RAMEN OVERLOAD!!!

Holy crap! I've got so much ramen I'd have to eat ramen every day for a year to eat it all. Well, not really, it just seems that way. Check out my ramen stockpile:

I guess I'll be ready if there's a world wide noodle shortage. I better get to eating some of these... they aren't gonna review themselves! That ladybug that snuck into the picture is checking them out in a peculiar way... better keep an eye on him.

Vina Acecook Funny Chef Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Vietnam
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 59¢
Possibly one of the best names I will ever see for a pack of ramen. Acecook Funny Chef. I really hope the people in Vietnam that made this have no idea what it says. On the other hand it might be funnier in a way if they do. Also, they take the time to proudly state at the top right of the package that these noodles are “MADE WITH JAPANESE TECHNOLOGY.” What the hell? I figure most things are made with Japanese technology nowadays. But I digress…
This is an Indomie style packa noodles so it’s not a soup. Lessee what we got here…

Nifty looking noodle block with the rounded edges there. Must be that Japanese technology. There’s a soup base pack, an oil pack, and a veggie pack. The veggies look mostly like green onions and since the ingredients merely say “dehydrated vegetables” I guess we really have no idea. Those crafty Vietnamese…. oh well, let’s cook it up!

Looks pretty tasty. There’s a good amount of green onions here that have a slight flavor and add a little something to the noodles. The seasonings all seem to blend pretty well, also. It’s not bad, but it leaves a weird aftertaste in your mouth. Kinda like a “maybe I just ate something that wasn’t actually food in there somewhere” aftertaste. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s just strange. These aren’t bad but Indomie noodles are way better for my ramen dollar. I’m giving this one a 6/10.

Indomie Mi Goreng Fried Noodles

Country of origin: Indonesia
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 59¢
I was really happy with the first Indomie noodles I tried so I figured I’d try out some other types. The BBQ chicken noodles I reviewed earlier were also called mi goreng and they are the same type of noodles in this pack. The difference is in the seasoning.

Indomie is known for including a lot of spices with their noodles and this one is no exception. It’s got soy sauce, chili powder, seasoning oil, and seasoning powder. The seasoning powder smells good, kinda reminds me of oriental flavor Top Ramen. Let’s cook it up.

Doesn’t look like a whole lot of noodles, does it? Well, it’s not. These noodles were very good and I enjoyed the chili powder mixed with the soy sauce and the noodles have a very pleasant texture. The only problem is that there just weren’t enough of them. Indomie does make a JUMBO pack of these (and the BBQ chicken ones!) that elude my capture around my city. If you’re having these for a meal be sure and make two packs or you will still be hungry. I’m giving these a 9/10 for being so tasty.

Samyang Kimchi Ramen

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Tokyo Asian Food in Hoover, AL
Price: 99¢
Kimchi flavored ramen… sounds delicious right? Actually I’ve never eaten kimchi, and until recently I had no idea what kimchi actually is. Turns out it’s the potatoes of Korean food, and goes with just about any Korean meal. It’s pickled vegetables, usually cabbage. Doesn’t exactly sound good, but I do like vinegary tasting stuff, so we press on!

One thing I really like about Samyang noodles is that you get a bigass block o’ noodles in most if not all of their ramen packs. The noodles are always good quality, too and have a pleasant texture. In this package you also get a package of soup base which smells very peppery  and is the color of paprika as well as a package of “FLAKE.” Man, some flake sure sounds good right now… it’s flakes of dehydrated cabbage and scallions. Alright, let’s give it a try. When you’re cooking these the noodle block is bigger than normal so I microwaved this one for 4 1/2 minutes and the texture of the noodles was about perfect. Just a bit of advice.

Here’s the whole shebang. These smell really good! You can see some scallions in the picture and the soup has a nice color. So how does it taste? I like these. The noodles are good quality as all Samyang noodles I’ve had are and they have enough spice to call it spicy but not overly spicy, so don’t be afraid to try these if you aren’t a big fan of spicy food. As I said before I’ve never eaten kimchi so I don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like but if it tastes like this soup I may have to try it. I’m giving this one an 8/10.

OKF Aloe Vera King

 

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: $1.99
The first non-ramen review! My wife picked this out the last time we went to the Asian store. She had heard that drinking aloe vera juice can have health benefits including lower blood pressure, improved circulation, and a boost to your immune system. Sounds pretty good. Check out this article for more info on that.
So now we know the benefits… so how does the stuff taste? Not bad! Has a cool feeling to it, and a light clean taste… kinda reminiscent of cucumber. It’s also got little chunks of aloe vera gel in it which take some getting used to, but they have a neat texture, similar to that of extra firm Jell-O. The chunks themselves don’t seem to have much taste to them but they add to the overall experience.  Overall the drink has a pleasant taste and texture and is definitely worth trying. The possible health benefits sound pretty good, too, although I’m not sure I’m ready to take stock in it just yet. I’ll do some more research.

WaiWai Oriental Style Noodles

 

Country of origin: Thailand
Bought at: International Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 49¢
WAI WAI!!! That’s really fun to say. Great name for a company, too! On top of that, it happens to be a company from Thailand that makes noodles. I love Thai food so I was anxious to try these. They come in a smaller than normal yet very colorful package with a little window in the bottom left corner so you know you are buying noodles (I guess?). From what I can tell Wai Wai is a sizable noodle maker and I’ve seen several varieties of their noodles at the various Asian stores I’ve been to. Let’s check it out!

 We got a smaller than your average noodle block, a blue packet of seasoning oil and a double packet of soup base and chili powder! Cool! Lots of stuff in this small package. I was curious about the color of the noodles and upon reading the ingredients I discovered that chili powder is an ingredient in the noodles themselves. Also cool. Let’s cook it up.

These smell very good after they are cooked… kinda a garlic and pepper smell, which are two things I love. So why can’t I taste any of it? These noodles are some of the most bland tasting I have ever had and the texture is extremely rubbery. I’m so disappointed… I really wanted to like these, but there is hardly any taste here at all! Eating these is like eating a bowl of rubber bands cooked in hot water. They are just flat out not good. I’m going to give these a generous 3/10 and that’s only because I didn’t gag when I ate them. I’d rather have a glass of water… it has more flavor.

Ve Wong Peppered Beef Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 69¢
I had heard good things about this one. I wasn’t impressed with my first Ve Wong ramen but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and give this one a try. Peppered beef flavor sounds pretty good… kinda like beef jerky? Let’s open this very orange package up and see what we got inside…

Standard noodle block, big packet that’s half veggies and half soup base, and a pack of disgusting looking goo. Just looks so appetizing sitting there in its plastic wrapper, all brown and puke-like. Puke aside, the quantity of vegetables does not disappoint here. It’s got a generous quantity of carrots, cabbage, and others that really fluff up in hot water. I decided to be brave and open up the goop and found that it actually had a pleasant aroma of pepper and meat. Again, similar to beef jerky. Shows where my mind is, huh? Let’s cook this bad boy up.

Looks good. Smells good, too. Has a pleasant beefy soup smell and you can see chunks of stuff in it. For ramen, that’s pretty high class. Upon eating, I found that it even has these little chunks of fake meat (and I say fake because on the wrapper it says “artificial” beef flavor) that taste surprisingly good! Each part of this soup adds something to the overall flavor; the fake meat, the pepper (though it’s not overly spicy) and the veggies along with the soup base come together very nicely. My only complaint is the noodles do not seem to have a good consistency and were very droopy and soft. The taste of the soup makes up for this, however. I will definitely be trying other Ve Wong products. If the noodles were better I’d give it a 9/10, but they’re not, so I’m going to give this one a solid 8/10.