Category: Food

The ramen review madness continues. I’ve lost track of how many it’s been. Is it over 50? Let’s go…

Maruchan Instant Lunch Select Chicken (280, 12 g fat, 730 mg sodium)

I was initially put off by the flavor dust being obviously baked into the noodles, since in other products this has produced an unsatisfying broth, but once I added the water and let it steep for a while I was rewarded with an acceptable taste and nicely cooked noodles. However the dehydrated veggies remained a bit flat and chewy, and I think this product may have benefited with fewer of them. Also the cardboard cup (obviously they’re trying to phase out styrofoam) wasn’t very insulated and it got a bit too hot to hold, which may be a strike against it for some. I’d eat this again: 7/10

Pho’Nominal Bowl, Chicken (200 Calories,1 g fat, 649 mg sodium)

It had loads of flavor powder and herbs, and was attractive before I added the water. But as with all pho products I have tried, it stunk of cut grass when made, tasted even worse (like greasy dirt) and the noodles had the consistency of elastic bands. Abysmal: 0/10.

Sapporo Ichiban Chicken Flavour (270 kJ, 10 g fat, 730 mg sodium)

I used to love Sapporo chicken noodles, and until I discovered Gefen it was my ramen of choice. But that was a brick ramen and I was surprised to see they now do a cup. My first thought was it took longer-than-usual for the noodles to soften, and the smell was unpleasantly strong. The taste was solid though, if a bit salty, and in a world without Gefen I believe I’d eat this one regularly. A respectable 8/10.

I’m not stopping the plain chicken ramen reviews since I’ve learned that as long as the world turns I’ll still occasionally find new versions. But I’ve grown to love reviewing food, and think it may be time to expand my culinary review talents into a new product category. Stay tuned…

She said it was good 🙂

Some weeks ago, when I was sorting through boxes to prepare for the sale of my Star Wars figures, I found these two ramen cups:

The packaging features characters from the Final Fantasy Dissidia game and buying them allowed the unlocking of in-game content. I bought these many years ago, and had intended to send the chicken one (featuring Cloud from FF7) to Florence as a gag gift one time. Obviously, I never did. Sorry Florence!

They’re attractive aren’t they? In preparing this post I learned there were two others as well: a shrimp flavour featuring Lightning (from FF13) and a multi-pack featuring Sephiroth (also from FF7). Given I only have two, I imagine I never saw the others.

The mechanism for getting the game content was a bit archaic: couldn’t they have just printed codes on the packaging? I never actually bought the game itself (I had played it on the PSP) so wouldn’t have even claimed the content even had I opened these over 4 years ago.

Yes, four years ago! Look closely at the above pic and you’ll note they expired on Dec 2018 and Jan 2019! I’m a real straighty-one-eighty when it comes to ‘expiration dates’ (yes I know they are technically best by these days) so it would require a bit of bravery to try these…

Removing the outer packaging removed shows these are just normal cup noodles, but when I removed the plastic wrap from each I discovered the seal on the lid had weakened to the extent the beef one just lifted right off by itself!

This was what they looked like before adding water. Doesn’t the flavoring in each look darker than normal? A quick google search revealed that if the seal had been good, they (in theory) may have been edible although chemical changes in the flavour may have rendered them both unpleasantly salty. However since the seal was compromised there was a risk of mold, which I was not prepared to take. Apparently Nissin themselves advises throwing away noodles more than three months after the ‘best by’ date.

So, alas, I didn’t try them. Rest assured they gave me joy for the nearly five years they were forgotten in a box in the attic, and I’ll certainly keep the outer packaging so I can reblog it in a decade or so 🙂