Ha

Natty and Noodles

Nothing like some crappy, cheap beer to go with some ramen. At least it's free.

Vina Acecook Mikochi Spare Ribs Flavor

Country of Origin: Vietnam
Bought at Super Oriental Market

And now, for your entertainment and reading pleasure, the first review in a while!
Great to be back, America. And the rest of the world.

On to the noodles. I've had a few Vina Acecook noodles in the past and I remember them being decent, not spectacular, but decent. I'm going into this review with an open mind and trying some ramen I probably wouldn't normally choose. Here, take a look:

These are non-fried noodles. For those who didn't know, nearly all ramen noodles are deep fried, and that's how they stay together in their signature block shape, and also gives them their near-infinite shelf life. Some people don't like eating fried foods, or can't for whatever reason, so there are some non-fried noodle options out there. Some people also say that eating non-fried ramen tastes more like noodles that are prepared fresh, like what you would get in a ramen shop (which sadly, there are none of near where I live).
The noodles in this particular package are very thin, which makes me instantly apprehensive. There's also a soup base which smells pretty generic, and some oil, which they INSIST several times on the package that you wait three minutes to add after these are done cooking. I guess I'll listen... this time.

Must be the Japanese technology. Anyway, time to cook!

The noodles almost instantly soak up all of the soup so you're left with a kind of pasty, goopy, mess of noodles all stuck together, and they're very thin so eating them isn't the easiest thing in the world. Honestly they don't taste that bad, but the texture is very unpleasant to me. I guess I just like my noodles like I like my chicken: deep fried with hot sauce. 3/10.

So.....

It's been two years and my life has gone through a whole bunch of changes. I went through and counted up my posts and realized that I've reviewed 88 different types of ramen over the past six years, off and on. I want to devote more time to this blog because I love the experience. I love going to new Asian markets I've never been to in search of new types of ramen I've never seen before and trying them and seeing how they compare with others I've had. I love seeing which posts get read frequently and which ones don't, and what countries my readers are from. According to Google stats I've had over 33,000 unique page views and that number doesn't include my own views of my blog. I'm going to stick with this, though I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update it. I'm a college student and I work full time so those two things alone take up most of my time, but I'll find a way to at least update once in a while. Thanks to everyone who has read, and a big thanks to those that give me feedback. I'll have a real post for y'all soon.

For my Indonesian readers...

My thoughts and prayers today are with the people of Indonesia and anyone affected by the Mount Kelud volcano. Please try and be safe.

Not necessarily new news but...

Psy of Gangnam Style fame is endorsing Shin Ramyun Black in Korean ads and on TV. Check it out!

And this fancy store display.

And even on trucks.

Pretty cool. I wish we could have dynamic noodle advertising in the US like they do overseas.

Vina Acecook Hao Hao Mi Chay Vegetarian Flavor

Country of origin: Vietnam

I don't have high expectations for vegetarian flavor noodles but I'll try just about anything once, twice if you're lucky. I am by no means a vegetarian and never will be. In fact, I'm about as carnivorous as they come. However, I can put these personal choices aside and try something vegetarian once in a while. The ingredients are mainly spices and vegetable stock. Let's stop yammering and give em a try.

Kind of neat shaped noodle block and two seasoning packs. Time to cook!

These really surprised me! I was expecting somewhat bland tasting soup but instead I got a nice mix of garlic, pepper, soy sauce, paprika, and maybe chili powder. The noodles are a little chewy in consistency and I seem to remember other Acecook noodles I've had before being the same way. Bottom line: somewhat low quality noodles, great tasting soup. I'm giving these a solid 7/10 for pleasantly surprising me for being both vegetarian and tasty.

Myojo Yomise-No Yakisoba Oriental Flavor with Mayonnaise

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

I just want to say something up front. I don't think I've ever seen this much thought and ingenuity put into a yakisoba before. I was extremely impressed with the way this product was engineered and the sheer amount of time and thought that was put into these noodles. You'll see what I mean.
So, yakisoba is a Japanese word that literally means "fried noodles." You've no doubt seen those Maruchan yakisoba trays over with the cup noodles and Nissin's attempt at it also which they call "chow mein," which is Chinese for, you guessed it, "fried noodles." I've tried a few different kinds of both and they aren't bad by any means but just not really my cup o' noodles.
I have pretty high expectations of Myojo products as I've tried a few of their other offerings and found them all to be very good so I hope this lives up to the hype. I must admit I'm a little unsure about the mayonnaise since I'm just not a huge mayonnaise fan, but my girlfriend is, so I got her to help me review these. Alright, here we go!

