register on my spiceometer. They are pretty tasty, though, so for a snack I'd give these an 8/10.

Myojo Chukazanmai Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Japan
Bought at Korean Market in Homewood, AL

Soy sauce flavored noodles sound pretty good to me right about now. The Oriental flavored version of these noodles was pretty dang good so I'm expecting these to be the same. I also really like the packaging these come in. Looks nice and feels more sturdy, like maybe it keeps the noodles more fresh? Maybe it just looks cool.

Another thing I like about these noodles is that the noodle block doesn't really look that big (it's not as fat as a standard block, kinda hard to tell in the pic) but still has a good bit of noodles therein. There's a big ol' seasoning pack and a big ol' pack of soy sauce with some oil (I think a mixture of sesame and soybean) thrown in. I have to add this one to the interesting ingredients list also because listed on the package is "Seafood Extract" which is combined extracts of scallops, clams and oysters. Wow. How exactly do you extract that? Do I wanna know? Another ingredient albeit way down on the list is mackerel. Just there in the list like it's digludium bioxate or whatever the hell those chemicals are. Let's give this mackerel a shot.

This stuff is really good and you get exactly what is advertised. Soy sauce flavor noodles. There is a very strong soy sauce flavor but it's very satisfying at the same time. It's a little bit hard to explain, so you just need to try these. You won't be disappointed. I'm giving these a 9/10.

Nissin Demae Chicken Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at Sunrise Market in Knoxville, TN

So since I've been feeling sick recently I wanted something just kind of basic to eat. So I think, "hey, chicken flavor ramen sounds pretty good and basic." So I fished through my treasure trove of ramen and found this delicious looking pack of green goodness. I've been happy with the other two Demaes I've had so let's see how this one measures up.

Standard 100g noodle block, seasoning pack which has a nice kind of roasted chicken smell to it, and a pack of sesame oil. Sounds good.

Like my new bowl? I think it's the shiznit. Anyways, these came out pretty good, I'd say they are definitely a notch above the MAMA chicken ramen I had a couple weeks ago. These just taste better. Pretty basic overall, but still good stuff. I'm giving these a 7/10.