the ramen blog & other goodies!

I’ve been sick for the past week (8+ consecutive 103 degree+ fevers! woohoo! I feel like a major winner in the 2008 flu lotto!) and pretty much living on Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. During one of my fevered deliriums, it occurred to me that this is the American version of ramen: there’s soup, there’s noodles, there’s meat…somewhere…and it’s packed with enough sodium to satisfy any MSG addict! Ok, I’m really pushing the comparison, but when I’m sick as a dog, I find that there’s nothing I crave more than chicken noodle soup.

Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup is just what the doctor ordered. But how does it compare to instant or nama ramen? For starters, the noodles are about as soggy as you can get. But then again, I, for one, am not looking for chewability when I’m sick: I wanna just slurp those puppies and not even bother to chew, if I so choose. As a get-well-soon food, digestibility is key, and Campbell’s delivers. The tiny little bits of chicken in the soup doesn’t even come close to a decent slice of chashu, but again, you can just about swallow the chicken without chewing.

And how about the all-important soup? The typical MSG-laden instant ramen has nothing on a can of chicken noodle soup. With the one-two punch of MSG and sodium, you’ll think you’re drinking a Japanese ramen import! Think there’s only shoyu, tonkotsu, and shio? Allow me to introduce the “tori” (chicken) soup base, popular in all regions of the U.S. Personally, I’m convinced that the sodium is what kills the cold and flu germs. Maybe that’s why I crave this soup when I’m sick.

In the final analysis, Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup is just like ramen! –Except…oh, who am I trying to kid. I bet I still have a fever. I hope everyone had a very Happy Holidays!

A few months ago, I tried and reviewed Marutai’s shoyu tonkotsu stick ramen. The next day, I tried this goma shoyu version. No, you didn’t wander into a time warp. This is simply laziness at work. On to the review! (more…)

Some things are meant to be in a can, while others…maybe not so much. I’ve been looking forward to trying “ramen in a can” since I first heard about it last year, and thanks to fellow ramen blogger Keizo, who was nice enough to share his loot from his trip to Tokyo, I had my chance. (And yes, I should’ve finished writing this review months ago. I suck!)

Now, the ramen in canned ramen isn’t like the noodles you’re familiar with. Canned ramen is actually made of konjac, aka konnyaku, aka “devil’s tongue”. Konjac is a tuber and belongs to the yam family. It’s usually made into a flour or jelly for use in a variety of dishes and has a chewy texture, like a firm jello. The reason the noodles are made of konjac is to prevent them from becoming soggy. Can you imaging eating ramen noodles which have been soaking in soup for days or weeks? Mush city. (more…)

There are numerous kinds of instant ramen, from the ubiquitous brick ramen, to cup and bowl ramen. A less common type of instant ramen is “stick ramen.” Unlike the other kinds of instant ramen, stick ramen noodles are packaged straight, like a package of spaghetti. As with other kinds of instant ramen, stick ramen comes with packs of soup base and seasoning.

This stick ramen has a shoyu tonkotsu base and the seasoning packet comes with a handful of sesame seeds and dried green onions. The soup has a heavy sesame smell, and is lightly flavored. There barely a shoyu flavor and not much tonkotsu. The flavors are entirely overwhelmed by sesame.

The instructions call for cooking the noodles for 2-1/2 mins, which is much too long. The soggy noodles are too slippery and not absorbent enough. Instead of working together, there’s too much of a contrast between the taste of the noodles and the soup.

Even though this tonkotsu-shoyu stick ramen ends up tasting like Chinese sesame oil noodles, the flavor does grow on you. If you’re looking for something a bit different, Marutai’s stick ramen is worth a try. It gets a 6.

For the uninitiated, Dr. Noodle is a Taiwanese brand of healthy “steam” ramen noodles, with exotic flavors such as shiitake spinach and this beef tomato.

Like the previously reviewed Dr Noodle shiitake spinach, I have to admit that these beef tomato noodles aren’t bad. Again, this is more of a flat Chinese-style instant noodle than Japanese ramen, but they have a nice, chewy texture. You would think that “steam” noodles would be relatively bland compared to the usually-fried instant ramen, but they actual have a decent flavor and soak up the soup nicely. And for those die hard fans of Maruchan’s Tomato Ramen, this just might your ticket to tomato ramen nirvana! I’ve never had the pleasure of having the Maruchan version, but the Dr Noodle beef tomato soup is exactly as it’s described: the beef stock is light (imagine a light chicken soup, but…err…with beef instead) with a strong tomato aroma and flavor. It’s a surprisingly good combination of flavors and has become one of our favorites.

If you’re looking for something different, or you’re a ramen fan who’s trying to eat more healthy, this is for you. (Remember that since it’s a Taiwanese brand, you’ll have a better chance of finding it at a Chinese supermarket than a Japanese market.) Even though this isn’t a “true” ramen, it gets an honorary rating of 7 out of 10.

Time for an “old school” ramen review. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a bowl of Sapporo Ichiban. I used to eat this as a kid and especially enjoyed the beef flavor, but for some reason stopped eating it as I grew older. Eating this ramen brought back pleasant childhood memories…too bad the noodles don’t live up to the memories.

The dominant flavor of the soup is the onion powder, with hints of garlic and msg, and just a touch of white pepper. The noodles are chewy and thick, almost udon-like in texture, and unfortunately tasteless. Oh, and there are a few onion flakes scattered throughout.

If you just want a quick bowl of noodles, these will do. My wife says these are “yum but not yum-o.” I say they get a 4.