the ramen blog & other goodies!

Ramenramenramen has learned that Nissin is introducing a limited edition Cup Noodles to select markets across the U.S. The new flavor, called simply “MSG flavor,” was created in response to the overwhelming popularity of MSG flavoring. “You have no idea how many letters we receive from ramen fans asking for ‘more MSG’,” said a spokesperson for Nissin. “Some of the more (ahem) extreme fans even questioned why we had so many flavors. ‘Don’t even bother diluting the MSG with beef, chicken, shrimp, or any of those other weird flavors. Just give us the good stuff!’ Being the kind of company that listens to our customers, we came up with Cup Noodles MSG flavor!”

Food technicians at Nissin have spent the last several weeks tweaking and perfecting the final product. Recent focus groups have given an unanimous thumbs-up to the new flavor. “I drank 5 gallons of water after I ate just one Cup Noodles MSG flavor!” exclaimed one food tester. Another tester burst with excitement, “I can’t feel my tongue, man! It’s like the soup…ate…my tongue! This is the best Cup Noodles flavor EVER!”

The new flavor will be available in stores on April 1st. If demand is as high as expected, Nissin is already prepared to fast-track a sequel, “DoubleShot MSG Flavor,” for release later this year.

More Hello Kitty ramen madness. But I gotta say, I’ve never seen “ogre ramen-making kitty” before!

As in NYC, ramen in Vancouver seems to be experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. Either that, or there’s not a lot of news happening in Canada lately.

Seattlites, don’t feel left out. Here’s a radio interview with the owner of Boom Noodle (yes, that’s Noodle singular).

Kids might enjoy this simple little ramen game. If you’re over the age of 6, though, this might interest you for all of 3 minutes or so. I suffered through 10 minutes of this to report to you that it’s just. more. of. the. same.

Another day, another “ramen battle” in Japan–waitasec…did that article say horse meat ramen!?!

It’s the 50th anniversary of Nissin’s Chicken Ramen! They’ll be releasing special flavors in 7 countries including the U.S.! Has anyone seen the U.S. onion flavor yet?

According to Businessweek’s Asia’s Hot Growth Companies: 2007, the #1 growth company in Asia isn’t an electronics company. It’s not a cell phone company, a bank, or any other type of company you would normally associate with a “hot growth” company. Give up? It’s Hong Kong based Ajisen Ramen!

Follow ‘big in japan’s’ quest as they search for the “perfect bowl of ramen” in Japan

Milk, seafood, and…ramen?! The folks at Nissin are as creative as ever. Introducing the Milk Seafood Cup Noodle!

Read all about instant ramen from a student perspective, featuring two, yes two quotes from yours truly, at the Florida International University’s student paper, the Beacon.

I’ve been to Japan over 15 times and not once have I ever set foot in a Denny’s. But then I never knew they served ramen! (…and…Chivas Regal?!?)

It seems like everyone’s making a pilgrimage to the Yokohama Ramen Museum in Japan lately. Check out the writeups, photos, and videos at Shanghai Toys and Go Ramen! And check back here soon for our own writeup and review.

The discontinued and hard-to-find maruchan tomato ramen has been found! Is anyone at Maruchan reading this? Please bring back the your tomato ramen!

Interested in making your nama ramen more than just “instant” ramen? See what the Tasty Island does with a pack of shio nama ramen.

Interested in knowing how global warming will affect the question of “What role should instant noodles play in 50 years time?” If you have an invitation to the 6th World Instant Noodles Summit in Osaka, you can find out! (No, we weren’t invited…sniff sniff…)

Almost a year after we reported on Nissin’s new refillable Cup Noodles, environmental blog treehugger steps in with more details and pictures. I really like the fact that you can design your own cup liner, and as much as I’d have a blast designing my own “Cup”, since the liner is presumably made of paper…isn’t that like two steps forward, one step back? Still, it is a big step forward and we’re still eagerly forward to the day when these are available in the U.S. Nissin, are you listening?

Deja vu…nissin’s shoyu ramen reminded me so much of maruchan’s shoyu ramen that i had to doublecheck the package. Nissin’s noodles are just as good, with a nice firm texture, and the soup is just as good. Just like the maruchan ramen, this is quite good, but not spectacular. It earns an 8.