So this is what we see upon removing the wrapper, some detailed instructions and a very well drawn diagram. It specifically says not to microwave, and thankfully we have our awesome 1970s harvest gold tea kettle at the ready so this shall not hinder us.

I like going to yard sales.

Pretty sweet, huh? Anyway, I heated up some water and opened the package.

There's a SAUCE pack, a SPICE pack, and huge vegetable pack, and a fairly standard if not cute looking pack of mayonnaise like you'd see at a fast food joint. The directions say to add the veggies to the noodles before adding the water, so we do so and proceed to let them steam.

I needed something to hold the tray closed so I figured I'd use these humorously named cookies from Malaysia I picked up on the same visit. They steam for three minutes or so and then it's time to drain, which is a semi pain when you're making one of those yakisoba things, am I right? Wait, what's this???

They built a fucking drain into the package under that other flap up there. Holy shite, they thought of everything! The built in drain makes the draining process very easy as you can imagine. Then it's time to mix everything up and put the mayo on top.

  

Like so. This is a very cool concept and very well designed, and I also like the fact that one of the main included vegetables is broccoli, which I've never seen before in an instant noodle. Very cool! So how do they taste?

I let my girlfriend try them first and she thought they were pretty damn good, saying they are a little spicy but not much and she really likes the taste of the mayo along with everything else. She finished them off without hesitation after giving me a taste. I thought they were pretty good, definitely better than I expected them to be with the mayo, which wasn't overpowering in the least. This one gets a lot of points for originality and tastiness so I'm giving it an 8/10.

Indomie Special Chicken Flavor Soup Noodles

Indomie recently changed their packaging and I really enjoy the new look. You can't see it too well in this pic but they have started clearly labeling their noodles "Soup Noodles" or "Stir Fry Noodles" for people like me who are too stupid / in a hurry to read the instructions. Thanks, Indomie.
Anyway, I've wanted some Indomie noodles since they are just about always extremely good and I'd never had these before, so it was a match made in ramen heaven. Special chicken flavor sounds good, and upon looking at the ingredients it sounds even better with ginger, chili powder and other delicious sounding spices.

One of the reasons I enjoy eating Indomie noodles is that I always know the noodles themselves are good quality and will have a pleasant consistent texture. Here they are with some spices and some chili powder.

Pretty regular looking stuff, except that if you let it stand for a few minutes the soup thickens up a little and really adds a lot to this soup. You can also see chili powder in the soup and the taste of the chili really adds a great deal to the overall spicyness. These are very good, and definitely a lot better than other regular chicken flavored ramens. Can't go wrong with this one, I'm giving it an 8/10.

Hmmm....

I can't help wondering if this would work.

Paldo Kokomen Spicy Chicken Flavor

Country of origin: Korea
 Bought at Super Oriental Market

First post in a while! I don't know if I'll ever stop ramenating, though my busy life might add some dead air between posts. By the way, I'm aware that these are a little past the expiration date, but since it's only 2 weeks I don't think it's going to make a difference. Ramen has a pretty much infinite shelf life anyway, right?

Just for shits and giggles this is the back of the package. Maybe it's Mr. Paldo? He looks happy cooking those noodles, so we'll just wave back and start cooking.

Y'know, sometimes things just don't go the way you planned, and that's ok. Like this damn image I couldn't get to turn the right way to save my life. Not gonna worry about it. This is a big 120g noodle block and a bigass veggie pack and a bigass spice pack. Note that when I opened the package I could tell these are gonna be spicy. Another thing I liked about these is that one of the ingredients in the spice pack is chicken breast. That's right. Real chicken.

