I decided to try and review five different types of instant ramen. I went to my local grocer (Thrifty Foods in North Saanich) and picked five different brands. I didn’t really pick these specific types for any reason, I just picked them at random and knew I wanted a variety. I also knew I didn’t have the time (or stomach size) to cook and taste more than five. Here are the five instant ramen noodles I cooked and tried. I am no expert in the ramen department, just a mere home-cook with a Canadian/American/Central European palette, so please read with kindness! Enjoy!
CUP NOODLES
- Nongshim Bowl Noodle Soup – Chicken Flavour
Nongshim is a South Korean food and beverage company that produces a variety of different instant ramen flavours. The package comes with a plastic bowl, noodles and a chicken flavour seasoning packet. There are dehydrated peas, corn and onions in the bowl with the noodles. The instructions are very simple. I just had to boil water and fill the bowl until the indicated line, and then cover for 3-4 minutes.
I was very happy with the taste and texture of the soup! I tried not to do this hungry so I wasn’t eating out of need, so that I could judge for taste and texture more accurately. Anyways, the broth was savoury, as advertised, and the onions add a bite to the dish. The veggies add a crunch to the bite. One thing that was a little odd was what seemed to be dehydrated chicken balls? They were very tiny, almost the size of a crumb, and didn’t add much to the soup, other than perhaps added crunch. It was a little weird to me, but didn’t change the flavour of the soup — it was delicious and savoury! I also thought the size of the bowl had a nice size to it, I like a wider bowl of soup versus a taller one, it just makes me feel more like I’m at a restaurant or something.
2. Nongshim Noodle Soup – Shin Flavour “Gourmet Spicy“
Shin is a spicy broth that consists of flavours of beef and mushrooms. It is common South Korean ramen flavour. The bowl size is a lot smaller than the Cup Noodle Soup. Inside the packaging there are the noodles, seasoning packet and dehydrated vegetables — including mushrooms!
OMG! This soup was so spicy. I like spice and can comfortably eat a generous amount of Sriracha or Franks hot sauce on whatever it is I’m pouring it on, but this was actually too spicy for me! I couldn’t finish the the bowl and was definitely blowing my nose once or twice. The mushrooms added a nice texture and flavour to the soup. I ended up using a ramen hack and ditched the broth and added some cream cheese to try and tone down the spice… it did help but not very much!
Similar to the chicken flavour soup, I just had to boil water and fill the cup to the suggested line, and then cover for 3-4 minutes.
3. Chef Woo Braised Beef Flavour Ramen
I was really excited to try this ramen because it seemed nutritious! It is also made with organic, whole wheat ramen and has 20 grams of protein (which is the recommended grams of protein per meal). I was also happy to see that the seasonings were already in the cup, rather than in a packet, so all you had to do was add water! Less packaging = better for the environment! I thought this soup was less savoury than the two other soups I tried previously. The instructions were similar to the other soups, except the noodles and boiling water had to be covered for 5 minutes.
The results were really tasty! I so enjoyed the broth — it was packed with flavour. The noodle texture was amazing and I enjoyed the veggies. The only downside, which is entirely personal, as all food experiences are, was that I wasn’t a huge fan of the whole wheat. For whatever reason, I’ve never really liked whole wheat noodles, and I can’t seem to even explain why! It has some sort of roughness to it. While I love eating whole grains for the fibre benefits, I just prefer white flour noodles over whole wheat noodles. That’s just me though.
NOODLE PACKETS
4. Nongshim Noodle Soup – Kimchi Flavour (My favourite one!)
The soup had easy to follow directions; 2 cups of water, add noodles and packet seasoning and then cook for 4 minutes. I do think the amount of time you cook the soup for is important because you don’t want the noodles going too mushy. The packaging came with dehydrated cabbage. The noodles were in a round shape which was something I hadn’t seen before.
WOW! This soup REALLY impressed me. I was worried about the spice, and personally I’m not a huge fan of kimchi, but this really amazed me. There was a perfect amount of spice. I could also see what looked like oils or fats in the broth. The soup broth tasted like something I’d get at a restaurant! And the noodles had a perfect chewiness! The cabbage had a nice crunch to it. OMG! YUM! This one was my favourite not only because it was delicious from the noodle to the broth… but it took me by surprise! I was expecting to not like it very much but it turned out to amaze me!
5. Koyo Ramen Soup – Tofu & Miso
This packaging had a very small amount of noodles, less than the previous ramen package, but called for the same amount of water and cooking time. The noodles were also more translucent.
Unfortunately this was not only the last ramen I tried but it was also my least favourite. I love miso soup, the kind that you get at Japanese restaurants in Canada usually are in a small black bowl with a few slices of sea weed and a few small cubes of tofu. And it is so delicious. So I guess I was expecting a soup of that nature, but sadly it disappointed. I am curious to know if only 1 cup of water might make the broth taste better. The noodles though were not chewy, they were soggy so probably only needed about half the recommended time. Too bad though, I was excited for it.
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