Lots of green onions, but they aren't invasive to the taste. These look good, I can see tiny pieces of chicken in there even. First taste: Oh man, these are spicy. It kind of sneaks up on you a few seconds after you eat them and it's a pleasant surprise for me. My girlfriend tried them and she called them "ninja noodles" because of the heat sneaking up on you. Definitely don't eat these if you don't like spicy noodles! So in a nutshell these are really good and really spicy. "Clean Spicy!" according to the package. You can't go wrong with these. 9/10

***NON REVIEW RELATED NOTE: I know these pics are craptacular quality. They were taken with a camera phone. I'm getting a real camera soon, I promise!!***

Paldo Bibim Men Oriental Style Noodles

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at Seoul Market in Montgomery, AL

I had seen these noodles for years, but only in a 5 pack. I don't like to buy noodles in multipacks unless I know it's something I like, such as Shin Ramyun or Samyang. I mean, what if you buy them and they just flat out suck?
This is my first review in almost a year, and it feels good to be back in the Ramenator saddle. Here we go!

It's a big ol' noodle block, 130g, the same size as the Pancit Canton Extra Big! Comes with one big pack of goopy stuff. Oh and by the way, the creators of this noodle would like you to know that it now contains 8% more apple juice. Thanks, Paldo! Looking at the directions I see that these noodles are supposed to be cooked, drained, and rinsed... under cold... water.... to cool them.... shit.
Sorry readers, I just don't like cold noodles. I just... don't. I like my ramen like I like my women, hot and spicy. So... I'm going to leave these hot for the review. Sorry if I have offended any noodle purists.

I cooked the noodles up and they seem to have a nice texture and seem overall good quality.

Finished product. Earlier when I looked at the ingredients the second ingredient in the paste was red pepper paste so I'm not very surprised when it comes out smelling like straight up hot sauce. Which I love. So things were looking up until I took a bite.
I don't think it would have made a bit of difference if I had eaten these hot or cold, I don't like the taste. Tastes like some spicy ketchup over noodles. I feel like these could have been good, but the seasoning missed the mark. And cold noodles? Again, no thanks. I'm giving these a 3/10, and that's only because of the good quality noodles.

Ah, feels good to be reviewing again.

Just wanted to let everyone know

that I'm still alive. I know it's been a LOOONNNGGG time since I posted anything, but I am still here and I do intend on updating the Ramenator site. I've been busy with a lot of personal crap including a divorce and moving, so dealing with that along with work and such has been keeping me from my site. Hopefully I'll have a real post ready soon. Thanks to everybody who has read and will continue to read. I promise I'll be back!

Ve Wong Kung-Fu Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at Super Oriental Market

So it's been ANOTHER while, but suffice to say my life has been a little crazy recently. Nevertheless, here I am with another ramen review! This one's another Kung Fu ramen, which is still quite possibly one of the coolest names for ramen I could imagine. The giant orange chicken on the package wins this one points for cool packaging, so let's see how this one measures up. Honestly I'm expecting a pretty average chicken ramen.

Pretty standard so far. One seasoning pack and some very tightly packed noodles. Check out that noodle density! Let's see how these come out.

I cooked them on the stove just cause that's my preferred way to cook noodles. The noodles soaked up a lot of the soup pretty quickly and I wasn't very impressed with the quality or taste of these. The noodles are very droopy and the soup has this strange sort of sweet taste to it that while not overpowering just feels like it doesn't belong. Overall, these have a cool name and good packaging, but there are a lot of better chicken ramens out there. Go for something better in this case. 4/10.

Indomie Mi Goreng Rendang

Country of Origin: Indonesia
Bought at Super Oriental Market

Yay for new stuff from Indomie! Indomie noodles are probably my overall favorite and are just about always very, very good. I admit I had no idea what rendang is, so like anyone else in this day and age when I don't know what something is I ask the internet. According to Wikipedia, rendang is an Indonesian spicy meat dish, traditionally served to honor guests or on special occasions. Sounds good!

Just like other Indomie noodles, you get a LOT of stuff with them! Chili powder, bumbu spice, a seasoning oil, soy sauce, and fried onions. Hells yeah. I cooked the noodles in a pot for about four minutes and mixed it all up. Here's what I got:

These noodles are da bomb! The original Mi Goreng noodles are still my favorite of these, but these are very tasty with hints of coconut and curry with a decent amount of spice! Reminds me of Thai food I've eaten like Masaman Beef (coconut sauce) or similar. Be sure and check these out, you won't be disappointed. 8/10.

WaiWai Casserole Beef Flavour Noodles

Country of Origin:  Thailand
Bought at Super Oriental Market


So the first thing I'm noticing about these is that sticker on the package below where it says "casserole," which I'll discuss in a moment. What's under that damn sticker?

WTF?? Was that really necessary? A lot of ramen I eat has a nutrition label slapped on the back which I completely understand, but I wonder why they felt they needed to put that on there? Hmm...

So here's the content of the package. The white stuff is coconut oil and there's a decent smelling spice pack. Before we cook, take a look at this:

Four different languages! Truly international ramen.

So I ended up with some basic looking stuff. Why is this called a casserole? Just to make sure I didn't have some kind of mistaken view, I looked up the world casserole in the dictionary. A casserole is defined as "a baking dish of glass, pottery, etc., usually with a cover." or "any food, usually a mixture, cooked in such a dish." Any food? Well I guess then you could call anything a casserole, as long as it's edible. So how are these?

They taste okay with a pretty standard beef flavor, but I am not digging the quality of the noodles. I cooked them almost twice as long as the package said and they still had that chewy, not quite done consistency. I'm giving these a 4/10.

Payless Pancit Canton Original

Country of origin: Philippines
Bought at Super Oriental Market

I reviewed the Payless Xtra Big noodles a while back and they were pretty damn good, and a shitload of noodles on top of that. So here's their original pancit canton. Now I originally thought 70 grams is not big but then I realize that that's compared with the other Filipino noodle company Lucky Me, whose noodles are usually about 55g which is not a lot of noodles. Hence, Payless! Or maybe pay the same price but get more noodles?

So you get a seasoning pack, soy sauce and coconut oil. I usually really like the flavor that the coconut oil gives noodles so I'm expecting these to be pretty good!

So here it is all done. There's really small pieces of carrot and green onion in here but it's hard to see in this pic. As with most of the other Payless noodles I have had these are pretty tasty and didn't disappoint me. The soy sauce, coconut oil and other stuff come together very nicely. My only complaint is the noodles could've stood to be a little more al dente and less stiff, but nobody's perfect. I'm giving these an 8/10.

So what do you do with 1,000 packs of ramen?

Put it on a Slip N Slide! Duh!

Yeah, it's really dumb. But funny. And it does contain a girl in a bikini covered in ramen. Watch, already!

Unif Tung-I Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Vietnam
Bought at Super Oriental Market

Time for something a little more mainstream. Unif noodles are usually pretty good and chicken flavor sounds good to me. But before we begin, check out the packaging here. First you have a chicken king or chicken pimp, I can't decide which he looks more like. We'll call him His Majesty Cluck a Duck. Then (harder to notice) is the phrase "kylling smak" which sounds fucking hilarious. I think smak is a word for noodle, but I'm not sure and too tired to look it up. Anyway, let this venture into the world of ramen begin!!

Some funky colored noodles and one whole seasoning pack. I looked at the package but couldn't find any unusual ingredients in the noodles, so that kind of makes me worry a little. But after a few minutes of quiet reflection and prayer I decide to carry on anyway.

So here it is. Looks pretty normal. Some noodles I've reviewed have this strange sickly sweet taste that is completely unexpected and to me just tastes awful. This is one of them. I'm not sure what makes them taste this way, but when I eat chicken flavored ramen I do not want it to be sweet. Too much sugar maybe? These are just flat out not good. Sorry, Chicken ala King. 3/10.

Ve Wong Kung Fu Artificial Onion Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Vietnam
Bought at Super Oriental Market

It's been a little while since I've eaten any Ve Wong noodles so I decided to give them a try. These are a fairly new flavor and I admit that artificial onion flavor doesn't sound too great, but I'm going to give them a shot anyway. Another ingredient is "artificial pork flavor," so maybe it will taste like something else, too. By the way, I think I'm going to start doing all my package pics this way instead of taking the pic before I open the package, it seems to come out better.

So there's a seasoning pack and a pack of "flavored oil" which kinda looks like minced onion and is more solid than an oil. Time to cook!

I thought a super closeup picture may have been in order. There are a lot of onions in this soup (duh) and... not much else. This is the closest ramen will ever get to tasting like biting into an onion. I hope so anyway. If for some twisted reason you like eating onions by themselves (and I don't mean in tasty situations like onion rings or a bloomin' onion) then try these out, otherwise... onion. That's all there is to say. 4/10.